We are Visible

October 2022. Acrylic paint, iron-on transfers, canvas, and rope.

Julia Bogany

(July 16, 1948 – March 28, 2021)

Gabrielino-Tongva Tribe

"I always say Tongva women never left their ancestral homeland, they just became invisible. 'How do we make ourselves not invisible?' is the question I ask every day." -Julia Bogany in To Be Visible

Growing up in Santa Monica, Julia Bogany developed an interest in learning more about the Gabrielino history of her mother’s side from an early age. She began attending tribal meetings, where she immersed herself in resources that could provide further enlightenment about her heritage. She earned her GED and taught preschool for 35 years, while also supporting her family and volunteering to help homeless people and former inmates. As a venerated Tongva elder, Bogany hosted talking circles at several universities like UCLA and USC and collaborated with local artists to raise awareness about Indigenous rights, such as for the creation of sculptures on the 210 Freeway that depict woven Tongva baskets.

Bogany always had a love for children and using crafts to pass down Tongva traditions. In one of her classes, she taught them how to make tule reed dolls. This sculpture represents one of those dolls, which traditionally depicted a baby in a basket wrapped in a rabbit skin blanket. The text on the piece was taken from the Eighteen Lost Treaties, the documents that promised 18 Californian tribes, including the Tongva, federally protected land, a promise that was never fulfilled. To this day, the Gabrielino-Tongva people are not a federally recognized tribe and therefore did not receive any federal rescue funds after the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic.

USC’s campus resides on sacred Tongva land.