Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy

What happened

The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy is a nonprofit tied to the Gabrieleño/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians. It has no website that could be found. Most of what is known comes from a First Nations Development Institute impact story. That story calls it a Tongva-led nonprofit and says Taraxat Paaxaavxa roughly translates to "the people's land." Kimberly Johnson is quoted as the Conservancy's vice president.

The story says the Conservancy now holds about one acre of property at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains in Altadena, California, with a house, a cottage and grounds for gatherings. It reports that the owner, Sharon Alexander, who was interested in land-back efforts, transferred the property to the Conservancy. The same article elsewhere says the Conservancy "purchased" it, so the terms are unclear. The land was publicly announced in a Los Angeles Times story on Indigenous Peoples Day in 2022.

First Nations says its California Tribal Fund gave the Conservancy $60,000 in grants over spring and summer 2021 for repairs, a part-time coordinator and legal counsel. The Conservancy plans ceremony space and a native plant garden.

ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer lists Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy of Altadena as a 501(c)(3) with exemption issued in January 2022.

Good to know. The only account, from a funder, says both that the land was transferred and that it was purchased. The Tongva San Gabriel Band is not federally recognized, and no donation page was found.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error