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3.3 Economy and Trade
Being part of a biocultural diversity “hotspot,” the immense ecological variation enabled
native peoples of the Los Angeles area to take advantage of numerous micro-
environments. Tongvas collected food in mountains for antelope, mule deer, elk and
other medium size prey species. They gathered protein nuts from oaks, pines, and
gathered about 100 other edibles with other nutrients on a seasonal basis. Some of the
historically important resources can be reviewed in Bean 1978, McCawley 1996, and
Boscana 1933, although no published source presents a full picture of Tongva resource
utilization. The plants of contemporary cultural significance which were located along D7
project roadways are described in the next section.

For inter-community trade, Gabrielinos in the ethnographic record relied upon both local
and long-distance trade. Local trade was carried out between mainland communities and
island communities. To others, coastal groups traded asphaltum, shell, abalone, and dried
seafood. Inland groups traded away dried plant foods in the form of ground seed or piñole
from tarweed, chia sage (Salvia columbariae), acorns, Madia flowers, and cherry stones
(also known as islay). Inland Gabrielinos provided coastal and island groups with leather,
dried meat, and specialty woods not available on the coast and nearby islands.
As a middleman between the island communities and other ethnic groups, mainland
Gabrielinos living in what is today Los Angeles County were able to obtain unique goods
from their island relatives and trade partners. One of the notable goods included
soapstone (steatite). Soapstone could be obtained uncarved, or carved into delicately
fashioned bowls. Soapstone vessels were used for cooking pots, pigment trays, and as
smudge pots. Other items obtained from the island groups included shell beads, dried
fish, seal and otter skins, whale bone implements, red ochre, kaolin, and iron sulphite.
For example, an interview with Señora Welch at Dos Pueblos ranch in the late 1800s
testified that, “the principal articles of barter given [by mainland Gabrielinos] in
exchange for the ollas (were) grass-seeds, furs, skins, acorns, and roots of different
kinds” (Schumacher 1879 cited in Howard 2002).
For inter-ethnic regional trade, Gabrielinos sought trade with neighboring groups
including the Cahuilla and mountain ethnic groups to the east, the Chumash, Tataviam,
and Kitanemuk communities to the north, and the Juaneño, Cupeño, Luiseño, and
Kumeyaay communities to the south. Valuable mainland goods traded to other ethnic
groups included local varieties of birds’ feathers, dried roots and woven fibres of tule
(Scirpus lacustris), and medicinals such as yerba santa. Goods that circulated both within
Gabrielino communities and were probably traded to other ethnic groups include precious
stones such as hematite and chalcedony. From neighboring ethnic groups, mainland
Gabrielinos obtained obsidian, blankets, salt, and earthenwares on a small scale.
Both currency and barter were in vogue during the pre-historic and ethnographic period.
A string of clam shell disk beads measuring about 30 inches long, known as a ponko,
represented the primary form of a general purpose money among Gabrielinos. The value
of one ponko would have changed over time but one estimate finds that a ponko was
worth 12.5 cents during mission times (Kroeber 1976:566). In addition, Gabrielino
currency used a base two system. Four ponko equaled one sayako; two sayako equaled, in
mission times, the equivalent of a Mexican peso.

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