May 29th RAPP Movie

[Oss Rae]

I learned a lot from movie and the discussion afterward. Following up on the discussion of Hahamongna, here's a write-up I did last year on what was going on then, the ancient history of the site, and what's at stake. (My understanding is the government has since decided to go with the more expensive and environmentally destructive plan, which will involve defoliating much of the area, as opposed to a more sustainable, environmentally-sane, long-range approach. The former is more financially lucrative. A lawsuit is underway challenging this decision.)

la.indymedia.org/news/2014/04/263707.php

[Brian]

What a great article, Ross! Thank you so much for posting the link.

I learned more about the earliest locals and how they lived from you -- in one place -- than anywhere else in my lifetime.  And you brought back the smells and tastes of my childhood, pretending that we were "Indians" with the same plants near my house, until the "brush" was cleared to build a Lucky supermarket in 1968.

[Oss Rae]

Oh, ank you-thay.

I've been studying the Tongva language for the last several years as well as original placenames. Several of the placenames are still in use, including, as you probably know, Tujunga (I just looked up what's believed to be the meaning of this name. If you'd like, I can share it--I don't know how much you already know).

This is another article I did some years ago about Indigenous history in Arcadia and adjacent areas: la.indymedia.org/news/2008/11/222605.php.

There's a whole section at LA IndyMedia about Indigenous Rights and Issues that I administer and contribute many articles: la.indymedia.org/features/Indigenous_Rights/

[Oss Rae]

One other comment I wanted to make about the discussion period last Friday: I believe it was Sharon who said she wonders if all the protesting during the Vietnam era had any effect. I was too young to be protesting then and wasn't following world events that closely; however, I've been hearing on KPFK lately of a plan by Nixon and Kissinger to use at least one nuke on Vietnam, but they held off because of the unpopularity of the war.

Also, even though many U.S. troops had been withdrawn by '73-'74, Nixon, et al planned a major offensive on Vietnam but canceled it due to the Watergate fall-out.

I may have heard all this in excerpts of Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States (http://www.oliverstone.com/untoldhistory), though I may have also heard it in a talk by Noam Chomsky or Chris Hedges.

So it seems the peace movement here had a significant effect.

I sometimes wonder about my almost-13 years of protesting Iraq and Afghanistan, but it may be sometime before information surfaces about our effectiveness here as well.