{"id":17093,"date":"2023-10-12T15:25:17","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T22:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/?p=17093"},"modified":"2024-08-02T11:04:11","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T18:04:11","slug":"mapping-la-indigenous-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/mapping-la-indigenous-past\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapping project reveals LA\u2019s Indigenous past, aims to inform the city\u2019s future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/phil_ethington_mapping_la_hero_dornsife-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/phil_ethington_mapping_la_hero_dornsife-1920x1080.jpg 1920w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/phil_ethington_mapping_la_hero_dornsife-1280x720.jpg 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/phil_ethington_mapping_la_hero_dornsife-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  role=\"none\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  <strong>Southern California\u2019s Sustainable Past.<\/strong> Trade routes (red) connect Indigenous villages (red points) among mountains, rivers (blue) and other land features in the years before Europeans arrived. (Image source: Courtesty of Philip Ethington\/LALAH 2023.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=sustainability\">Sustainability<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>Mapping project reveals LA\u2019s Indigenous past, aims to inform the city\u2019s future<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Led by USC Dornsife\u2019s Spatial Sciences Institute, the new \u201cMapping Los Angeles Landscape History\u201d report offers a detailed, first-of-its-kind look at the region\u2019s natural ecology before European settlers arrived.\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Daniel P. Smith<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">October 12, 2023<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" width=\"19\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m7.43475275 9.52380952-2.17490843 2.26076008c-1.08745421 1.058837-1.68841575 2.518315-1.68841575 4.0350275 0 1.5167124.60096154 2.9475732 1.68841575 4.0350274 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xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"m8.14285714 9.42857143c-.17142857 0-.34285714 0-.51428571.08571428l7.28571427 6.34285719c.3428572.2571428.6857143.2571428.9428572 0l7.2857142-6.34285719c-.0857142-.08571428-.2571428-.08571428-.4285714-.08571428zm-1.28571428 1.11428567v.1714286 8.5714286c0 .6857143.6 1.2857143 1.28571428 1.2857143h14.57142856c.6857143 0 1.2857143-.6 1.2857143-1.2857143v-8.5714286c0-.0857143 0-.0857143 0-.1714286l-7.2 6.3428572c-.7714286.6857143-1.8857143.6857143-2.6571429 0z\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" transform=\"translate(-6 -9)\"\/><\/svg>\n            <\/span>\n            <span class=\"a2a_label visually-hidden\">Email<\/span>\n          <\/a>\n                  <\/span>\n  <\/div>\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n \n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>The perspective of Indigenous peoples ranks high among the features of a new, historical mapping project of the Los Angeles region, one that offers a resource to guide local planning efforts involving sustainability, habitat restoration and climate change preparation.<a href=\"https:\/\/sustainability.usc.edu\/assignment-earth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-16067\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/AE_News-Rubric-150x150.png\" alt=\"On a gold background, &quot;Asgmt Earth&quot; appears inside a black circle and &quot;USC&quot; inside a small, white circle that slightly overlaps the black circle.\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/AE_News-Rubric-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/AE_News-Rubric-500x500.png 500w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/AE_News-Rubric-1024x1024.png 1024w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/AE_News-Rubric-768x768.png 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/AE_News-Rubric-320x320.png 320w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/07\/AE_News-Rubric.png 1250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Blending insight from representatives of local Indigenous communities, extensive archival research and contemporary technologies such as spatial analysis and modeling, the long-running project headed by the Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI) at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences has developed the first systematic map of L.A.\u2019s natural ecology.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/lalandscapehistory.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mapping Los Angeles Landscape History<\/a>\u201d offers a comprehensive view of the region\u2019s natural environment and how Indigenous people interacted with the land and each other in a sustainable way before the arrival of European settlers.<\/p>\n<p>The three-year collaborative effort drew on expertise from USC and four local public universities \u2014 UCLA and the Los Angeles, Northridge and Long Beach campuses of Cal State University \u2014 as well as three tribes: the Barbare\u00f1o\/Venture\u00f1o Chumash, Fernande\u00f1o-Tataviam and Gabriele\u00f1o-Kizh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis work gives rich insights into the ecological and cultural history of Los Angeles along with valuable context that should help city planners, land developers or anyone, including the public, ensure their projects don\u2019t repeat the mistakes of the past,\u201d said John Wilson, founding director of SSI and a project co-principal investigator.<\/p>\n<h2>Driving sustainability and deepening connections to place<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cMapping Los Angeles\u201d contributors recognize a more comprehensive understanding of the region\u2019s past can play a powerful role in shaping its future.<\/p>\n<p>Over millions of years, the region\u2019s ecology evolved to resist regular droughts, fires and floods. But as the region became highly urbanized, it exceeded nature\u2019s limits and subjected the area to various inconveniences and dangers. Non-native plants entered the ground. Wetlands were drained and surfaces regraded and paved.<\/p>\n<p>The report delivers important context and framework, says Philip Ethington, professor of history, political science and spatial sciences at USC Dornsife and the project\u2019s principal investigator. It provides residents, leaders and policymakers alike an understanding of how the natural regional ecology operates, which can inform thoughtful and climate-sensitive restoration and sustainability efforts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly with an informed understanding of how this environment operates, and how the indigenous managed it successfully for thousands of years, can we hope to recover its balance and sustainability,\u201d Ethington says.