{{Short description|Former Tongva village in Santa Ana, California}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
'''Pajbenga''', alternative spelling '''Pagbigna'''<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0rKVdi0HrusC |title=Reports of the University of California Archaeological Survey, Issues 72-74 |publisher=University of California Archaeological Survey, Department of Anthropology, University of California |year=1968 |pages=114}}</ref> and '''Pasbengna''',<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last1=Greene |first1=Sean |last2=Curwen |first2=Thomas |title=Mapping the Tongva villages of L.A.'s past |url=https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-tongva-map/ |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=www.latimes.com |language=en}}</ref> was a Tongva village located at Santa Ana, California, near the '''El Refugio Adobe''', which was the home of José Sepulveda (now located near the intersection of Raitt Street and Myrtle Street).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=House pits and middens : a methodological study of site structure and formation processes at CA-ORA-116, Newport Bay, Orange County, California |date=1998 |publisher=Statistical Research, Inc |others=Donn R. Grenda, Christopher J. Doolittle, Jeffrey H. Altschul, United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Los Angeles District, United States. Food and Drug Administration |isbn=1-879442-66-3 |location=Tucson, Ariz. |pages=17 |oclc=41262575}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Indian Villages |url=https://www.ochistoryland.com/indian-villages |access-date=2022-12-14 |website=OC Historyland |language=en-US}}</ref> It was one of the main villages along the Santa Ana River, including Lupukngna, Genga, Totpavit, and Hutuknga.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |title=Catalysts to complexity : late Holocene societies of the California coast |date=2002 |publisher=Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA |others=Jon Erlandson, Terry L. Jones, Jeanne E. Arnold, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA |isbn=978-1-938770-67-8 |location=Los Angeles |pages=64, 66 |oclc=745176510}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RjM0AQAAMAAJ |title=Santa Ana River Main Stem and Santiago Creek |year=1978 |pages=31–32}}</ref> People from the village were recorded in mission records as ''Pajebet'',<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Martínez |first=Roberta H. |title=Latinos in Pasadena |date=2009 |publisher=Arcadia |isbn=978-0-7385-6955-0 |location=Charleston, SC |pages=10 |oclc=402526696}}</ref> ''Pajbet'', ''Pajbebet'', and ''Pajbepet''.<ref name=":2" />
Pajbenga may have had a population between 100 and 250 residents.<ref name=":0" /> Like many surrounding villages, Pajbenga's residents likely subsisted on oak trees for acorns and seeds from various grasses and sage bushes. Rabbit and mule deer were also likely consumed for meat. The village also presumably had deep trade connections with coastal villages and those further inland.<ref name=":1" />
Between 1776 and 1807, 13 people were baptized from the village, including 2 men, 4 women, and 7 children as part of the larger colonial project of Christian conversion of Indigenous peoples at Spanish missions in California. Like surrounding villages, residents were most likely baptized at Mission San Gabriel and Mission San Juan Capistrano.<ref name=":2" />
Some maps have placed Pajbenga on the eastern bank of the Santa Ana River at the center of Santa Ana,<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" /> while others place it right across the western bank at the confluence of the Santa Ana River and the Santiago Creek.'''<ref name=":3" />'''<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RjM0AQAAMAAJ |title=Santa Ana River Main Stem and Santiago Creek: Environmental Impact Statement |publisher=United States. Army. Corps of Engineers |year=1978 |pages=31–32}}</ref>
== See also == Native American villages in Orange County, California:
* Acjacheme * Ahunx * Alauna * Genga * Hutukngna * Lupukngna * Moyongna * Piwiva * Puhú * Putiidhem * Totpavit
== References == <references />{{Tongva villages}}{{Indigenous peoples of California}}
Category:Tongva populated places Category:History of Orange County, California Category:Former Native American populated places in California Category:Santa Ana, California