My Place of Origin 

I returned to my parents home under the veil of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since being back I have been overtaken by the history of this land I grew up within. Above is a study of the neighborhood as seen from the front of the house. The neighborhood was established as a suburbish community for World War Two McDonald Douglas factory workers. Although the plots are not very large, many of our neighbors have built large remodeled homes. Watching this take place throughout my life has been like having a canyon grow up around me.

My Great Grandmother Rose remembers the land before they built houses. It was a lima bean field. The soil here, though a bit clay heavy is very wonderful. The La Ballona Creek runs close by and before it was channelized and cemented it delivered rich silt through its meandering. At times the Los Angeles River fed into the La Ballona creek too. Here is what what the creek looked like before it was cemented.

Our house is sandwiched between La Ballona Creek and the west side of the Baldwin Hills. Before our neighborhood and even before the lima bean field, this land was the home of the Tongva tribal band. The Creek fed into wetlands and the Baldwin Hills would have made certain for dry areas with oaks, and game right by the running water. I think it would have been a very special life. Here are Matates found at the Baldwin hills.

Europeans did not recognize the grace, brilliance and spirit with which the Tongva tended the land. They mistook well managed landscapes for a bountiful yet underutilized land to be taken for their own exploitations. The first European to manage this land was a Spanish chap named Agustin Machado.

Agustin Machado’s first adobe home was built on where is now Overland Ave and the La Ballona Creek, just a few blocks from our home. He would later rebuild his ranch after the original home was swept up in a flood. Here are ruins from the his second attempt, a little up hill.

Machado received a Land Grant for this area he called La Ballona. The land included much of culver city up into La Cienega, the La Ballona Creek all the way down into the wetlands, which is now Playa del Rey and all the way down where it met the ocean. In this area he racnhed cattle. Here is what his brand looked like.

Through my time here I have felt the resonance of this land and seek to listen to it and live on it with great respect and deep communication.