This guide is for students in American Indian & Indigenous Studies and other related courses.
With great respect, Cal State LA acknowledges the Tongva people as the traditional caretakers of
Tovaangar (TOE-von-gar) – the Tongva world, including the Los Angeles Basin, South Channel
Islands, San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, and portions of Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside
Counties. Cal State LA is located within these lands. As an institution located on unceded Tongva
land, we pay our respects to the ancestors, elders, and our relatives/relations, past, present, and
emerging.
Consistent with our values of community and diversity, we have a responsibility to acknowledge and
make visible the university’s relationship to Native peoples. By offering this Land Acknowledgement,
we affirm Indigenous sovereignty and will work to hold Cal State LA more accountable to the needs of
American Indian peoples.
Prepared by Dr. Kimberly Robertson (Mvskoke) and Tongva Elder Julia Bogany, 2020