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A restored Mission San Gabriel casts a new light on Southern California Indigenous history

June 28, 2023

Archbishop of Los Angeles, José H. Gomez, blessed the Mission San Gabriel before it reopens after a three-year closure due to the coronavirus pandemic and a fire that burned parts of the mission, in San Gabriel on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Gomez also blessed the new museum exhibit which focuses on Indigenous history related to the mission. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

Members of the Gabrielino San Gabriel Mission Indians lead a blessing ceremony at Mission San Gabriel before it reopens after a three-year closure due to the coronavirus pandemic and a fire that burned parts of the mission, in San Gabriel on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. The blessing covered the church and the new museum exhibit which focuses on Indigenous history related to the mission. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

A new museum exhibit is set to open at Mission San Gabriel that focuses on Indigenous history related to the mission in San Gabriel on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. The mission is set to reopen after a three-year closure due to the coronavirus pandemic and a fire that burned parts of the mission. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

Father John Molyneux during a blessing ceremony at the Mission San Gabriel before it reopens after a three-year closure due to the coronavirus pandemic and a fire that burned parts of the mission, in San Gabriel on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Gomez also blessed the new museum exhibit which focuses on Indigenous history related to the mission. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

The restored altar inside Mission San Gabriel during a blessing ceremony led by Archbishop of Los Angeles, José H. Gomez, before the mission reopens after a three-year closure due to the coronavirus pandemic and a fire that burned parts of the mission, in San Gabriel on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Gomez also blessed the new museum exhibit which focuses on Indigenous history related to the mission. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

The repaired interior of Mission San Gabriel during a blessing ceremony led by Archbishop of Los Angeles, José H. Gomez, before the mission reopens after a three-year closure due to the coronavirus pandemic and a fire that burned parts of the mission, in San Gabriel on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Gomez also blessed the new museum exhibit which focuses on Indigenous history related to the mission. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

A new museum exhibit is set to open at Mission San Gabriel that focuses on Indigenous history related to the mission, including a wall of the names of natives blessed at the mission through 1848, in San Gabriel on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. The mission is set to reopen after a three-year closure due to the coronavirus pandemic and a fire that burned parts of the mission. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

Archbishop of Los Angeles, José H. Gomez, blesses the repaired altar at the Mission San Gabriel before it reopens after a three-year closure due to the coronavirus pandemic and a fire that burned parts of the mission, in San Gabriel on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. Gomez also blessed the new museum exhibit which focuses on Indigenous history related to the mission. (Photo by Trevor Stamp, Contributing Photographer)

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After three years of closure and restoration, voices will once again echo in the halls of Mission San Gabriel starting Saturday, July 1.

Now, after the pandemic and a fire that nearly destroyed it, the historic mission will finally be reopened.

On Tuesday, June 27, Roman Catholic leaders, including L.A. Archbishop José Gomez, the local Gabrieleño/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians and other invited dignitaries came to the historic site to christen a restored landmark while unveiling its reimagined museum, designed to highlight local Indigenous voices and history.

“Thanks be to God!” proclaimed Rev. Parker Sandoval, the vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who was a leader in the restoration effort. “Today, three years later, the mission is fully restored and above all, the museum is now refreshed with a brand new exhibit.”

On July 10, 2020, a fire, which officials say was set by an arsonist, broke out in the mission’s choir loft, eventually spreading to damage the pulpit and altar. The blaze caused major damage to the roof, the interior, to artifacts and in the attic of a 250-year-old mission, the fourth of 21 missions Spaniards built in Alta California.

For a Roman Catholic Community that treasures the church, the restoration was a major moment in the history of a landmark that paved a path for the Roman Catholic Church in the region and in the United States.

But it was also a sobering moment, imbued with a complex and often troubling past.

The arrival of Spanish missionaries had a huge impact on the future of California. But it would also displace the area’s Native American inhabitants – a fact that Los Angeles Archdiocese sought to acknowledge, even as the mission opens to the public on the day that celebrates the sainthood of Junipero Serra, the controversial Spanish priest who established the landmark.

The mission museum’s new exhibit “Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, 1771-1900: Natives, Missionaries, and the Birth of Catholicism in Los Angeles,” provides a look into the mission’s long and complex history. The galleries include baptismal records, textiles, paintings and even audio recordings of 18th century music and letter readings.

A large portion of the museum, which also opens July 1, focuses on Native American culture and history in the Los Angeles area. This includes a new Wall of Names that was erected that lists more than 7,000 Native Americans who were baptized at the mission.

It is a part of their efforts to acknowledge the history of Native Americans previously excluded from such narratives. Built on Indigenous labor, Mission San Gabriel is now the burial site for 5,600 Native Americans, making it a place of religious observance and significance to local Native Americans.

“For me, everything here on these mission grounds is sacred, it’s important, because it reflects our culture, it reflects the teachings of our ancestors to us younger generations and for us to continue showing other generations coming after us so it could never become extinct,” said Chief Anthony Morales of the Gabrieleño/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians.

In the past, the mission and its museum had a focus on the history of the Franciscans and their ushering in of Catholicism into the L.A. area.

The new exhibit seeks to bridge the gap between past and present, providing a window into the lives of those affected by the mission, specifically the Indigenous people who were living in the region since long before colonization.

“It diversifies the story being told in the mission,” said exhibit curator Steven Hackel, the history professor at UC Riverside who secured several grants, including $25,000 from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and $30,000 from the California Bishops Council to help cover costs for his team’s work on the museum. “It helps us understand that the Native community is still here and it teaches a whole new way of understanding the history of this mission.”

Hackel worked alongside a team of collaborators, including associate curator Yve Chavez, a Gabrieleno/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians member and assistant professor of art history at the University of Oklahoma.

Morales lamented the history of his ancestors but also acknowledged just how important it is to show that history at this site.

“It wasn’t a good history between us and the founding of the mission system and the padres,” Morales said. “We were forced to learn, we were forced to build the missions… . But if we forget that portion of the history, then we’re erasing our ancestors.”

Today, at Mission San Gabriel, the church and local Native groups cooperate in the preservation and education of their intertwined past.

“They worship here,” said Sandoval. “This is their home. This is the place where their ancestors are buried. It’s important to them, and therefore it’s important for the church because half the Natives in Los Angeles are Catholic. They are our people, this is their land and we are very happy to celebrate their culture and their history here.”

After a service in the main chapel on Tuesday, visitors were led out to the courtyard in front of the museum’s entrance. There, members of the local Native American community sang songs of welcome and made music for their ancestors. The smell of incense filled the courtyard as they recited prayers and blessings for the restored mission.

Afterward, Archbishop José Gomez gave his blessing, sprinkling holy water throughout the museum before allowing visitors to enter the refurbished exhibition.

And Morales continued his reflection.

“People think we no longer exist. They think we’re extinct. But we’re not,” Morales said.

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Orange County Register

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A restored Mission San Gabriel casts a new light on Southern California Indigenous history

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