IN LOVING MEMORY OF JULIA BOGANY
Educator, Loving Mother, Language Keeper
We honor the transition of our elder, Julia Bogany on March 28, 2021, the day of the March supermoon. Those of you who knew Julia, know that she was part of almost every aspect of Southern California Native culture, in particular all things related to the Gabrieleño-Tongva people. She had relatives from the coast to the inland valleys. She worked tirelessly to gain recognition for her tribe, to counteract the “erasure” that colonial systems brought with the missions, the ranchos, and the American land takeover. Julia was not Catholic, but she developed a relationship with the bishop of Los Angeles to make sure that the Native story was being told at the San Gabriel Mission.
Julia Bogany served The Gabrieleno San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians as the Cultural Affairs Officer 2000-2021. Julia was passionate about education and worked tirelessly as a Tongva Cultural Consultant, an advocate for her tribe and held various educational workshops for over 20 years.
Julia consulted with educators, trained teachers and school boards on how to revise their curriculum to reflect the correct history of California and California tribes. More than anything, Julia wanted to change the future for her tribe, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. She cared for her great grandchildren and taught them our traditional arts, crafts, language, and culture. Julia studied and taught the Tongva language classes for over 20 years, she was Vice President of the Keepers of Indigenous Ways and a past President of Kuruvungna Springs in Santa Monica. She was a member of the CNAC (California Native American College Board), and Pitzer’s Elder in Residence. Julia worked on several projects at Pitzer, including several murals, as well as helping students with indigneous education.
is the initiative to preserve as much of our sacred burial site as possible.
PUVUNGNA
Too Sacred to Surrender
Presently, the Gabrieleno San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians is attempting to work with the California State University of Long Beach to preserve the sacred site of our prophet, Chichinich, from harmful pollutants from the recent building development of neighboring dormatories.
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Currently, the only thing we fully support is the initiative to preserve as much of our sacred burial site as possible.
FIELD TRIP TO THE LA RIVER
Sharing the gifts of Mother Earth with our children.
In conjunction with the Friends of the LA River initiative, tribal chairman Kimberly Morales Johnson and her niece Ellie Recalde guide students through the LA river and the process of making a doll out of Tulle reeds, a much loved toy for the children of the Gabrieleno Tongva.
COVID-19 AND OUR INDIGENOUS FAMILY
Native Americans on reservations are stil at risk.
Our Native American brothers and sisters living on reservations are currently at a high risk of catching COVID-19 with incredibly limited access to medical care and even reasonable PPE such as cloth masks.
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Please consider donating to Indigenous communities at this time to help us survive.