Pajbenga, alternative spelling Pagbigna and Pasbengna, was a

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 located at

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

, near the El Refugio Adobe, which was the home of

José Sepulveda José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

(now located near the intersection of Raitt Street and Myrtle Street). It was one of the main villages 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 ...

, including

Lupukngna Lupukngna was a coastal Tongva village that was at least 3,000 years old located on the bluffs along the Santa Ana River in Huntington Beach near the Newland House Museum. Other nearby coastal villages included Genga, located in West Newport Bea ...

, Genga,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. People from the village were recorded in mission records as Pajebet, Pajbet, Pajbebet, and Pajbepet. Pajbenga may have had a population between 100-250 residents. Like many surrounding villages, Pajbenga's residents likely subsisted on

oak trees An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

for acorns and seeds from various grasses and sage bushes. Rabbit and

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

were also likely consumed for meat. The village also presumably had deep trade connections with coastal villages and those further inland. Between 1776 and 1807, 13 people were baptized from the village, including 2 men, 4 women, and 7 children as part of the larger 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 ...

Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

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 ...

. Like surrounding villages, residents were most likely baptized at

Mission San Gabriel Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

and

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 ...

. Some maps have placed Pajbenga on the eastern bank of the Santa Ana River at the center of Santa Ana, while others place it right across the western bank at the confluence of the

and the

Santiago Creek Santiago Creek is a major watercourse in Orange County in the U.S. state of California. About long, it drains most of the northern Santa Ana Mountains and is a tributary to the Santa Ana River. It is one of the longest watercourses entirely with ...

References

{{Indigenous peoples of California Tongva populated places History of Orange County, California Former Native American populated places in California Santa Ana, California

See also

References