Reaching back to ancestral stories that are thousands of years old, people like historian and San Diego State University professor Ethan Banegas are sharing their native culture and traditions through comics.
That sharing includes an exhibit at the La Jolla Historical Society.
Images of his recent double-sided comic book, titled ‘“Beyond Gaming” and “Our Past, Present, and Future,” are displayed across the gallery walls.
“It’s truly an immersive experience here. It's literally like jumping into the comic,” Banegas said.
He co-wrote the comics, which he said challenge stereotypes and false narratives about Native history in California.
“The mission period has not been taught correctly, and we have a page on that — burning the mission,” he said, referring to the 1775 destruction of the original Mission San Diego de Alcalá.
The stories draw from his own experience as a Kumeyaay, Luiseño and Cupeño Native American.
Growing up, Banegas spent a lot of time on the Barona Reservation near Lakeside. He said much of his comic’s look is influenced by what he’s experienced there.
“A lot of the reason the comic looks the way it does is I went to a peon gathering ceremony in Barona and videotaped and filmed it. I took pictures all over,” he said.
Now Banegas will share that work with an even greater audience — as a panelist at Comic-Con and the first-ever Indigi-Con in California.
While there are other Indigenous Comic-Con-style events across the country, like Oklahoma’s IndigiPopX, this is the first of its kind in the Golden State.
Banegas sees it as a launching pad for even more storytelling from Indigenous communities.
“We have not been able to tell our stories — we haven't been given the space in colleges and universities, in media, on film especially,” Banegas said.
Chag Lowry comes from Yurok, Maidu, and Achumawi tribal ancestry from Northern California.
“As Native people, we’ve always used sequential art to tell our stories. And comic book art is just kind of the latest, and one of the more cool and exciting formats,” Lowry said.
He is executive director of the Indigenous Futures Institute at UC San Diego. Like Banegas, Lowry is also a comic book author and a panelist at both events.
“Johnny Bear Contreras and I have presented at the last four years of San Diego Comic-Con,” he said. “Each time he and I would present, we would work with different Native artists and tribes, mostly in California.”
Lowry said those San Diego Comic-Con presentations helped build momentum for Indigi-Con. He’s co-directing the event.
“So we invited eight comic book artists and writers from tribes around the country,” Lowry said.
He wants the event to inspire Native youth and educate Californians on tribal history and cultural practices.
It's taking place only a few blocks from San Diego Comic-Con 2025.
“We kind of wanted it to be at the same time as the main Comic-Con just because there's lots of good energy, it's exciting, people are going to be walking around in cosplay,” Lowry said. “They're going to look in and see us in that building and hopefully just come on in.”
Banegas said if people know California history, launching his comics and the Indigi-Con event is nothing short of a miracle.
“Its just a great time to be alive,” Banegas said. “I think of my dad and all the struggles the elders went through, and I know they would have loved to live to witness this moment. ”
Lowry hopes the artists from the event will become a close-knit family and that this will be the first Indigi-Con of many in the years to come.
“When you have a strong family you can do anything — then you can be the superhero in your community and you can do amazing things,” Lowry said. “Because you have the strength of your family and your people within you.”
Indigi-Con takes place Friday, July 25, and Sunday, July 27, at UC San Diego Park & Market in downtown San Diego.
Want to hear more from Ethan Banegas? Check out The Finest podcast episode featuring his Kumeyaay comic book.
