Western Regional Honors Conference
Long Beach, California
Ryan Kennett (She/her)
While attending the Honors Conference in Long Beach, California, I had an opportunity to visit a sacred site called Puvungna, an area of gathering, learning, and exchange for the native Tongva people. While visiting the site, located in the heart of Orange County, I learned about the socio-political struggles of the land and its people, The struggles became prevalent as the West was settled and tribes in California were attempting to gain legal recognition; a majority of the tribes were not legally recognized due to their documentation never making it to Washington D.C. This lack of recognition didn’t only apply to the people; it applied to the land in which the Tongva people cared for. In 1972, several artifacts (primarily human remains) were dug up from the site; they were boxed up and put in the college of liberal arts at Long Beach University. Though the remains were reburied in 1979, the site had to go through a demanding legal process to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and despite that recognition, is still struggling today. After almost being turned into a strip mall, push-back from the community has only gotten stronger, and the site remains a place of ceremony and spiritual connection.