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For thousands of years, modern day Los Angeles was a cluster of villages for Native American hunters and gatherers. In 1781, a permanent Spanish colonial settlement named El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles di Porciúncula was established on land that the Spaniards considered uninhabited. They instituted an encomienda system for the natives, where the settlers would take tributes from the tribes (either through money or labor) in exchange for teaching them the Christian faith and keeping peace between warring factions. This turned into de facto enslavement, with the settlers abusing the system to take the natives’ land and refusing to fulfill their obligations to the tribes. When the United States took control of California, some tribes were settled on reservations, while others were massacred by American settlers. It is estimated that at least 4,500 Native Californians suffered violent deaths in between 1849 and 1870, with some experts saying the number is closer to 16,000. In 2000, the head of the US Bureau of Indian Affairs formally apologized for the Bureau’s participation in the “ethnic cleansing” of Western tribes.

 

All of this is to say the selfishness of Los Angeles didn't start with Hollywood.

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