Tired of being subjected to Spanish colonization, Toypurina, a Tongva medicine woman, led a revolt against the San Gabriel mission in California. This bold picture book highlights an important, lesser-known leader in Indigenous history.


Toypurina grew up in the Tongva 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 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 a rebellion 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 the European presence in the Americas and is a testament to Toypurina's bravery.