Tired of being subjected to Spanish colonization, medicine woman Toypurina led a revolt against the San Gabriel mission in California on October 25, 1785. This bold picture book highlights an important, lesser-known leader in Indigenous history. Lushly illustrated by Tongva artist Katie Dorame.
Includes educational back matter to enhance the reader's experience.
Toypurina grew up in the village of Japchivit, where everyone had a role to play. She loved to gather elderberries from the woods, weave baskets, and listen to her grandmother tells stories. But all that changed when the Spanish came.
As Toypurina grew and became medicine woman of her tribe, she learned about the harsh conditions of the San Gabriel mission. Tongva people who lived there were renamed and no longer allowed to speak their native tongue. They were forbidden to perform their dances and ceremonies. They were whipped and mistreated.
Toypurina knew she had to act, so she organized an uprising against the Spanish rule to fight for her people and their way of life. This book, lushly illustrated by Tongva artist Katie Dorame, marks an important event in Indigenous people's resistance to European colonization and is a testament to Toypurina's bravery.
About the Authors:
Cheyenne M. Stone is a Paiute who lives on the Big Pine Reservation in Inyo County, California, and she is very active in tribal affairs. She practices and teaches jewelry making, basket weaving, and holistic medicine. Additionally, she is an ethnographer who is involved in K-12 education, and she enjoys writing for children.
Glenda Armand is an African American poet and author of over a dozen books for children. Her books highlight the achievements of African Americans. Glenda was born in New Orleans and raised in Los Angeles. She has had a long career as a teacher of pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, and as a middle and high school librarian. These roles have prepared her for her second act as an author of children’s books. Glenda feels that, through her writing, she is still teaching and instilling in children a lifelong love of reading – this is a dream come true.
Katie Dorame is a Tongva artist of mixed ancestry--Indigenous and European American, born in Los Angeles, currently living and working in Oakland. Her work focuses on Indigenous representation, mythology, and Hollywood narratives. Dorame's work has been exhibited at Shulamit Nazarian in Los Angeles, the National Willa Cather Center in Nebraska, Form & Concept in Santa Fe, and the Handwerker Gallery at Ithaca College in New York, in addition to Slash Art, Anglim Trimble, Southern Exposure, Galería de la Raza, Guerrero Gallery, and the Thacher Gallery in San Francisco. She received her MFA from the California College of the Arts and her BA from UCSC. See more of Katie's work at katiedorame.com.