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Dugan Aguilar: Born of the Bear Dance (PRE-ORDER)

$55.00

Dugan Aguilar’s photographs defy colonial narratives, capturing instead an unwavering Indigenous presence and the dynamic cultural practices of his community and beyond. From grand California landscapes to quiet images of gatherings, ceremonies, and basket weaving, Born of the Bear Dance illuminates profound, and often intimate, moments of contemporary Native life.

The selection of Aguilar's images included in this volume draws on his extensive photographic archive, now housed at the Oakland Museum of California, the co-publishers of this first monograph on the artist's work. This comprehensive plate section is framed by a biography of the artist, compiled from excerpts of his own words as well as oral histories with family members and close friends. Newly commissioned essays by Dustin Aguilar, the artist's son; Jennifer Bates; Theresa L. Harlan; Drew Heath Johnson, the curator of Aguilar's retrospective exhibition at the Oakland Museum; Chag Lowry; Rico Miranda; and Meredith Patute offer insights into who Aguilar was as a father, photographer, and community member and new perspectives on his artistic legacy.

Born of the Bear Dance is currently in pre-order and will ship early September 2026.

Dugan Aguilar’s photographs defy colonial narratives, capturing instead an unwavering Indigenous presence and the dynamic cultural practices of his community and beyond. From grand California landscapes to quiet images of gatherings, ceremonies, and basket weaving, Born of the Bear Dance illuminates profound, and often intimate, moments of contemporary Native life.

The selection of Aguilar's images included in this volume draws on his extensive photographic archive, now housed at the Oakland Museum of California, the co-publishers of this first monograph on the artist's work. This comprehensive plate section is framed by a biography of the artist, compiled from excerpts of his own words as well as oral histories with family members and close friends. Newly commissioned essays by Dustin Aguilar, the artist's son; Jennifer Bates; Theresa L. Harlan; Drew Heath Johnson, the curator of Aguilar's retrospective exhibition at the Oakland Museum; Chag Lowry; Rico Miranda; and Meredith Patute offer insights into who Aguilar was as a father, photographer, and community member and new perspectives on his artistic legacy.

Born of the Bear Dance is currently in pre-order and will ship early September 2026.

  • Co-published with the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA)

    Photography by Dugan Aguilar
    Text by Jennifer Bates, Dustin Aguilar, Theresa L. Harlan, Drew Heath Johnson, Chag Lowery, Rico Miranda, Meredith Patute

    Hardcover
    9.5 × 11.5 inches
    214 pages

    Trade ISBN: 9798890181541

  • Dugan Aguilar (1947–2018), from the Mountain Maidu, Pit River, and Walker River Paiute tribes, was a storyteller, a cultural bridge, and a keeper of traditions. His career as a photographer was built on extraordinary trust and reciprocity with his community which enabled him to create an archive of contemporary images of Indigenous people that are both intimate and respectful, and his photographs offer powerful reminders of ancestral knowledge, Native resilience, and the ongoing responsibilities of modern Indigenous communities. Through his lens, Aguilar documented not just the beauty of Native culture but also the living histories and spiritual practices that continue to shape Native life today.