UUCLB Native Justice is dedicated to social, cultural, and land justice for the Tongva and Acjachemen people. We honor ancestral knowledge while working collaboratively with the Tongva and Acjachemen communities to revitalize their culture, advocate for the return of stolen lands, and empower future generations.

UUCLB Native Justice meets on the second Sunday of each month at 7:00 pm, unless otherwise specified, using a hybrid format.  UUCLB Native Justice meets offsite at a private residence (location provided upon request) and via Zoom. Please see the UUCLB Calendar for Zoom link information.

For more information, please contact
nativejustice.team@uuclb.org

RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE NATIVE COMMUNITY’S EFFORTS  TO RECLAIM THEIR RIGHTS TO THEIR SACRED SITE, PUVUNGNA

WHEREAS:

As Unitarian Universalists, our Shared Values include justice and equity, and we feel called to live and act by these values;

Our congregation’s mission calls us to create “a multi-cultural, anti-racist, anti-oppressive congregation” and to “take these ideals to the wider community in action and in service”;

A 2020 Action of Immediate Witness adopted by the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association calls all UUs: 

·       “to continue to gather in solidarity with . . . all indigenous peoples struggling to preserve their lands, water, peoples, sacred sites, and sovereignty”; and also 

·       “to work nationally, statewide, and locally on public policy that is decolonizing; and work to stop and reverse ecological harm”;

In a General Resolution in 1993 the General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association noted that a legacy of injustice with regard to indigenous peoples persists, which is inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and that member congregations and individual members are encouraged to “support local indigenous peoples’ political action committees in their struggles for social justice and religious freedom”; 

For thousands of years, the village of Puvungna, approximately 500 acres, served as a sacred ceremonial and gathering site for the Tongva and Acjachemen people, as well as indigenous people from elsewhere; it is a creation site, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and California Native Heritage Commission’s Sacred Lands File;  

There are too many examples in the U.S. of Indigenous people being promised their land would be protected, followed by those in power breaking their promises;

Since 1769 there has been a documented genocide of California Natives and continuous loss of lands; this has included unratified treaties, landless California tribes, and limited access to sacred lands and culture sites; 

Following the 1972 discovery of human remains in a 22-acre area of undeveloped land, and the listing of that parcel in the National Register of Historic Places, a struggle between the Native people and the university ensued;

In September 2021, a settlement was reached, which:

·       prohibited CSULB from developing or damaging that land and allowed tribal groups to use it for their ongoing traditional activities;

·       provided permanent protection in the form of an easement to approximately 12 acres of the sacred site of Puvungna;

The Friends of Puvungna are working to become the officially recognized Land Trust organization; their goal is to be entrusted with caretaker status over the 12 acres of Puvungna designated for a conservation easement, ensuring its protection for future generations; Friends of Puvungna have been taking care of the land and holding ceremonies at Puvungna for decades; and

California State University Long Beach has yet to appoint a conservator or grant an easement for the preservation of Puvungna; 

Therefore be it Resolved that:

The Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach stands in solidarity with the Native American community in their ongoing effort to reclaim their rights to the full, permanent use of Puvungna, an historically, culturally and spiritually significant site.  This includes any portion of the 22 acres of the sacred land within the borders of the California State University Long Beach campus.  We support their rightful connection to this land and their pursuit of justice and recognition.

Annual Meeting of the UUCLB Congregation, June 1, 2025