Editing Tongva (section)

=== Land use issues ===
Controversies have arisen in contemporary California related to land-use issues and Native American rights, including those of the Tongva. Since the late twentieth century, both the state and the United States governments have improved respect of Indigenous rights and tribal sovereignty. The Tongva have challenged local development plans in the courts in order to protect and preserve some of their sacred grounds. Given the long Indigenous history in the area, not all archaeological sites have been identified.

Sometimes land developers have inadvertently disturbed Tongva burial grounds.<ref>[http://134.71.196.75/oldprojects/421sp2003/01/reschwarzberg/Media/PDF/Gabrieleno-Tongva%20Tribe.pdf Schwarzberg, Robert; "Displacement of the Gabrielino-Tongva Indians"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703034441/http://134.71.196.75/oldprojects/421sp2003/01/reschwarzberg/Media/PDF/Gabrieleno-Tongva%20Tribe.pdf |date=2011-07-03 }}</ref> The tribe denounced [[archeologists|archaeologists]] breaking bones of ancestral remains found during an excavation of a site at Playa Vista.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/mcglr38&div=37&id=&page=|title=Grave Disturbances: Been Digging Lately Review of Selected 2007 California Legislation: Public Resources 38 McGeorge Law Review 2007|website=heinonline.org|access-date=6 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170111064705/http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals%2Fmcglr38&div=37&id=&page=|archive-date=11 January 2017}}</ref>

In the 1990s, the Gabrielino/Tongva Springs Foundation revived use of the [[Tongva Sacred Springs]], also known as Kuruvungna Springs, for sacred ceremonies. The natural springs are located on the site of a former Tongva village, now developed as the campus of [[University High School (Los Angeles, California)|University High School]] in [[West Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California|West Los Angeles]]. The Tongva consider the springs to be one of their last remaining sacred sites and they regularly make them the centerpiece of ceremonial events.<ref name="Tongva Sacred Springs">{{cite web |title=Kuruvungna Village Springs History and the Gabrielino {{!}} Tongva Springs Foundation |url=http://gabrielinosprings.com/wpsite/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FactSheet_KuruvungnaSprings2021.pdf |access-date=5 August 2024 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20211024065510/http://gabrielinosprings.com/wpsite/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/FactSheet_KuruvungnaSprings2021.pdf |archive-date=24 October 2021 |date=2021}}</ref>

The Tongva have another sacred area known as ''[[Puvunga|Puvungna]].'' They believe it is the birthplace of the Tongva prophet [[Chinigchinix|Chingishnish]], and many believe it to be the place of creation. The site contains an active spring and the area was formerly inhabited by a Tongva village. It has been developed as part of the grounds of [[California State University, Long Beach]]. A portion of Puvungna, a Tongva burial ground on the western edge of the campus, is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. In October 2019, following the dumping of soil, along with concrete, rebar and other debris, on "land that holds archaeological artefacts actively used by local Tribal groups for ceremonies"<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-29|title=State agency criticizes Cal State University for damaging sacred Native site|url=http://www.oc-breeze.com/2020/09/28/188004_state-agency-criticizes-cal-state-university-for-damaging-sacred-native-site/|access-date=2021-01-18|website=Orange County Breeze|language=en-US|archive-date=September 14, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914214053/http://www.oc-breeze.com/2020/09/28/188004_state-agency-criticizes-cal-state-university-for-damaging-sacred-native-site/|url-status=live}}</ref> from a nearby construction site, the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, [[Acjachemen]] Nation–Belardes (an organization that [[List of organizations that self-identify as Native American tribes|self-identifies as a Native American tribe]]), and the California Cultural Resource Preservation Alliance (CCRPA) filed a lawsuit against the university.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jordan|first=Rachel|date=2020-12-01|title=Protect Puvungna: Indigenous peoples fight to preserve land on CSULB campus|url=https://abc7.com/8418295/|access-date=2021-01-18|website=ABC7 Los Angeles|language=en|archive-date=January 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127204725/https://abc7.com/8418295/|url-status=live}}</ref> In November 2019, the university agreed to stop dumping materials onto the site, and as of 2020 the lawsuit between these parties is still ongoing.<ref>{{Cite web|last=DiMaggio|first=Karla M. Enriquez with additional reporting by Emma|title=Inside the struggle to preserve Puvungna|url=https://signaltribunenewspaper.com/54784/community/inside-the-struggle-to-preserve-puvungna/|access-date=2021-01-18|website=The Signal Tribune newspaper|archive-date=December 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231055848/https://signaltribunenewspaper.com/54784/community/inside-the-struggle-to-preserve-puvungna/|url-status=live}}</ref>