LASA partnered with LA2026 for a visit to Mission San Gabriel to consider history, memory, and the interplay amongst Indigenous and colonial powers over time. Historian Steve Hackel met us at the mission to walk through the renovations and reimagined exhibition. In addition to a new wall of names of local Native peoples, LASA listened to recorded versions of the testimony of Toypurina – who has been “arrested  and jailed during an attempted 1785 Native rebellion at the mission.”

Charlotte reflects, “The San Gabriel Mission was a tad cramped for me to say the least, but the building itself was quite beautiful, the inside of the church especially. It’s unfortunate how a lot of money given the mission ignores the museum part of it, recording and preserving all of its history should be a much higher priority. It really surprised me to hear that someone had set the place on fire with a molotov, it makes me wonder if they had some kind of grudge with the mission’s history. The paintings around the San Gabriel Mission reminded me of when my history teacher last year had gotten us to study a few paintings, and how the small details can affect the overall message within the imagery. For example the height of a person in the painting shows how much power or influence they may hold, and usually anything in the middle of the painting is usually the most important. It was fun to look around at all the art.”

For many students, returning to mission history was a first since 4th grade. Claire notes, “I very much enjoyed our visit to the Mission San Gabriel. I have not revisited mission history, and California history in general, since 4th grade and was glad to re-immerse myself in the history at an age where I can understand its complexity. I especially think that learning history in a relevant location has helped me ingrain the information that I learned in my mind. The exercise you gave us asking what I remembered from mission history made me realize that the historical information that I retained over a long period of time was associated with the places and experiences I had, more so than what I was taught in class. The primary sources, paintings, and audio reenactments contributed to an impressive and impactful exhibit. As I come to an age where I am able to choose what I learn and choose to learn outside of school, I want to prioritize learning through experiences like the ones we have had in LASA, which makes me feel extremely grateful for the program.”

Julia adds, “I found it really informative to go to Mission San Gabriel and learn about the history of the mission. While I did learn about the missions in fourth grade, and had discussed them in history class since then, I didn’t know as much about the way that historiography of the missions has changed. In particular, I found it interesting when Dr. Hackel talked about how the former mission museum had only tools from Native Americans that did not show the true complexity of the tools used in Tongva culture and how the new exhibit rectified that. It was really striking how unique Mission San Gabriel’s museum is in confronting its history, and I wonder what steps could be taken to expand that in other missions.”

After the tour, LASA attended “Historical Memory, Federal Agencies, Mission Conservation,” a presentation by Yve Chavez (Associate Professor of Art History, University of Oklahoma) and Sarah Montoya (Co-Director, Indigenous Humanities Lab, Virginia Commonwealth University) that was moderated by Julia Lewandoski (Assistant Professor of History, University of California, San Diego). Bryan shares, “This week was extremely interesting. Learning about the historical implications of things as simple as logos was extremely interesting. Not only that but walking around in the museum and learning about Native American’s and their history with the Spanish was extremely insightful and useful for my upcoming APUSH test. It was also my first time actually visiting a mission which was awesome and extremely insightful to see a building that had so much history.”

Max sums up the day: “After visiting Mission San Gabriel, I gained a newfound appreciation for LA history, a history that is often mischaracterized and forgotten. I remember pulling up to the mission parking lot and not even realizing that what I was looking at was almost 200 years old. This alone made me realize that there is a lot to LA that is often overlooked (such as buildings like the San Gabriel Mission building). I also remember learning during the USC talk about the old signs and paintings, and how they portrayed Native Americans compared to white settlers, which was honestly a detail I had completely missed. This made me realize that alongside overlooking history, much of it can be mischaracterized and without good/proper context. Through this opportunity, I learned a lot about the good, the bad, and the ugly of our local history.” Thank you to Amy Braden, Yve Chavez, Julia Lewandoski, Sarah Montoya, and Steve Hackel for hosting us.