Editor:

In your February 2nd Letter from the Editor, you made a good point about Pomona’s inferiority complex and the fact that we should embrace our own uniqueness. Ironically, however, your assertion that we should change the name of Indian Hill Blvd. plays into the same denial of our uniqueness by suggesting we erase the only official trace of one of the most unique aspects of Claremont’s history. "The Indian Hill" refers to the top of the hill that the colleges are built on, most specifically to the land taken up by the Bernard Field Station (BFS) and the Botanic Gardens. It is called that because the Tongva village of Torojoatnga once sat on the land now occupied by the Bernard Field Station. The Tongva left Claremont (coincidentally, I’m sure) at about the time that Pomona College moved in, but their oral history, old city maps, and the memories of old Claremont residents all mark the BFS as the site of their sacred village. The Tongva have continually spoken against the plan to develop the Bernard Field Station. They consider it one of the last links to their past and their traditional way of life. It is one of the few places they can still gather native plants for traditional ceremonies. All of us in Claremont should respect this; in fact, we should embrace the fact that Claremont began on the BFS. Claremont has a unique history stretching back thousands of years, but this history has been at best ignored and, at worst, suppressed.

The Colleges and city council have attempted to marginalize the Tongva in their plans to develop BFS, claiming that they never lived on that land or that they are not a valid and recognized tribe. The Colleges make no mention of the Native artifacts in their possession - artifacts that might have belonged to the Tongva - nor do they speak of the sacred Tongva sites that now lie under buildings such as Big Bridges and the Gold Center. Over 3000 Tongva villages lie beneath the sprawl that is LA county, yet Torojoatnga has miraculously survived. But this makes no difference to those in power, who view Claremont’s native people as just another obstacle in the path to getting their way.

But perhaps you were right, after all. Perhaps "Tongva Blvd" or "Torojoatnga Way" would be more appropriate than the generic "Indian Hill." That, along with keeping BFS undeveloped, would be a good first step in acknowledging the important role the Tongva have played in the history of Claremont, a good first step in reversing the pattern of Native oppression that Americans have been pursuing for hundreds of years.

Sincerely,

Lenard Molina ’02