Washna (Playa Vista, California)
Unworked Bone, Project: Playa Vista, Site: CA-LAN-62, Prov: 11775, Item Number 0, The Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2013
Loyola Marymount University to Take Over Hughes Headquarters: University Plans to Convert Nearby Hillside Facility into Academic Center.
– The Los Angeles Times, January 11, 2000
The Los Angeles neighborhood that is now Playa Vista was once part of Washna, a vast Gabrielino-Tongva settlement that disappeared with European colonization by the end of the 19th century. For over 4000 years, the indigenous people of Los Angeles lived on this land, encompassing the Westchester bluffs, the banks of the Ballona Creek and the wetlands stretching out to the Pacific.
When construction on Playa Vista began in 2004, Saa' angna, one of the largest Tongva burial grounds in Southern California was discovered.
Tribal members were outraged when the developer continued construction, disturbing this sacred site. According to estimates, the remains of some 400 people were dug up to accommodate a drainage ditch for the new “live/work/play” complex.
In reaction to tribal opposition and the resulting public outcry - and to conform to State law governing the discovery of indigenous burial grounds - the developer eventually paid for a team of archaeologists from the University of California, Los Angeles to remove the artifacts and relocate the bones to another site, out of the way of the planned construction zone. This new graveyard is currently unmarked.
The displaced artifactual remains of Saa'angna are now kept at UCLA's Fowler Museum. And Playa Vista, with its Tuscan-style architecture and coffee shops, remains a site of perpetual loss to the Gabrielino-Tongva people.
When I visit Play Vista, looking for the Tongva memorial, I stop people walking their dogs along the bluffs to ask if they know where it is. If they've heard of the Tongva, they don't know anything about the memorial; if they've heard of the memorial, they don't know where it is. Finally, a security guard at Loyola Marymount University tells me where it is. On campus, between two dorms on the bluff, overlooking Playa Vista below and the Pacific to the West, sits the memorial, an insufficient monument to a monumental loss.
Tongva Memorial, Loyola Marymount University Campus (Former Hughes Aircraft Headquarters), Los Angeles, California, 2013
Loyola Marymount University Campus (Former Hughes Aircraft Headquarters), Los Angeles, California, 2013
University Hall, Loyola Marymount University Campus (Former Hughes Aircraft Headquarters), Los Angeles, California, 2013
Detail, Tongva Memorial, Loyola Marymount University Campus (Former Hughes Aircraft Headquarters), Los Angeles, California, 2013
Paperwork for Burial Features 153-274, Project Name: Playa Vista, Accession Number: 947, Site Number: CA-LAN-62/H, The Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2013
Playa Vista, California, 2013
Aircraft Hangars, Playa Vista Site Documentation, The Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2013
Ballona Discovery Park, Playa Vista, California, 2013
Ki Exhibit, Ballona Discovery Park, Playa Vista, California, 2013
Playa Vista, California, 2013
Ceramic Piece, Playa Vista Archaeological and Historical Project, Site: CA-LAN-54/H, The Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2013
Playa Vista Archaeological Archives at The Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2013
Playa Vista Archaeological Archives at The Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2013
“Figure FF. The Most Famous Photograph of the Flight of the Flying Boat, 2 November 1947 (Schwartz and Maguglin 1983: Frontispiece)”, Playa Vista Site Documentation, The Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2013
Playa Vista Project, Map 1, Feature 52, 2006, The Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2013
Ground/Battered Stone - Lithic, Playa Vista Archaeological and Historical Project, Site: CA-LAN-211/H, The Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, 2013
Exhibit Detail, “The Gabrieleno/Tongva, The First Angelenos”, University Hall, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, 2013
Runway Road, Playa Vista, California, 2013
University Hall, Loyola Marymount University Campus (Former Hughes Aircraft Headquarters), Los Angeles, California, 2013
“The Gabrieleno/Tongva, The First Angelenos”, University Hall, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, 2013
