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00:00Los Angeles is a city where grit meets glamour, where stars burn bright and dreams are spun,
00:09a melting pot of aspiring individuals. This is a place where greatness is pursued.
00:16Every place is Indian land. I mean, this is East LA. It's Native land. And when you look at a mural,
00:23you can see that although things change over time, they don't really change that much. I mean,
00:27from the cave paintings that Native people did to these graffiti pieces, people are saying we're
00:34trying to get in touch with who we are as Native Indigenous people. It's happening. It's happening
00:39all across the city. And it's kind of a big deal.
00:57For over 23,000 years,
01:27the greater Los Angeles Basin, once called Tongva, was home to thousands of Indigenous people.
01:34But here's the thing. They're still here. So let's delve into LA's multicultural tapestry and meet
01:40the remnant survivors, the original stars of Los Angeles.
01:44Jimmy Gomez, born in East Los Angeles, California, Boyle Heights. My mother raised me. I'm a single
01:52parent. My mom and my dad got divorced. I grew up in the projects of Dogtown in Boyle Heights. But my
01:59ray of light and my matriarch was always my grandmother. I would spend a lot of time at her
02:05house. She's the person that taught me about our roots in Jerome, Arizona. She's the person that had the
02:11pride, the ultimate power when it came to her Native roots. Because she instilled that in me.
02:17My relatives are Hopi and Shoshone. So I learned a lot about her upbringing and our ancestors.
02:25Being a kid from LA, being a Chicano kid, Native kid, I wasn't enough. And I always felt like,
02:32well, where do I fit in? Because I wasn't born on the res.
02:34They would put my res card, my blood quantum card, like, you're not enough because you're
02:40not from the res, right? And I just always struggled with identity. I wasn't feeling like
02:47I was enough. And so that's why I wrote this book about identity, which is important. It tells the
02:53story of me dealing with not feeling enough in my community. Dating outside of my race,
03:01doing hip-hop music, or creating an opportunity to have a career through breakdancing, through rapping,
03:09through songwriting. It was hip-hop culture that embraced me. So I found my tribe, for lack of
03:16better word, within three people. Myself, Will.i.am, and Apple Diap, who in turn became Black Eyed Peas.
03:23Right. So that was the way that you navigated your way through. But I think, you know, you just
03:30nailed it about, I mean, I think we even struggle with that today, is that if you didn't grow up on
03:35the res, you're not a real Indian. Yeah. And I'm like, wait a minute. I just want to represent.
03:40Right. So it's like learning about protocol and all these landmines that happen in Indian
03:44country. You know, you try to do something and then somebody tries to pull your card and they
03:49try to bring you down because they're going through healing. They need healing in their life.
03:54There's something that's affecting them to bring the good medicine and positivity. And so I learned
04:00all these different ways to maneuver in Indian country and just be the best relative that I can
04:05be to represent and to inspire the youth. It's one thing to be a musician and an artist and all the
04:11things that I do in my professional life. But how do I affect change?
04:16So what, I guess now you're, you're dropping a comic book.
04:21Well, it's my third comic book.
04:22But I mean a new one.
04:23Yes, new one. Yes.
04:24You've got the new one coming up, which is incredible.
04:27Yeah. So this is the first one right here, Werewolf by Night, which I'm really proud of because
04:31it's the first iteration of its kind. Loosely based on me, Jake Gomez, Jimmy Gomez, Hopi,
04:38Mexican, Hopi, Mexican. And we brought them to Arizona, paying homage to my grandmother and her
04:44roots and our roots. So cool.
04:46And so I brought my grandmother, my grandmother right here in her living room, sipping her coffee.
04:53And when, when I was a kid in this living room, of course it's fictional, but this is the living
04:59room based on my grandmother. She would say from Los Angeles, California, give it up for Jimmy Gomez.
05:03And then you would get out there? And I would be performing in her living room. Like it was a big
05:07stage. It was like, it would transform from, from Los Angeles to a stadium.
05:14Well, grandma saw you. She saw you for what you really were at that time. Right. And I think in a
05:20lot of ways that's carried you through your whole life.
05:23I always had visions of my grandmother saying, stay connected to mother earth, stay grounded,
05:27stay rooted, keep your hands in the soil.
05:29I got diagnosed with cancer in 2014. And so I was putting my job, my professional life
05:37in front of my health. I didn't listen to my body. So when I went through my whole trauma
05:43of doing chemotherapy for 12 weeks, five days a week, six hours a day, I also offset that
05:48with holistic healing to try to center myself and really understand ways to be a conduit of
05:54hope. I kept saying, creator, if I come out of this, I'm a change my ways of being, instead
06:00of it being about me, I want it to be about we.
