Editing Tongva (section)

== Traditional narratives ==
{{further|Traditional narratives of Indigenous Californians}}
Tongva/Gabrieleño/Fernandeño oral literature is relatively little known, due to their early Christianization in the 1770s by [[Spanish missions in California]]. The available evidence suggests strong cultural links with the group's linguistic kin and neighbors to the south and east, the [[Luiseño people|Luiseño]] and the [[Cahuilla]].<ref>Kroeber (1925) pp. 623–626 has fragments of myths, with comparisons. McCawley (1996) includes previously unpublished narratives collected in 1914–1933 by [[John Peabody Harrington]], pp. 174–178. Heizer (1968) notes that Hugo Reid's letter of 1852 contains what he describes as a kind of [[Orpheus]] legend.{{Clarify|date=December 2011}}</ref>

According to Kroeber (1925), the pre-Christian Tongva had a "mythic-ritual-social six-god pantheon". The principal deity was [[Chinigchinix]], also known as [[Quaoar (mythology)|Quaoar]]. Another important figure is Weywot, the god of the sky, who was created by Quaoar.<ref name=planet>Lakdawalla, Emily. [http://planetary.org/blog/article/00002206/ "Two new names in the solar system: Herse and Weywot"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111209093120/http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002206 |date=2011-12-09 }}, ''The Planetary Society.'' 12 Nov 2009. Retrieved 18 March 2012.</ref> Weywot ruled over the Tongva, but he was very cruel, and he was finally killed by his own sons. When the Tongva assembled to decide what to do next, they had a vision of a ghostly being who called himself Quaoar, who said he had come to restore order and to [[Culture hero|give laws]] to the people. After he had given instructions as to which groups would have political and spiritual leadership, he began to dance and slowly ascended into heaven.<ref>Williams (2003), pp. 30–33.</ref>

After consulting with the Tongva, astronomers [[Michael E. Brown]] and [[Chad Trujillo]] used the name of Quaoar to name a large object in the [[Kuiper belt]] that they had discovered, [[50000 Quaoar]] (2002). When Brown later found [[Weywot (moon)|a satellite]] of Quaoar, he left the choice of name up to the Tongva, who selected Weywot (2009).<ref name=planet />