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Lupukngna was a coastal
Tongva
The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...
village that was at least 3,000 years old located on the bluffs along the
Santa Ana River
The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, before cutting through ...
in
Huntington Beach
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 during the 2020 census, maki ...
near the
Newland House Museum.
Other nearby coastal villages included
Genga, located in
West Newport Beach, and
Moyongna
Moyongna, alternatively spelled Moyonga, was a coastal Tongva village or landmark site located near the entrance of Newport Bay in Newport Beach, California near Corona del Mar. As a coastal village, the usage of '' te'aats'' was likely import ...
, located down the coast near
Corona del Mar
Corona del Mar (Spanish for "Crown of the Sea") is a seaside neighborhood in the city of Newport Beach, California. It generally consists of all the land on the seaward face of the San Joaquin Hills south of Avocado Avenue to the city limits, as ...
.
The village has also been referred to as Lukup and Lukupa.
The village has been chronicled in the history of
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa (; Spanish for "Table Coast") is a city in Orange County, California. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including part of the South Coast Plaza–John Wa ...
.
History
![Newland House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Newland_House.jpg)
As a coastal village, the usage of ''
te'aats'' were likely important to the village's people. In the late eighteenth century, padres from
Mission San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano ( es, Misión San Juan Capistrano) is a Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''Las Californias'' by Spanish Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan O ...
reportedly visited the village as part of a colonial project of
Christian conversion
Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person to Christianity. Different Christian denominations may perform various different kinds of rituals or ceremonies initiation into their community of belie ...
at
Spanish Missions in California
The Spanish missions in California ( es, Misiones españolas en California) comprise a
series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. Founded by Catholic priests o ...
.
The
Diego Sepúlveda Adobe was built overlooking Lupukngna and
Genga from between 1817-1823 as an outpost "to watch over cattle and Indians." In 1827, missionaries considered whether to move their entire operation to the location.
In 1935, archaeologists found evidence of a village along the Santa Ana River near contemporary Adams Avenue. It was found that villagers primarily subsisted on acorns, seeds, berries, small game, fish and shellfish, similar to surrounding Tongva villages.
Shell mounds were also found.
The
Newland House Museum was identified as a likely site of the village. This is because the house was constructed on one of a few
knolls in the area that rises above the Santa Ana River's floodplain. Numerous Tongva villages in the area were established on other similar knolls, making the location more probable. Additionally, several archaeological investigations have been done at the house since the 1930s, which have yielded various Tongva artifacts.
A small residential street in Costa Mesa near the Diego Sepúlveda Adobe is named ''Lukup Lane'' in reference to the village.
See also
Native American villages in
Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
:
*
Acjacheme
Acjacheme ("a heap of animated things") was an Acjachemen village that was closely situated to the mother village of Putuidem in what is now San Juan Capistrano, California. The Spanish missionaries constructed Mission San Juan Capistrano less tha ...
*
Ahunx Ahunx ("elevated") was a village site significant to the Payómkawichum and Acjachemen located between the old town of El Toro (now referred to as Lake Forest, California) and Tomato Springs (located in the Portola Springs area).O'Neil, S. T. (20 ...
*
Alauna
*
Genga
*
Hutuknga
Hutuknga (alternative spellings: Hotuuknga or Hutuukuga) was a large Tongva village located in the foothills along the present channel of the Santa Ana River in what is now Yorba Linda, California. People from the village were recorded in mission ...
*
Moyongna
Moyongna, alternatively spelled Moyonga, was a coastal Tongva village or landmark site located near the entrance of Newport Bay in Newport Beach, California near Corona del Mar. As a coastal village, the usage of '' te'aats'' was likely import ...
*
Pajbenga
Pajbenga, alternative spelling Pagbigna and Pasbengna, was a Tongva village located at Santa Ana, California, near the El Refugio Adobe, which was the home of José Sepulveda (now located near the intersection of Raitt Street and Myrtle Street). I ...
*
Piwiva
Piwiva was a Acjachemen village located at the meeting place of the San Juan Creek and Cañada Gobernadora tributary in what is now Rancho Mission Viejo, California. The name for the village was closely related to the Payómkawichum word for wi ...
*
Puhú
Puhú (''Payómkawichum'': “its arrow place”) was a major residential village in the Santa Ana Mountains shared by the Tongva, Acjachemen, Payómkawichum, and Serrano near Santiago Peak. The village resided approximately 600m above sea leve ...
*
Putiidhem
Putuidem (''Acjachemen'': "belly" or "the navel"), alternative spelling Putiidhem or Putuidhem, was a large native village of the Acjachemen people, also known as '' Juaneño'' since their relocation to Mission San Juan Capistrano. The site was ...
*
Totpavit
Totpavit, alternative spellings Totabit and possibly Totavet, was a Tongva village located in what is now Olive, California. The village was located between the Santa Ana River and Santiago Creek. It was part of a series of villages along the San ...
References
{{Indigenous peoples of California
Tongva populated places
Former Native American populated places in California
History of Orange County, California
Costa Mesa, California
Huntington Beach, California
California Mission Indians