Pajbenga

Pajbenga, alternative spelling Pagbigna[1] and Pasbengna,[2] was a Tongva village located at Santa Ana, California, near the El Refugio Adobe, which was the home of José Sepulveda (now located near the intersection of Raitt Street and Myrtle Street).[3][4] It was one of the main villages along the Santa Ana River, including Lupukngna, Genga, Totpavit, and Hutuknga.[5][6] People from the village were recorded in mission records as Pajebet,[7] Pajbet, Pajbebet, and Pajbepet.[1]

Pajbenga may have had a population between 100-250 residents.[3] Like many surrounding villages, Pajbenga's residents likely subsisted on oak trees for acorns and seeds from various grasses and sage bushes. Rabbit and mule deer were also likely consumed for meat. The village also presumably had deep trade connections with coastal villages and those further inland.[5]

Between 1776 and 1807, 13 people were baptized from the village, including 2 men, 4 women, and 7 children as part of the larger colonial project of Christian conversion of Indigenous peoples at Spanish missions in California. Like surrounding villages, residents were most likely baptized at Mission San Gabriel and Mission San Juan Capistrano.[1]

Some maps have placed Pajbenga on the eastern bank of the Santa Ana River at the center of Santa Ana,[2][5] while others place it right across the western bank at the confluence of the Santa Ana River and the Santiago Creek.[7][8]

  1. ^ a b c Reports of the University of California Archaeological Survey, Issues 72-74. University of California Archaeological Survey, Department of Anthropology, University of California. 1968. p. 114.
  2. ^ a b Greene, Sean; Curwen, Thomas. "Mapping the Tongva villages of L.A.'s past". www.latimes.com. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  3. ^ a b House pits and middens : a methodological study of site structure and formation processes at CA-ORA-116, Newport Bay, Orange County, California. Donn R. Grenda, Christopher J. Doolittle, Jeffrey H. Altschul, United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Los Angeles District, United States. Food and Drug Administration. Tucson, Ariz.: Statistical Research, Inc. 1998. p. 17. ISBN 1-879442-66-3. OCLC 41262575.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ "Indian Villages". OC Historyland. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  5. ^ a b c Catalysts to complexity : late Holocene societies of the California coast. Jon Erlandson, Terry L. Jones, Jeanne E. Arnold, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA. 2002. pp. 64, 66. ISBN 978-1-938770-67-8. OCLC 745176510.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. ^ Santa Ana River Main Stem and Santiago Creek. 1978. pp. 31–32.
  7. ^ a b Martínez, Roberta H. (2009). Latinos in Pasadena. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7385-6955-0. OCLC 402526696.
  8. ^ Santa Ana River Main Stem and Santiago Creek: Environmental Impact Statement. United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. 1978. pp. 31–32.