Press
Last Update: 12/17/2025
PRESS RELEASE ALTADENA, Calif. (December 17, 2025)
Contact:
Stephanie Worrell
PR Consultant, TTPC
stephworrellpr@gmail.com | (208) 484-9470
Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy Welcomes Ravena Feather Soto as Executive Director
A New Chapter of Tongva-Led Stewardship at Huhuunga
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ALTADENA, CA — December 15, 2025 — The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy (TTPC) is honored to announce the appointment of Ravena Feather Soto as its new Executive Director, marking an important step in the organization’s long-term vision for Indigenous-led stewardship, cultural revitalization, and community-rooted governance.
Huhuunga—a one-acre parcel in Altadena returned to Tongva people in 2022, the first land returned to the community in nearly 200 years—is the heart of TTPC’s work, where the Conservancy is restoring ecological balance, revitalizing ceremony, and strengthening community connection after generations of displacement.
Soto is an enrolled member of the Estom Yumeka Maidu Indians of the Enterprise Rancheria and a lineal descendant of the Tongva Gabrielino. Speaking about her appointment, she shared:
“I am honored to join the TTPC and contribute to a mission that centers restoration and healing, and uplifts cultural strengths. The most impactful and sustainable change occurs when decision-making comes from within the communities served, and through my previous work, I have fully come to understand how essential Native-led organizations are to addressing needs in ways that honor and respect our values and lived realities. I am committed to supporting the Tongva community in strengthening relationships with land, culture, and one another, and ensuring this work continues long after us.”
Soto brings extensive experience in Tribal public health, cultural revitalization, youth leadership, and sovereignty-centered policy development. She has led statewide initiatives supporting Tribal Nations across California, including programs focused on environmental protection, health equity, youth empowerment, and culturally grounded education. Her background spans Tribal governance support, facilitation, curriculum development, program oversight, and partnership building.
Her selection follows a community-guided, values-based hiring process centered on cultural accountability, relational leadership, and alignment with Tongva community priorities.
Soto’s leadership arrives at a pivotal time for TTPC. Since the return of Huhuunga, the Conservancy has restored ceremonial spaces, including the newly constructed Yobagnar (ceremonial circle), implemented Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)-guided restoration that helped protect the land during the Eaton Fire, and—most significantly—supported the return of Tongva ceremony to ancestral homelands for the first time in over 180 years. These milestones reflect the transformative impact of the land’s return and the momentum shaping this next chapter.
Wallace Cleaves, Board President of the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy, shared:
“Ravena’s leadership represents a meaningful step forward for our community and for the responsibilities we hold at Huhuunga. Her grounding in both Tongva lineage and Maidu community life brings a perspective that honors our ancestors while guiding us toward a future rooted in respect, relationality, and reciprocity. She embodies the values that define TTPC — humility, cultural integrity, and community-rooted decision making. We are grateful to welcome her into this role and look forward to walking together in this next chapter of stewardship, healing, and cultural resurgence. Her leadership will help ensure that Huhuunga remains a place of ceremony, balance, and cultural strength for generations to come.”
Soto will begin on December 15, participate in the Winter Solstice gathering, and join the community for the December 17 “Rooted in Altadena” webinar.
About the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy
The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy is a Tongva-led nonprofit dedicated to stewarding, protecting, and rematriating Tongva homelands. Through the stewardship of Huhuunga, TTPC works to restore ecological balance, revitalize ceremony and cultural practice, and strengthen community relationships rooted in ancestral responsibility, sovereignty, and care.
ALTADENA, Calif. (September 23, 2025)
Contact:
Stephanie Worrell
PR Consultant, TTPC
stephworrellpr@gmail.com | (208) 484-9470
Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy Completes First Phase of Land Transformation at Huhuunga
From fire recovery to cultural renewal, Huhuunga reemerges as a gathering place for the Tongva community.
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ALTADENA, Calif. (September 23, 2025) — The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy (TTPC) announced the completion of the first phase of restoration and cultural renewal at Huhuunga, the land gifted to the Conservancy in 2022. Known as the “Place of the Bears,” Huhuunga overlooks Eaton Canyon in Altadena and is once again becoming a place of healing, gathering, and ceremony for the Tongva people.
The newly formed ceremonial circle, framed by hand-carved benches and traditional posts, represents a significant milestone in returning the land to its purpose. The benches, created from salvaged California trees, carry stories of resilience and renewal. The posts were commissioned by the TTPC Board and crafted by Tongva artist River Garza to honor Tongva traditions and ancestral knowledge.
“This land is a living relative, and every step we take here is part of our story of rematriation,” said Wallace Cleaves, TTPC Board Chair. “To be here now — after fire, after recovery — and to see the circle, the benches, the posts ready for our community, is powerful. These are not just physical structures. They are spaces of healing and continuity, where our people can return, connect, and ensure a future for generations yet to come.”
This past weekend, a group of Tongva community members gathered at Huhuunga to honor the Fall Equinox, marking the first time the new circle was used in ceremony.
