Dugan Aguilar - She Sang Me A Good Luck Song

“…If you are unacquainted with the California Indian world, shed all your preconceived notions and give yourself over to a new experience.”

She Sang Me a Good Luck Song: The California Indian Photographs of Dugan Aguilar is an exhibition revealing the richness and vibrancy of Native California cultures. Dugan Aguilar (Mountain Maidu/Pit River/Walker River Paiute), a man of few words, speaks his heart through his photography. Aguilar’s photos defy the romanticized and melodramatic images by which Native people are often depicted. Ranging from portraits of military veterans, basket makers, and dancers to meditative landscapes, Aguilar’s work documents—and contributes to—the perseverance and renewal of Native California’s living, vibrant cultures.

Aguilar, a documentary photographer, has documented Native cultures for over 40 years and has exhibited throughout the United States and in Europe. For 30 years he was staff photographer for the California Indian Basketweavers Association and the California Indian Storytellers Association. He resides in Northern California.

She Sang Me A Good Luck Song: The California Indian Photographs of Dugan Aguilar is a partnership with Exhibit Envoy, Heyday Books, and the Native Fund, curated by Theresa Harlan and artist Dugan Aguilar.

_{Image: Dugan Aguilar, Cousin Fred, Truckee, 1982, black and white photograph, image courtesy of the artist and Exhibit Envoy.}