06:03As native people, I think we look at disease, you know, in a little bit different way. You
06:09know, I mean, obviously things happen to all of us, but I think we also look at it like it's
06:14a moment of pause and reflection to go, all right, what's out of balance here?
06:19We get this medicine, we get this wisdom that probably a lot of people don't understand
06:25that we have as native people.
06:27I didn't realize the impact that it had on me, not only in physically, but also mentally.
06:34Right.
06:34Because I was uncertain. I didn't know if I was going to survive this. I didn't know
06:38if the chemo was going to, you know, do its job. And plus, I didn't want to just depend
06:43on Western medicine. I also wanted to try to find a way to connect my roots with it.
06:47Right.
06:48I get emotional thinking about the impact that my grandmother had because she didn't
06:57get to see me as a parent. She didn't get to see sober me. I've been sober for 15 years.
07:07Sorry, going into this emotional, crazy world. It's all good. But she didn't get to see me
07:14as a Black Eyed Peas. She didn't get to see a lot of these wins. But most of all, she didn't
07:20get to see me represent for our indigenous communities. And that for me is, it's everything.
07:26When I defeated cancer in September of 2014, there was a higher purpose for me, higher
07:34frequency. And that frequency led me to Standing Rock. And when I went to Standing Rock and I
07:40stood in solidarity with my Standing Rock Sioux Tribe water protectors and all the relatives
07:44and allies that I came from all over the world, just to protect something as sacred as water
07:50from local tribes in Missouri River. And all the things that we stood through prayer and
07:57through positivity and through that good medicine, we were able to stand our ground. So when I
08:02went to Standing Rock, I found a healing that was more powerful than chemotherapy.
08:07So what does that mean? Like, what does it mean to you when you think about, okay, here you
08:12are, you're a native man, and you've got all these talents. I mean, it's crazy talented. I mean,
08:18here you've got a book, you've got this, you've got your music. I know there's more to come,
08:23but what does it mean to you when you think, okay, here I am, you know, I'm here for this time.
08:30And like, you're so connected with what your grandmother brought forth in you. And I can see
08:37just as a native person that you're like, boom, I'm here, right? What do you feel is really
08:43important that you have to share with the world? We have so many relatives that are affecting change
08:49in their own right. And if I can do that and contribute to that, that's the conversation I
08:53want to be a part of. Not just like, oh, he left a catalog of music. No, no, no. I want to leave a
08:58legacy for my kids to be inspired by. And I want to leave a legacy that kids around the world would be
09:04inspired by.
09:07Claudia Serrato is a remarkable indigenous woman. Claudia's journey isn't just about cooking.
09:21It's about reclaiming her cultural heritage through the power of indigenous food. What sets
09:26her apart is her connection with her plant relatives, a unique bond that allows her to unlock the stories
09:32of her ancestors. Food brings us back home. And in Claudia's case, back to her indigenous roots.
09:38It was really interesting, this particular journey of mine in coming to understand that I'm not just
09:45Mexican. Like, I'm native, I'm indigenous. And how do I know that because of the foods that I'm eating,
09:52the foods that are still around, the culture, the language, the dress. I was born and raised in East LA. And I did not know a world outside of East LA. I did visit my grandma often, who lived in the Cucopa territory, which is out in Mexicali.
10:09I spent a lot of me. I spent a lot of my time there living on the land, growing food, feeding pigs, you know, running around with chickens. You know, that was my youth.
10:18There's always this interesting discussion that happens in Indian country, especially here in Southern California, because I feel like native people and Mexican people, we kind of have held together, you know, especially like for me growing up, because in the school that I went to, I think I was the only native person.
10:37So I identified as Latina, because, you know, all the Latin girls, come over here, right? You know what I mean? I didn't speak the language, but I looked the right color. I was the right shade, right?
10:51So, but then I think as you get older, you start saying, okay, wait, I'm not just this one thing.
10:58You know, eventually, right, as you grow up, as you become a teenager, I began to pay attention to the drums. I began to listen to the music.
11:07I began to smell the incense. And I was like, this is doing something for me. It was, I don't know if you want to call it enacting my genetic memory, activating my ancestral memory.
11:17But at some point, I then asked my dad, dad, so aside from being Mexicano, right? And the same thing with his tia who was still alive, my tia Felicia, she's like, mija, somos pura pecha.
11:28And I was like, well, what does that mean? You know, and what does that mean for me?
11:32So, it was, it was a journey, but the only way I was able to explore that was through the food that my parents and my grandparents were raising me with.
11:41Because that was like the only connection I had to the motherland. Food has been like the vehicle.
