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Tataviam tribe write up

Andrew Moore
Tataviam tribe
March 20, 2019
The tataviam tribe and Santa clarita
Going to calarts allows me to study about native Americans as people and not subjects. With no classes about general history of the natives from America and more classes about how we view and treat native people as others. But outside of class, how can I relate my ancestry to the ground I stand on?
         My grandfather lived on the reservation in Arizona. He was originally from the Hopi tribe, which was absorbed into an amalgamation tribe called the Colorado river indians. I never got to visit him because of a broken connection with my father. I realize now it is my responsibility to learn who I am and who my people were. It is no use ignorantly identifying, it is very important to represent this side of me well, for the sake of those that could not rise up in the past.
         The Tataviam tribe derived their name from the sun, specifically meaning people facing the sun. Living all across Los Angeles the tataviam are thriving by native tribal standards. They lost a lot when the Spanish came to conquer them. With no full blooded tataviam anymore, they are becoming insecure. There are many great programs created by them for them, but they are not much spoken of. They have a rich language that is nuanced in its relation of people to the earth. Based on a documentary an example of that nuance is demonstrated through the words earth and body, respectively translating to mut and maat. They ate berries, nuts, and yucca, along with other small desert animals.
         In 1797 the tribe was conquered and enslaved and there were missions built for the Catholics, run by the natives through slave labor. Men and women were forced to marry others from different tribes in an attempt to stop the direct bloodlines.
         I did not know who these natives were until at a Latin fest event asked us to take a moment of silence for acknowledging of the land we stand on, and that it is sacred ground. This needs to be a more common occurrence on campus since it is so easy to place it in the very back of your mind.

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