Hahamongna, California facts for kids
Hahamongna and Hahamog-na are the names of two old village sites where the Tongva people used to live. These villages are in the Verdugo Mountains in Southern California. They are named after the local group of Tongva people, called the Hahamog'na. Today, you can find these sites in Pasadena and Glendale, which are cities in Los Angeles County, California. Hahamongna was one of the biggest Tongva villages in the wider San Fernando Valley area. Other large villages included Cahuenga, Tujunga, and Siutcanga.
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Where Were These Villages Located?
Hahamongna Village in Glendale
The village of Hahamongna was located in what is now Glendale. It was on the lower slopes of the southwestern Verdugo Mountains. It also stretched onto the eastern plain of the San Fernando Valley. The Los Angeles River flowed freely just to the south of the village. Later, this village moved to the western part of Rancho San Rafael. This was an early Spanish land grant given in 1784. The governor of Las Californias, Pedro Fages, gave this land to Spanish Corporal José María Verdugo (1751–1831). This area is now part of Glendale in the San Fernando Valley.
Hahamog-na Village in Arroyo Seco
Hahamog-na is an archaeological site. This means it's a place where scientists find old things from past cultures. This Tongva village site is in the upper Arroyo Seco area. It is just above a spot called Devil's Gate. Today, this area is near Altadena, Pasadena, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
This location is where the lower parts of the eastern Verdugo Mountains meet the southern San Gabriel Mountains. It also meets the western San Rafael Hills in the Arroyo Seco canyon valley. The Hahamog-na site is now part of a protected natural area. This area is called Hahamongna Watershed Park. It covers about 300-acre (1.2 km2). The park has different types of natural areas. These include freshwater marsh wetlands, areas along rivers called riparian zones, native oak woodlands, and chaparral elfin forests.
The Hahamog-na Tongva People
The group of Tongva people who lived in the Verdugo Mountains area were called the Hahamog-na or Hahamongna. Non-native settlers and historians gave them these names. The two village sites have similar-sounding names. This might be because the same group of people lived in both places. More research is being done with today's Tongva-Gabrieleño people and historians to learn more about this.
