From Canoga to Chautauqua, Los Angeles is filled with names borrowed from indigenous languages across North America. The below list includes only locally-derived names, most of them coined long ago by the peoples who once lived here: the Chumash near Malibu, the Tataviam around San Fernando/Santa Clarita, and above all the Kizh, who settled throughout the region.
Many Angelenos don’t know “Kizh” and instead use “Tongva” as the name for this group of people. Through my research, I’ve come to side with Kizh descendants who argue that “Tongva” is a misnomer: they say that in 1905, anthropologist C. Hart Merriam misheard an elderly tribeswoman during an interview, scribbled down the word “Tongva” in his notes, and erroneously concluded that it was the name of her tribe. I personally found numerous references to the Kizh in 19th century publications and absolutely zero to the Tongva until Merriam’s report, so I think this argument is sound. At any rate, both names were forgotten until 1966, when Native American academic Jack D. Forbes revived “Tongva” as a substitute for the paternalistic “Gabrieliño Indian”, a reference to the people’s association with Mission San Gabriel. (Although Forbes grew up in L.A. County, he descended from East Coast tribes; I found no other sources for his claim besides Merriam.)
Anyway, on with the names, along with some accepted English translations:
- Azusa Avenue (Azusa, La Puente, West Covina). “Place of the grandmother”.
- Cahuenga Boulevard (Hollywood, North Hollywood, Hancock Park). “Place of the fox”.
- Castaic Road (Castaic). “The eyes/the face”.
- Hasley Canyon Road (Castaic). “Hollyleaf cherry” – but its provenance is questionable.
- Malibu Road (Malibu). “Place of the wild surf”.
- Matilija Avenue (Panorama City, Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys). No known translation.
- Moomat Ahiko Way (Santa Monica). “Breath of the ocean”.
- Pacoima Court (Studio City). Either “rushing water” or “the entrance”.
- Saticoy Street (San Fernando Valley). “Sheltered from the wind”, among other translations.
- Tajauta Avenue (Carson, Compton). No known translation.
- Topanga Canyon Boulevard (San Fernando Valley, Topanga Canyon, Malibu). “Place of the above”.
- Tujunga Avenue (North Hollywood, Studio City; also Burbank). “Place of the old woman”.