The site itself carries deep history. Long before colonization, Huhuunga was a Tongva camp, and this significance inspired the landowner’s decision to donate it to the Conservancy as part of the growing land back movement. The gift marked a rare moment in Los Angeles County — the return of land to its original caretakers.
This milestone comes less than a year after the Eaton Fire swept through the canyon in January 2025, burning thousands of acres and damaging parts of the Conservancy’s land. The fire scarred oak groves and native plants, but recovery has been swift thanks to community care and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). With the land now safe again, TTPC has transformed the space into one that is ready to hold people, song, and ceremony.
Huhuunga, stewarded by the TTPC, is intended as a space for all Tongva people to gather, practice culture, and reconnect with ancestral lands. The Conservancy continues to invite the broader public to learn more about its mission and the history of Tongva land rematriation at: www.Tongva.Land
About the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy
The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy (TTPC) was founded to steward and return land to the Tongva people, whose ancestral territory includes what is now Los Angeles County and the Southern Channel Islands. As part of the broader land back movement, the Conservancy seeks to create a “landbank” of protected spaces that ensure cultural continuity and ecological resilience for future generations.
Fast Facts:
Land Returned: March of 2022 — the first time in over 200 years the Tongva people regained stewardship of land in Los Angeles County.
Location: Altadena, overlooking Eaton Canyon.
Size: ~1 acre, with oak woodlands, chaparral, and native plants.
Cultural Significance: Once a Tongva hunting camp, today home to Huhuunga (“Place of the Bears”), a ceremonial circle, and community gathering space. Oaks and acorns remain central to Tongva foodways and ceremony.
Resilience: Recovered after the 2025 Eaton Fire with the help of traditional ecological knowledge and community care.
The Conservancy’s mission is to protect, heal, and nurture Tongva homelands and to ensure that future generations of Tongva people can continue to live in relationship with the land, waters, and all living beings.
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Stephanie Worrell
PR Consultant, TTPC
stephworrellpr@gmail.com | (208) 484-9470
Rebirth Through Fire: New Webinar Illuminates Indigenous Wisdom and Post-Fire Recovery in Eaton Canyon
As wildfires reshape California, Native leaders offer ancient solutions for modern land recovery
Presented by: The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy (TTPC), in partnership with the UC Riverside California Center for Native Nations (CCNN).
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ALTADENA, Calif. — July 15, 2025 — As wildfires reshape California’s landscapes, a powerful new webinar will spotlight Indigenous-led ecological restoration and the role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in post-fire recovery. Rebirth Through Fire: Lessons from the Eaton Fire and Embracing TEK, hosted by the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy (TTPC), will take place on Thursday, July 24, 2025, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM PT via Zoom.
The virtual event is the first in TTPC’s new five-part series, Rooted in Land and Tradition, presented in partnership with the UC Riverside California Center for Native Nations (CCNN).
The webinar will elevate Indigenous voices and philosophies around land, fire, and renewal—exploring what recovery looks like through an Indigenous lens and how TEK can guide sustainable land stewardship across Los Angeles County and beyond.
Featured Panelists:
Wallace Cleaves (Tongva) – Moderator; TTPC Board Chair; Professor, UC Riverside
Charles Sepulveda (Tongva, Acjachemen) – TTPC Board member, Professor, UC Riverside
Sean Woods – Chief of Planning, LA County Department of Parks and Recreation
Cristhian Mace – Biologist, LA County Department of Parks and Recreation
Together, the panel will explore:
The cultural and ecological significance of Eaton Canyon
How fire has long been used in Indigenous land management
Practical pathways for integrating TEK into public policy and restoration projects
Lessons learned since the Eaton Fire
Opportunities for civic, environmental, and philanthropic engagement
“This series is an invitation,” said Wallace Cleaves, TTPC Board Chair. “It’s an invitation to listen to the land, to those who have stewarded it for millennia, and to imagine new ways forward—rooted in tradition, healing, and community.”
The event is free and open to the public. A live Q&A will follow the panel discussion.
Register here: https://www.tongva.land/rebirth-through-fire-webinar
About TTPC
The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy is the first land conservancy founded and led by the Tongva people in Tovaangar (Los Angeles Basin and Southern Channel Islands). The conservancy is committed to rematriation, land care, education, and the elevation of Indigenous knowledge in climate and conservation efforts.
This program is supported in part by fire recovery funders, including:
California Community Foundation
Liberty Hill Foundation
The Schmidt Family Foundation
Skoll Foundation
Kataly Foundation
The Solutions Project
Rivers and Mountains Conservancy
Wildlife Conservation Board
TTPC extends its gratitude to these partners for their commitment to ecological restoration and Indigenous-led land care efforts.
Media Interviews Available:
Panelists and TTPC leaders are available for advance interviews upon request.
News from Native California:
Honoring Puvungna Today
Photo courtesy of Friends of Puvungna
Los Angeles Times: The Tongva’s land burned in Eaton fire. But leaders say traditional practices mitigated damage
LA List: Why A Property Worth Millions Was Returned To The Tongva Tribe
LA Times: After nearly 200 years, the Tongva community has land in Los Angeles County
