Launching a Dream: Reviving Tongva Maritime Traditions

June 5–September 18, 2011

Powerful images by photographers Frank Magallanes and Althea Edwards witness the rebirth of ancient maritime traditions of the Southern California coastal and Channel Islands first peoples. Plank-sewn watercraft, the Tongva ti’at and Chumash tomol, once again regularly cut through local ocean waters. This series of photographs offers an intimate view of the construction, launching, and communal celebration of these unique and important vessels. Envisioned by tribal members as key symbols of native identity and cultural resurgence, they literally represent the realization of a dream.

Press Release

Launching a Dream

Exhibition Credits

Launching a Dream is curated by Cindi Alvitre, Moompetam (Salt Water People), cofounder Ti’at Society, and Wendy Teeter, curator of archaeology, Fowler Museum at UCLA.