Judy Baca's "Danza Indigenas" Archway and Toypurina’s Legacy

At the Baldwin Park Metrolink Station, travelers will encounter an artistically designed 20-foot arch and a 100-foot plaza. This work is titled “Danza Indigenas” and was created by native L.A. artist Judy Baca. The artistic design is meant to depict the archway of the nearby San Gabriel Mission. 

Beneath the archway, the floor plan of the mission is carved into the concrete of this open plaza area, which serves as a connector between the Metrolink Station and the overhang where people stand to wait for their train.  

This monument pays homage to the bravery of the Gabrielinos (the word the Franciscans used for Native people they had baptized into the Catholic Church in the San Gabriel region) and Toypurina, a daring 23-year-old Gabrielino woman who assisted in the revolt against the Spanish missionaries who founded Mission San Gabriel.