Born of the Bear Dance: Dugan Aguilar's Photographs of Native Indigenous California
Oakland Museum of California
1000 Oak st, Oakland
On view through June 22, 2025
Stretching across four decades, Dugan Aguilar’s photographs capture a vibrant and intimate portrait of California’s Indigenous communities. A collection of his work, Born of the Bear Dance: Dugan Aguilar's Photographs of Native Indigenous California, currently on view at the Oakland Museum of California, offers a refreshing perspective. Rather than presenting a detached, anthropological view of Indigenous life, Aguilar’s images emerge from within the culture itself, reflecting not only the resilience of California’s Native peoples but also the joy and community that continue to thrive in the face of endless adversity.
For Aguilar's son Dustin, co-curation of the show proved to be an emotional task. The weight of responsibility and burden of sorting through his late father's belongings to create the collection, of sharing his father's creative legacy, shows in the shape of the visual narrative presented.
"The project has been kind of a running parallel to a lot of grief and other responsibilities that an adult child deals with when their parents pass...I've spent a ton of time with him in an interesting way. It's been and interesting forensic experience. And it is very interesting to hear words and quotes from somebody that you knew so well," Dustin says in the half hour documentary on OMCA's website.
A Personal Lens on Native California Life
Aguilar, who is of Mountain Maidu, Pit River, and Walker River Paiute heritage, served in the Vietnam War before turning to photography. The child of parents forced to attend government boarding schools, Aguilar used his camera as a tool for healing, documenting the vibrant life of his people. His work spanned everything from ceremonial rites to everyday moments.
Resilience and Pride
The show includes a wide range of images: faces that stare confidently out of the frame, Indigenous men and women in ceremonial dress, and basket weavers whose artistry has been passed down through generations. These photos are powerful not just for what they depict, but for what they resist. Aguilar’s work stands as a direct challenge to the pervasive narrative that Indigenous communities are relics of the past. His images affirm that these cultures are not just surviving but are actively thriving.
One of the most striking aspects of Aguilar’s work is the sense of pride that radiates from his subjects. In his portrait Elsie Allen (Pomo), an older woman holds a handwoven basket. Her gaze is direct, her smile shy but sure, her face etched by the passage of time. Surrounded by white light, the history embedded in her expression and her craft speaks volumes about resilience.
Everyday Moments, Extraordinary Lives
In another memorable image, Cousin Fred, Truckee (pictured at top), a man rides his motorcycle down the freeway, his long hair flowing in the wind. The photograph resonates precisely because it shows an ordinary moment: a man enjoying the freedom of the road.
Theresa Harlan, author of She Sang Me a Good Luck Song and co-curator of the exhibit, writes, “Dugan’s photographs demonstrate a living presence of spirit held within the embrace of beliefs, culture, language, and ceremony by California Indian people—an embrace that comes from the heart of love and defiance.” The photographs reveal a culture that has endured and adapted despite centuries of colonization, genocide, and cultural erasure.
A Rich Archive of Life and Community
Aguilar’s collection of over 25,000 images and artifacts, recently donated by his family to the Oakland Museum, is a testament to his dedication to photographing his community. The works on view are only a small fraction of this immense archive, but they offer a powerful glimpse into a world that is often ignored by the mainstream.
"There isn't a lot of photos of this experience. He was carrying around a camera at times when people didn't have a camera. Like when they were gathering materials, Big Times and ceremonies. I see a lot of faces that I recognize and it makes people in the Native community happy to remember these people and these moments." says Tory Canby, a native artist and local indigenous activist.
Perhaps the most poignant of these photographs is Valley Oak (pictured above), an image of a tree that has nearly been eradicated from the California landscape. Once central to the region’s ecosystem, the Valley Oak was all but eliminated to make way for agriculture. Its inclusion in this exhibit feels like a quiet but powerful call for conservation and a reminder of the ongoing fight to protect both the land and its people.
A Personal Vision, a Collective Experience
Aguilar saw his photographs not merely as documentation but as an expression of his lived experience. His lens was not one of detachment, but of deep connection. His work conveys the intimate understanding of a community member, and in doing so, it gives us a new understanding of a culture that is not only surviving, but flourishing. This exhibition invites us to reconsider what it means to be Indigenous in California today.
Aguilar’s photographs are a silent yet powerful declaration.
We are still here, and we are thriving.
Author’s note: I work with Theresa Harlan at the Alliance for Felix Cove as part of their media team.
