T­oypurina: Japchivit Leader, Medicine Woman, Tongva Rebel

Gr 2-5–A picture book biography based on the life of Toypurina, an Indigenous Tongva medicine woman from a region of California. When Toypurina learned that members of her tribe were being mistreated by European missionaries—stripped of their native names and traditions, brutally beaten—she bravely recruited warriors from her own and neighboring tribes to fight the injustice. Despite knowing that the numbers were not in their favor, a group led by Toypurina descended upon the mission under cover of darkness in 1785; while most brought weapons, Toypurina only “carried the energy and spirit of her ancestors.” The revolt ended almost as quickly as it started and led to her exile, but Toypurina’s mettle in the face of dehumanizing treatment is a remarkable story worth being amplified. Stone, a member of the Paiute tribe and descendant of several medicine people, here with coauthor Armand, has succeeded in her desire to bring the life of an Indigenous heroine to the page. There is something pleasantly old-school about this book: the narrative and language are straightforward, the artwork realistic. Dorame, Tongva on her grandfather’s side, acknowledges that no photographs exist of Toypurina, and her warm renderings of the woman and her surroundings are based on copious research. An afterword provides further information on a piece of American history that is unknown to many.