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Observing Indigenous Peoples' Day on Oct. 9, Santa Monica is making strides to develop more positive and meaningful connections with the Indigenous people whose land we are on. In this spirit, on Sept. 30, the city's Annenberg Community Beach House, in partnership with the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy, welcomed members of the Tongva community and their supporters to commemorate a Tongva practice that hasn't taken place in Southern California since colonization.
In 2023, there are still about 1,500 Tongva-identified people living in Southern California and elsewhere, and there is a growing interest in reviving the nearly-eliminated religion and peoples of Tovaangar. As a part of this movement, Tongva artist and Santa Monica native L Frank Manriquez set out to recreate a ti'aat, a steamed, sewn and glued plank canoe the Tongva people used to visit family on the islands and trade with other nations, and which served as an important part of Tongva cosmology. Manriquez called the recreated ti’aat “‘iitar” (coyote) and made it by hand with two other Tongva people and many other nations. And on Sept. 30, after an earlier expedition with other tribes in Washington State, the 19.5 foot canoe and members of the Tongva tribe made the first ti’aat voyage in the waters of Tovaangar since colonization.
The event was both visually and emotionally stunning as the ti’aat and her crew made their way into the Santa Monica waters. On the second attempt, the ti’aat was successfully launched, to cheers from onlookers on the beach. After a short journey, the crew returned the ti’aat safely to the shore, having successfully pulled in their ancestors footsteps.
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