Page "Duarte, California" Paragraph 17

Around 500 B. C., a band of Shoshonean-speaking Indians established settlements in what is now the San Gabriel Valley.

These native Americans came to be called the Gabrieliño Indians ( after San Gabriel, the local mission ) by early Spanish explorers, but now prefer to be called the Tongva.

The Tongva did not practice agriculture, but instead relied upon the wild seeds, berries, and plants that grew near the rivers and marshlands.

Since the San Gabriel Valley area was home to large numbers of oak trees such as coast live oak and interior live oak, a staple of the Tongva diet was an acorn mush made by boiling acorn flour.