A City Map of Tongva Ancestors
An LA based animated children’s series, City of Ghosts, looks at Tovaangar representation
By Christine Trudeau
Netflix’s Peabody Award winning City of Ghosts, initially released in 2021, was created by writer Elizabeth Ito, of Adventure Time fame. It ran for one season and starred a group of adorably animated children as they investigate ghost hauntings around the Los Angeles area. In episode 4, titled Tovaangar, the episode departs its typical formula to take a deeper look at the place names across the city itself.
The episode doesn’t abandon the mystery investigative element of the show all together. Instead, it turns the ghost hunt into a search for a voice calling for Ghost Club member Jasper in another language that he does not yet recognize. Jasper is Tongva, and starts his interview describing what he likes to do in the park and with his family, and then starts explaining where he was when he first heard the voice.
As the club makes their way to investigate around the park more, they run into Mr. Craig, voiced by Tongva Cultural Educator, Craig Torres. Mr. Craig answers the club’s questions, and explains the concept of hearing a voice in a Tongvar cultural interpretation, and starts to help Jasper learn about his ancestors and his special connection with the land of Tovaangar. A raven starts leaving the club red string as clues to follow the voice further.
They walk down to the LA River where Mr. Craig introduces the club to Megan, voiced by Tongva poet Megan Dorame. Through a poem, Megan describes what life was like there before Spanish contact and the impact colonization had on the people of Tovaangar, and how the Tongva language is slowly being rediscovered. Mercedes D, voiced by Tongva artist Mercedes Dorame, then talks about how she incorporates red string into her work, representing “messy moments in life,” that creates points of connection like a map across a city.
Eventually, Jasper’s ghost reveals themselves, voiced by L. Frank Manriquez, she calls to him and reveals herself as Aawkut, his raven ancestor.
For only a twenty minute runtime, the episode packs in so much Tongva language and history, beautifully rendered in a way that connects well to a youth audience, but for adults as well. Rated for ages 7 and up, the series episode reveals a beautiful connection between the Tongva culture and the land.
This piece was reported and written with the support of an Ethnic Media Outreach Grant, made possible by the Stop the Hate initiative, funded by the California State Library (CSL) in partnership with the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA). To learn more about Stop the Hate or to report a hate incident, visit stopthehateca.org.
