Shaman, Warrior, Queen

16 Apr Shaman, Warrior, Queen

Toypurina (1760-1799) had watched the white settlers at the San Gabriel Mission steal her people’s land and steadily usurp their culture since she was 12 years old. She was sister to the head of her village and a powerful shaman, spiritual leader, and medicine woman known to all neighboring tribes. The Missions were military strongholds with a record of violence against the Native people and forced conversions to Catholicism. When she was 25, the Fathers at the Mission committed what was the last straw: they outlawed native ceremonial dancing. Toypurina took action.

She used her fame and persuasive communication skills to gather leaders from 6 of the 8 local tribes, then led them in an armed revolt against the Mission. Unfortunately, someone inside the Mission had tipped off the Fathers, and Toypurina and the warriors were captured and imprisoned. Still, this incident stands as a powerful symbol of Tongva resistance against the cultural genocide perpetrated by the Mission system.

The warriors were sentenced to a public lashing of 15-25 blows to send a message of intimidation to all who might resist. Toypurina was punished by being prohibited to ever see her people again or speak her language – she was banished to a northern California mission, forced to be baptized, and to marry a Spanish soldier with whom she had 3 children. Toypurina died at the age of 39.

Scholars have variously referred to Toypurina as a witch or as a “seductive sorceress,” who “used sex magic to control men.” To many others, Toypurina has become an icon, celebrated on murals, cartoons, and graphics. Her life and leadership are inspiring, and she is called a Native Joan of Arc, a resistance fighter, a spiritual queen, a baddass, a girlboss. A play about her life was written by two members of the Gabriellino tribe which debuted at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse in 2014 and toured California in 2016.

The most famous mural of Toypurina is on display at the Ramona Gardens public housing complex in Boyle Heights. I was planning to go and photograph it for this book, but thought better of it when Wikipedia described the site as one of the most dangerous areas in the country, and the center of the drug trade in Los Angeles. Perhaps best to enjoy this mural on the Internet.

There is also a beautiful memorial to this Native American heroine at:

Toypurina Memorial

Fedde Middle School

21409 Elaine Ave, Hawaiian Gardens, CA 90716

This is an excerpt from Catherine Auman’s book Guide to Spiritual L.A.: The Irreverent, the Awake, and the True