Special Tour of Kuruvungna Springs Cultural Center & Museum

On Sunday, September 10th, the Conservancy is honored to offer two special in-person tours of Kuruvungna Springs featuring local tribal leaders Bob Ramirez and Angie Dorame Behrns. As president of the Kuruvungna Springs Foundation, Ramirez is leading the current efforts to restore the Native ecology of the Tongva people and to educate the public about their history and cultural heritage. The tour also includes a presentation from Angie Dorame Behrns, founding president of the Kuruvunga Springs Foundation and tribal elder of the Gabrieleno-Tongva Tribal Council. Behrns led the campaign to preservae and protect the springs and began the cleanup and restoration of the site starting in the early 1990s. 

Kuruvungna, meaning “place where we are in the sun,” was a large Tongva Village surrounding the site of ancient springs that provided fresh water for the thriving village. Later, the springs inspired the naming of Santa Monica and served as an early source of its water supply. The springs are also pictured in the history mural at Santa Monica City Hall which is the subject of the City’s current Reframe initiative. 
 
Today, the Sacred Spring waters still flow on the eastern edge of the University High School campus in West Los Angeles. The springs feed a restored and lush setting with native plants, wildlife and a traditional thatched kiiy. The site has been saved from intrusive development and revitalized by descendants of the Tongva people, who lived there until they were forcibly relocated to the Mission San Gabriel by Spanish colonists in the late 1700s. Kuruvungna Springs is a testament to the Tongva’s spirit of survival, harmony with nature and continued relevance to the region. Click here to visit the Gabrielino-Tongva Springs Foundation's official website.