A large sycamore tree, referred to as El Aliso by the Spanish, stood at the center of the village of Yaanga in the mid-18th century and was an important landmark for the Tongva.[1]
Yaanga was a large Tongva (or Kizh) village, originally located near what is now downtown Los Angeles, just west of the Los Angeles River and beneath U.S. Route 101. People from the village were recorded as Yabit in missionary records although they were known as Yaangavit, Yavitam, or Yavitem among the people. It is unclear what the exact population of Yaanga was prior to colonization, although it was recorded as the largest and most influential village in the region.
Yaangavit were treated as slave laborers during the Mission period by Franciscan padres to construct and work at San Gabriel Mission and Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles Asistencia and forced laborers for the Spanish, Mexican, and American settlers to construct and expand Los Angeles. The colonizers' dependency on Yaanga for forced labor is thought to be a reason for its ability to survive longer than most Indigenous villages in the region. However, after the founding of Pueblo de Los Ángeles in 1781, Yaanga increasingly "began to look more like a refugee camp than a traditional community," and following relentless pressure on the inhabitants to assimilate, the community was eventually dispersed.[2]
The original village seems to have only remained intact until about 1813. After being forcibly relocated several times, eventually eastward across the Los Angeles River, it was razed to the ground by the Los Angeles City Council under American occupation in 1847. Buried intact deposits from Yaanga have been found throughout downtown Los Angeles, such as in the vicinity of Alameda Street, Bella Union Hotel, Union Station, Plaza Church, and the Metropolitan Water District Headquarters.
^Masters, Nathan (June 27, 2012). "El Aliso: Ancient Sycamore Was Silent Witness to Four Centuries of L.A. History". KCET.
^Estrada, William David (2009). The Los Angeles Plaza: Sacred and Contested Space. University of Texas Press. p. 35
Yaanga was a large Tongva (or Kizh) village, originally located near what is now downtown Los Angeles, just west of the Los Angeles River and beneath U...
September 4, 1781, under Spanish governor Felipe de Neve, on the village of Yaanga. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence...
village of Yaanga served as the main source of labor for the pueblo and surrounding ranchos... In fact, as the demand for Indian labor grew, the Yaanga village...
greatly on the presence of a nearby and prosperous Tongva village called Yaanga, which was located by the freshwater artesian aquifer of the Los Angeles...
(Topanga, Cahuenga, Tujunga, Cucamonga, etc.) For example, individuals from Yaanga were known as Yaangavit among the people (in mission records, they were...
arteries connecting the largest Tongva village in the area, then known as Yaanga, which eventually become Union Station, to the Pacific Ocean. From the founding...
Tongva village Toviscanga and the Pueblo de Los Ángeles at the village of Yaanga. The first settlers of Los Angeles were African and mulatto Catholics, including...
and repurposing of historic buildings in the area. The Tongva village of Yaanga was located in what is now downtown Los Angeles, possibly near or underneath...
(chapel), fronted. It is located just north of the original village site of Yaanga, which was used as a reference point in the construction of the plaza. The...
large village of Yaanga on what is known as Glendale Narrows. It was described in historical accounts as being located near Yaanga and immediately adjoining...
secular pueblo on the banks of the Porciúncula River at the Indian village of Yaanga. Of the 44 original pobladores [colonists] who founded Los Angeles, only...
Roses." The village was located north and west of the large village of Yaanga connected via a trail with the other village of Shevaanga. Spanish priest...
It was now Alta California's leading city. 1836 – The Indian village of Yaanga was relocated near the future corner of Commercial and Alameda Streets....
the Commercial and Alameda streets, close to the original village site of Yaanga. The street became a center of prostitution activity in Los Angeles by the...
village sites in the larger Glendale Narrows region. These villages included Yaanga and Geveronga. The section's course is adjacent to Glendale, Griffith Park...
Mission San Fernando) Acjacheme (the site of Mission San Juan Capistrano) Yaanga (the site of Pueblo de Los Ángeles) Category: Tongva populated places Tongva...
California Puhú – Historical native American village in California, US Yaanga – Former Tongva village in Los Angeles, California Population of Native...
threaten further destruction of the site as of 2021. Genga Lupukngna Moyongna Yaanga Village at Playa Vista: Volume III (PDF). City of Los Angeles. 2009. pp...
was recorded as meaning "rock" in the Tongva language. Genga Lupukngna Yaanga Papers on Great Basin Prehistory. University of California Archaeology Research...
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