Gabrielle Crowe on Reclaiming Indigenous Culture in Southern California
Channel: Robin Greenfield
Date: 2022-05-03

Sometimes you meet someone and you just know that your energies align!

I met Gabrielle Crowe at a river cleanup here on Tongva Lands. This is the land currently called Los Angeles that has been the homeland of the Tongva people for thousands of years and still is.
Gabrielle is the vice chair of the Gabrielino-Shoshone Tribal Council of Southern California and it is her life's work to shift the mindset of Southern Californians to be Earth Warriors and allies to the Indigenous people, the first stewards of this land.
She works with children and adults to educate on the destruction of colonialism on the land and her people. Most people living here today don't know that up until the 1970’s it was illegal for Gabrielle's people to practice their culture including their language, their medicine, their religion and their connection to the Earth.
Traditions were lost and stolen over 200 years of colonialism in what is currently called California.
Gabrielle is one of many working to reclaim their culture, a culture of reciprocity with the land. This is challenging in a place that is overcome with consumerism, but Gabrielle is here doing the work...

One way that Gabrielle recommends being an ally is to acknowledge the land that you are living on or visiting. Native Land website is a resource that can help you do this. “Native Land Digital strives to create and foster conversations about the history of colonialism, Indigenous ways of knowing, and settler-Indigenous relations, through educational resources such as our map and Territory Acknowledgement Guide. We strive to go beyond old ways of talking about Indigenous people and to develop a platform where Indigenous communities can represent themselves and their histories on their own terms. In doing so, Native Land Digital creates spaces where non-Indigenous people can be invited and challenged to learn more about the lands they inhabit, the history of those lands, and how to actively be part of a better future going forward together."

Thank you Gabrielle for being a beacon for Earth and humanity!
You have positively influenced me to acknowledge that I and we are ALL on #NativeLand.
“The Gabrieleno San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians ("Gabrieleno Tongva") is the Historically Traditional Tribe within the County of Los Angeles. The Gabrieleno Tongva occupied the entire Los Angeles Basin and the islands of the Santa Catalina, San Nicholas, San Clemente and Santa Barbara, and from the mountains to the sea. The existence of these people on these ancestral lands has been unbroken since long before the first contact between the Tongva and Europeans.”

Learn more about Gabrielle Crowe:
https://ballona.org/new-board-member-presenting-gabrielle-crowe/

Genga/Banning Ranch land rematriation project:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=as08qgA3sTE
Help save Genga (Banning Ranch), a sacred site for the Acjachemen and Tongva Nations

Watch the Saging the World trailer: 
https://vimeo.com/694109001

Resources:
https://gabrielinotribe.org
https://www.gabrieleno-nsn.us
https://ballona.org
Native Land https://native-land.ca
“We strive to map Indigenous lands in a way that changes, challenges, and improves the way people see history and the present day. We hope to strengthen the spiritual bonds that people have with the land, its people, and its meaning.”

Teach students the truth about history of Native Californians: https://calmatters.org/commentary/2022/03/teach-students-the-truth-about-history-of-native-californians

Robin Greenfield is a truth-seeker, activist, social reformer and servant to Earth, humanity and our plant and animal relatives. He lives simply and sustainably to be the change he wishes to see in the world. Through living closely connected to Earth, he rejects the status quo of consumerism and demonstrates a way of being in gratitude, mindfulness and presence. His life is an experiment with truth and integrity.

Robin’s public activism involves dramatic actions designed to provoke critical thought, self-reflection and positive change. His activism creates nuanced conversations on the critical issues of our time, with a focus on solutions for living in harmony. 
His life’s work has been covered by media worldwide and he has been named “The Robin Hood of Modern Times” by France 2 TV and “The Forrest Gump of Ecology”. 

Robin has committed to earning below the federal poverty threshold for life and donates 100% of his media earnings to grassroots nonprofits, with a focus on supporting Black and Indigenous women-led organizations.

Website: https://www.robingreenfield.org

Robin Greenfield’s work is offered as a gift to the public domain. This content is Creative Commons and is free to be copied, republished and redistributed. Learn about Creative Commons and follow the guidelines here: https://www.robingreenfield.org/creativecommons