Yellow mountains and a purple sky pop off of a white wall at a Jersey Mike’s in La Jolla, built on land stolen from the Kumeyaay.
Technically, it’s not a mural. It was initially painted on just 8 by 69 inches, photographed and enlarged to stretch across three enormous frames and then hung on the Herschel Avenue building this summer.
Native plants span the panels and if a passerby looked close enough, they might notice one of the stones is actually a grinding rock. Basket designs weave through the background. The birds — a Cactus Wren, a Rock Wren and a Black-throated Sparrow — represent a story of migration.
What makes the display historic is the small title sign to the right: “Mukikmalim, Su'ulim, Chem-tema-ki'ay.” translated to “Birds, Stars, Our Lands.” It’s the first public display of the Kupa language, tribal members said — a language colonizers tried to stamp out.
The artist, Gail Werner, descends from three of the county’s native peoples, Kupa (or Cupeño), Luiseño and Kumeyaay.
Werner drew inspiration for the mural from her hikes in the Anza-Borrego desert.
“It’s always an amazing experience because I feel that I’m walking where my ancestors walked, because they had been there for thousands of years,” Werner said.
Werner estimated the Kupa people never numbered more than a thousand. She said her grandmother and the three generations before her were forcibly relocated to the Pala Reservation, and their homes later taken over by a resort and spa.
She painted the mural to celebrate the land they lost.
There are two mountain peaks on the right that are special to Werner. Ashwe-t Pe-ti’a — Eagle’s Nest — and Su’ish Pe-ki – Rabbit’s House. Kupa tradition says the Lord put down those two peaks for them to see.
Across the top of the mural are Kupa basket designs turned into stars. The stars, Werner said, are their relatives.
She hopes the mural honors them. She hopes it shows younger generations of Kupa they can do big things.
And she hopes it sends a message: The Kupa people are still here.
