An audio tour of Los Angeles’ native language

Listen to the inflections and melody of Tongva, as spoken by its students and teacher.

bear

bird

sun

sunflower

oak

jackrabbit

deer

river

lizard

quail

prickly pear cactus

wild rose

dog

ocean

abalone

island

whale

star

fire

nighthawk

coyote

owl

moon

Credits: Audio recordings by Katie Falkenberg. Tongva speakers: Virginia Carmelo, Pam Munro, Brent Scarcliff and Honor Calderon.