Tataviam Village

Tataviam are the first people to have settled in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys, around 450 AD. Tatviam means ‘people facing the sun.’ The name comes from the Tataviam practice of building their homes on the sunnier, south facing slopes. They later became known as the Fernandeño, or band of mission Indians because of their role in the construction of the San Fernando Mission.

Rivers and creeks were essential to the Tataviam not only for water and the wildlife that depended on them, but for the willows that lined their banks. Willows played a crucial role in the construction of shelter and the settlement of their villages. The typical Tataviam home, or Ki’j, was a dome-shaped framework of willow branches arranged in a circle between 12 to 20 feet in diameter. The poles were bent in at the top to form a dome, then smaller saplings or branches were tied on cross-wise and covered with bulrush or cattails. The hole left in the top allowed for a fire pit in the center of the Ki’j, and was covered with a hide when it rained. The larger villages contained gaming and dancing areas, cemeteries, granaries, work areas and sauna-like sweathouses called Sehé used for cleansing and relaxation.

The word Tujunga comes from a Tataviam legend about an old women by the river. Tataviam language- Tu: Old, hu: woman, nanga: the place of . A rough interpretation by those who named the City of Tujunga (temporarily incorporated in 1916) resulted in the change in place name; Tu hu nanga to Tujunga.