Toypurina, California’s Joan of Arc, a Gabrieleno female leader, will be the subject of Dr. Gary Stickel’s talk from 7:30 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 21 in Temescal Gateway Park at Woodland Hall.
As part of Culture in the Canyon’s Chautauqua Series, Stickel will relate the history of the unsung hero, Toypurina, a medicine woman, who led an unsuccessful uprising against the Spanish missionaries.
Born in 1760, she was nine-years-old when the Spanish settlers first invaded what is now the Los Angeles basin of Las Californias. She was 11 when Mission San Gabriel Arcángel was established, and was 21 when Governor Felipe de Neve founded the Pueblo of Los Angeles.
In time, Toypurina rose to be a powerful spiritual leader, respected for her bravery and wisdom. She was considered a great communicator, speaking with and trading with the dozens of villages in the many Tongvan dialects and other indigenous languages of California used from Santa Catalina Island through the eastern foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains to the northwestern San Fernando Valley.
Stickel received his Ph.D. in anthropology from UCLA, specializing in archaeology, where he also taught. His major field projects include excavations at Achilleion, legendary birthplace of Achilles, hero of the Trojan War; excavations at the “Lost City of the Incas,” Machu Picchu, Peru; and at the Farpoint Site in Malibu with remains of the Ice Age mammoth-hunting Clovis Culture.
Stickel has 45 years’ experience working with Native Americans on their California sites. He is honored to be the designated archaeologist of the Gabrieleno Band of Mission Indians.
The program and parking are free for the evening.
Contact: (310) 858-7272 ex. 131.
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