The Tongva Before and After Spanish Arrival

A Tongva man and woman work outside their home

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Students will produce a written response, using a mural of Toypurina as a prompt. They will also examine images of the Tongva within the context of how they lived “before missions” and “within the mission system" with a focus on how the mission system impacted their culture and quality of life. Students will work in collaborative groups to analyze images, record observations, make inferences, and respond to questions generated.

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American history has long been told as a triumphant march westward from the Atlantic coast, but in southern California, our history stretches back further in time. This episode explores the interconnected lives of three people who lived through California's transition from native land to Spanish colony and from to Mexican province to American state. Featuring the stories of native teacher Toypurina, who led the revolt against the San Gabriel Mission, Spanish soldier Jose Marco Pico, who served at the mission, and his son Pio Pico, who became the last Mexican Governor of California.

Lesson: What was life like for the Tongva before and after Spanish arrival?

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Content Standards

4.2: Students describe the social, political, cultural, and economic life and interactions among people of California from the pre-Columbian societies to the Spanish mission and Mexican rancho periods.

4.2.1: Discuss the major nations of California Indians, including their geographic distribution, economic activities, legends, and religious beliefs; and describe how they depended on, adapted to, and modified the physical environment by cultivation of land and use of sea resources.

4.2.5: Describe the daily lives of the people, native and non-native, who occupied the presidios, missions, ranchos, and pueblos.

4.2.6: Discuss the role of the Franciscans in changing the economy of California from a hunter-gatherer economy, to an agricultural economy.

CCSS Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.7: Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively

CCSS. ELA-LITERACY.W.4.1: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Toypurina: A Legend Etched in the Landscape of Los Angeles

Gabrieleno Tongva Mission Indians

Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West

The Lost LA Curriculum project is a collaboration among PBS SoCal, USC Libraries, the UCLA History-Geography Project and the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

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