The Tongva (/ˈtɒŋvə/ TONG-və) are Native Americans who inhabited the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately 4,000 square miles (10,000 km2). The Tongva are also known as the Gabrieleño, Fernandeño, and Nicoleño—Europeanized names that were assigned to the Tongva after Spanish colonization. Gabrieleño and Fernandeño are derived from the names of Spanish missions built on or near the tribes' territory—Mission San Gabriel Arcángel and Mission San Fernando Rey de España, respectively—while Nicoleño is derived from San Nicolas Island. Along with the neighboring Chumash, the Tongva were the most powerful indigenous people to inhabit Southern California. At the time of European contact, they may have numbered 5,000 to 10,000.
Many lines of evidence suggest that the Tongva are descended of Uto-Aztecan-speaking peoples from Nevada who moved southwest into coastal Southern California 3,500 years ago. These migrants either absorbed or pushed out the Hokan-speaking peoples in the region. By 500 AD, the Tongva had come to occupy all the lands now associated with them. A hunter-gatherer society, the Tongva traded widely with neighboring peoples. Over time, scattered communities came to speak distinct dialects of the Tongva language, part of the Takic subgroup of the Uto-Aztecan language family. There may have been five or more such dialects (three on the Channel Islands and at least two on the mainland). The Tongva language became extinct in the twentieth century, but a reconstructed form continues to be spoken today.
Podcasts:
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by James Taylor
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by Ween
Copperline
by: James TaylorEven the old folks never knew
Why they call it like they do
I was wondering since the age of two
Down on copperline
Copper head, copper beech
Copper kettles sitting side by each
Copper coil, cup o'georgia peach
Down on copperline
Half a mile down to morgan creek
Leaning heavy on the end of the week
Hercules and a hog-nosed snake
Down on copperline
We were down on copperline
One summer night on the copperline
Slip away past supper time
Wood smoke and moonshine
Down on copperline
One time I saw my daddy dance
Watched him moving like a man in a trance
He brought it back from the war in france
Down onto copperline
Branch water and tomato wine
Creosote and turpentine
Sour mash and new moon shine
Down on copperline
Down on copperline
First kiss ever I took
Like a page from a romance book
The sky opened and the earth shook
Down on copperline
Down on copperline
Took a fall from a windy height
I only knew how to hold on tight
And pray for love enough to last all night
Down on copperline
Day breaks and the boys wakes up
And the dog barks and the birds sings
And the sap rises and the angels sigh, yeah
I tried to go back, as if I could
All spec house and plywood
Tore up and tore up good
Down on copperline
It doesn't come as a surprise to me
It doesn't touch my memory
Man I'm lifting up and rising free
Down on over copperline
Half a mile down to morgan creek
I'm only living for the end of the week
Hercules and a hog-nosed snake
Down on copperline, yeah
Take me down on copperline
Oh, down on copperline