How can we honor, celebrate, uplift, and learn from our Indigenous Peoples? How can we, collectively, nurture the healing of devastating wounds caused by centuries of colonialism, land and cultural loss, and the erasure/invisibility of Indigenous Peoples? Sunland-Tujunga, the “Place of the Old Woman”, of the beautiful unceded land of the Tongva, once again commits to reaffirming Indigenous Peoples, their culture, contributions, relationship to the land, and visionary leadership.

This year our celebration of Indigenous Peoples will take place again at the MRCA site in Big Tujunga at 12400 Big Tujunga Canyon Road, Tujunga, CA 91042. The event is scheduled for Saturday, October 9, 12-3pm. The event is been organized by ST Forward, ABRA, and the BirdHouse with special guidance from Indigenous culture bearer Lazaro Arvizu, featuring performances by Kelly Caballero, Aztlan Underground and Meztli Projects.

This cultural, educational, and community-centered celebration will be organized and shaped by the following key values:

Respect for the land

A focus on reciprocity

Gift-giving approach

Relational educational opportunities

Cultural diversity

Generative dialogue

In order to prepare the site for the event, we have scheduled two clean up days: September 25th and October 2nd, 8am-11am. If you are volunteering for one or both of the cleanup days, please bring gloves and dress in work clothes. If you have tools such as shovels, rakes, and weed wackers, please bring those as well. We will be picking up trash, clearing invasive grasses from the parking area, etc. Thank you!

More info at https://www.stforward.org/ipd