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From http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2014/10/27/topanga-cahuenga-and-tujunga-sounds-from-a-rediscovered-local-language/ideas/nexus/

Topanga, Cahuenga, and Tujunga—Sounds from a Rediscovered Local Language
The Words of L.A.’s Tongva Indians Live On
by Pamela Munro
October 27, 2014

As Los Angeles fourth graders know (because their curriculum includes the study of California Indians), the original language of Los Angeles is Tongva. This American Indian language (also called Gabrielino) used to be spoken in villages all over the L.A. Basin and, in a related dialect, throughout most of the San Fernando Valley.

These villages have given their names to places all over Los Angeles, including Tujunga (from Tongva Tuhuunga “place of the old woman”) and Cahuenga (from Kawee’nga “place of the fox”). Some names don’t have translations we know of, such as Topanga (in Tongva, Topaa’nga). But despite these ever-present reminders, the language has not been spoken for over 50 years. Some people thus might call Tongva “extinct,” but that word is hurtful to Tongva people who would like to see their language awakened once more.

Read on to find out what is being done to revitalize Tongva: http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2014/10/27/topanga-cahuenga-and-tujunga-sounds-from-a-rediscovered-local-language/ideas/nexus/