Genga, California

Fairview Park in Costa Mesa (2017) adjacent to Banning Ranch.

Genga, alternative spelling Gengaa and Kengaa,[1][2] was a Tongva and Acjachemen village located on Newport Mesa overlooking the Santa Ana River in the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, California area which included an open site now referred to as Banning Ranch.[3][4][5] Archaeological evidence dates the village at over 9,000 years old.[6][7] Villagers were recorded as Gebit in Spanish Mission records.[8] The village may have been occupied as late as 1829 or 1830.[1]

An attempt in 2001 to preserve a nearby 9,000 year old village site from commercial development failed. A similar attempt to save a burial site of Genga in the 2010s also failed.[7][6] This has initiated concerns over preservation in the area. A large part of the contemporary site of Genga situated in Banning Ranch may be transformed into a public open space as of 2022. The Tongva and Acjachemen support having a voice in the process.[3]

  1. ^ a b "Southern California Indian Curriculum Guide" (PDF). The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art. 2002.
  2. ^ Hernandez, Kelly Lytle (2017). City of inmates : conquest, rebellion, and the rise of human caging in Los Angeles, 1771-1965. Chapel Hill. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-4696-3119-6. OCLC 974947592.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Randall Preserve - Our Work in CA". Trust for Public Land. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  5. ^ Greene, Sean; Curwen, Thomas (9 May 2019). "Mapping the Tongva villages of L.A.'s past". www.latimes.com. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Loewe, Ronald (2016). Of sacred lands and strip malls : the battle for Puvungna. Lanham, MD. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-7591-2162-1. OCLC 950751182.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^ Martínez, Roberta H. (2009). Latinos in Pasadena. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7385-6955-0. OCLC 402526696.