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the sustainability angle, the project also aims to generate a deeper appreciation of place among the area\u2019s contemporary residents, including how Indigenous people interacted with the land and the region\u2019s pre-urbanization landscape. Tribal scholar Matthew Vestuto, chair of the Barbare\u00f1o\/Venture\u00f1o Band of Mission Indians and a co-principal investigator of the report, says the project offers a longer look at what was and, hopefully, inspires what can be.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope our collaborative work ignites a more intimate understanding of place and that people feel more connected to this land we belong to,\u201d Vestuto says. \u201cThat way, they love it, take care of it and feel responsible for its health.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_17095\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17095\" style=\"width: 2400px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/phil_ethington_mapping_la_instorya.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17095 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/phil_ethington_mapping_la_instorya.jpg\" alt=\"Map\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/phil_ethington_mapping_la_instorya.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/phil_ethington_mapping_la_instorya-500x270.jpg 500w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/phil_ethington_mapping_la_instorya-1024x553.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/phil_ethington_mapping_la_instorya-768x414.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/phil_ethington_mapping_la_instorya-1536x829.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/10\/phil_ethington_mapping_la_instorya-2048x1105.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-17095\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The \u201cMapping Los Angeles\u201d project\u2019s storymap blends interactive maps, text, audio and images that share the history of the region\u2019s Indigenous landscape. Shown here are the underlying potential natural vegetation; streams, rivers and washes from around 1900; the focal Indigenous villages of the study; and land and sea routes between the villages. (Image: Courtesy of Travis Longcore\/LALAH 2023.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>A multi-layered effort to understand the region\u2019s past<\/h2>\n<p>Funded by the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, the 120-page report describes six village sites \u2014modern-day Malibu, Encino, downtown Los Angeles, Whittier Narrows, San Fernando and Long Beach \u2014 and provides detailed maps of the natural environment.<\/p>\n<p>Leaning into the work of biologists, geographers and historians, including those representing Indigenous tribes, the project includes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Topographic reconstruction:<\/strong> Using sophisticated image recognition tools and an international volunteer effort, the team extracted the elevations of some 15 million individual points located on historical topographic maps to create the first-ever historical digital elevation model of the L.A. Basin from Ventura County to Orange County.<\/li>\n<li><strong>An aerial photograph mosaic:<\/strong> The researchers linked together various images from 1928 into a continuous map covering 1,745 square miles across the region.<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cBlue line\u201d streams and water bodies:<\/strong> Informed by 1890s and 1920s-era topographic maps from the U.S. Geological Survey, the project team digitized rivers, lakes, streams, wetlands, ponds and other water features. The information can be laid over contemporary maps to reveal the location of buried streams, wetlands and water features.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Indigenous trade networks and travel pathways:<\/strong> Drawing on extensive archival sources, sketches, Indigenous place names and other records, the project\u2019s contributors constructed a map of the pre-European trade and movement networks across the region. One notable finding: Ventura Boulevard and the 101 freeway corridor was a well-traveled path long before Europeans arrived, asphalt covered the ground and automobiles chugged down the roadway.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Historical bird distributions:<\/strong> Using nest location records and a natural vegetation map, the project team estimated historical bird species composition, noting how the presence of different bird species shifted with urbanization.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Plant habitat models:<\/strong> Leveraging both current and historical environmental data, researchers used artificial intelligence methods to develop plant habitat models that suggest historical distribution of notable species, including oak and walnut trees and elderberry bushes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Combining diverse archival research and traditional knowledge of the area from Indigenous people with modern computational tools that support spatial analysis, mapping and modeling, \u201cMapping Los Angeles\u201d creates a detailed and multidimensional picture of the landscape as it existed centuries ago.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll knowledge we have produced or shared has in turn informed additional project components, and it remains a continually growing and evolving research enterprise,\u201d says Beau MacDonald, GIS project administrator at SSI and one of the report\u2019s 19 co-principal investigators. John Wilson, founding director of SSI and a project co-principal investigator, said the report is a multifaceted tool that will pay dividends for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-related-stories\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--section-title\">\n\n    \n  <h2>\n          Related Articles\n      <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n                  <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/computational-linguistics-student-finds-love-of-language-and-ai-safety-at-usc-dornsife\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Love of language and community \u2014 and AI safety \u2014 fuel graduating senior\u2019s USC Dornsife experience<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/ai-may-promote-cultural-homogenization\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >AI is changing more than your writing \u2014 it may be shaping your worldview<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/older-patients-willing-to-travel-longer-than-expected-for-health-care\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >How far will seniors go for a doctor visit? Often much farther than expected<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n            <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Led by USC Dornsife\u2019s Spatial Sciences Institute, a new report offers a detailed, unique look at the region\u2019s natural ecology before European settlers arrived.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":17094,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[70,63,95,1922],"class_list":["post-17093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sustainability","tag-academy-in-the-public-square","tag-community-engagement","tag-social-sciences","tag-ssi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mapping project reveals 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