A Kumeyaay comic book rewrites California's history and inspires a hopeful future

The Kumeyaay have long told stories through rock art, vivid images carved into stone that preserved culture, memory and meaning. Today, that tradition continues in a new comic book created by Kumeyaay educators and historians to challenge the erasure of Indigenous history in California classrooms. Co-written by SDSU professor Ethan Banegas, a member of the Barona Band of Mission Indians, the book brings Kumeyaay life — from ancestral knowledge to colonization and resistance — into a format designed for students and teachers.

Photos: Peek inside the comic book, plus a handful of images from Ethan Banegas

" Oftentimes history is written as: We are victims, we are passive. And what I like about this page, in general, is this is us creating and fighting for our own future. So I think that's why this comic is a real game changer for people like me growing up in today's world," Banegas said. "You just know these things are true, but you don't have any way or material to support it. They have this comic now to go to bat for 'em."

Blending community memory, academic research and lived experience, the comic is both a resource and a tool of reclamation. It replaces silence with story, and invisibility with truth.

Download the comic book ↗ 

Guest:

Ethan Banegas:

• Co-author of "Our Past, Present, and Future / Beyond Gaming" along with Michael Connolly Miskwish, Lorraine Orosco and Stanley Rodriguez, and illustrated by John Swogger
• Historian at the San Diego History Center
• Professor at San Diego State University

Mentioned in this episode:

• Barona Band of Mission Indians | A federally recognized Kumeyaay tribe located in San Diego County, known for preserving language, culture and history while running one of the region's most well-established tribal casinos
• Fisherman's Wharf | San Francisco waterfront near Alcatraz, where Native activists staged part of the 1969 occupation to demand Indigenous rights and recognition
• .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}