11:47Food has been like, you know what, girl, I'm here and I have a lesson to teach you about what it means to be resilient.
11:53And, you know, as a result of that, you know, if you continue to do this work as well, like I'm going to honor you as a steward, as a carrier of this, you know, culinary knowledge.
12:05And may you do the work so that it not only keeps us alive, but it keeps you alive and the next generations to come.
12:14This is what I'm committed to because this affirms my right to be here.
12:19This affirms, you know, who I am as an indigenous woman in diaspora.
12:24As indigenous people, it goes another layer because not only does the food take care of us, we take care of the food because it is our relative.
12:34These are our plant relatives.
12:36And then when we, our physical being is no longer here, we go, we fertilize these guys, they bring another group, then they take care of our children and our family.
12:46This relationship that we have that sustains us, it could really change the world as we know it.
12:54Absolutely.
12:54You know?
12:55Absolutely.
12:56That's so beautiful.
12:57So you grow, you've got all these amazing pre-colonial foods that you're utilizing.
13:05And I know that you do special events for people.
13:10Yes.
13:10So share a little bit about what you do.
13:13So awesome.
13:14Yeah.
13:14So when I am not foraging, when I'm not harvesting, when I'm not growing food, I do host events here out of my home.
13:23And usually they're considered chef's tables or pop-ups.
13:28And what I do is I like to feature and honor food that is within its proper season to, again, teach, you know, how and why eating seasonally is important.
13:39These lessons of eating have also been taught to me.
13:42So for me, it's like, okay, this is a responsibility you have.
13:45What are you going to do with it, right?
13:46So it's indigenizing nutrition.
13:47What I also do is I invite the community to come.
13:52And so, you know, folks will come, we'll gather, we'll talk about the food, we'll talk about its life story, its life journey.
14:00It's important to our house, to our spirit, to our mind, to our body.
14:04And then we engage in what we would consider different courses.
14:09And each one is significant to an element.
14:12Each one is significant to the season.
14:15Sometimes it's cosmic, you know, to the stars, to the sun.
14:18It just depends on, you know, what are we vibing on, how are we vibrating for that day.
14:24And aside from that, I also do a lot of work around remembering who we are, activating memory.
14:31And so that could be through, you know, burning sage.
14:34Just other ways to activate these memories that have been taken from us.
14:39For me, I'm like, you know what, I want my spirit back.
14:41And to bring my spirit back is to bring the spirit of the food back.
14:44And that's why I do what I do.
14:47Ultimately, you're talking about the ability to really understand what it means to be an indigenous person.
14:55And that is to be on the land, take care of the land, have the land take care of you.
15:00Absolutely.
15:01And have that relationship with nature and everything.
15:06And that's why we, as indigenous people, we really relate with the land that we're on.
15:12Yes.
15:12Because this is where our families have been.
15:16Yeah.
15:16This is what we communicate.
15:17Yes.
15:17That's the language.
15:19Yes.
15:19That's the language.
15:21This is pretty emotional for me because this is Indian Alley.
15:35And you can just feel the energy here.
15:38It was also known as Blood Alley way back in the day.
15:41And probably in the 70s is when it was really filled with natives.
15:45You could probably have native people, especially in the evening, just camping out here like homeless.
15:51This was a space where people could come and get help for natives.
15:56And so a lot of people came here.
15:57But natives were coming from all over, displaced, not just from California.
16:02And so I just felt like it was a good place to come and to smudge and to remember everything that we've gone through.
16:09But more importantly is look at this beauty.
16:12I mean, we're in a whole situation of land back here once again through the arts.
16:18So artists have taken the time to make murals.
16:22And these are artists from all over the country.
16:24Oh, yeah.
16:25My sage is happy about that.
16:27So the ancestors have come and they've replaced that sadness with healing through the arts.
16:33And you can see these murals.
16:34And we'll kind of walk along and take a look at all the different creative people who've been here.
16:39And we'll kind of walk along and take a look at all the other people who've been here.
17:09You guys ready for your last comic of the hour?
17:16Keep it clapping, keep it clapping for J.R. Redwater!
17:19You guys are all super killer.
17:31So, the white man introduced alcohol to the Indians so they could steal our land.
17:37But I like to call it one of the longest happy hours ever.
17:41What I say, only if us Indians had an honest bartender.
17:49Because he would be like, excuse me, chief, I've got to cut you off.
17:54You're losing your continent.
17:55Give it up for me, I made it off the res.
18:08That's a big deal.
18:09That's like, that's like Gilligan making it off the island.
18:13Honestly, I did not know I could leave the res.
18:20I was pissed.
18:21I was like, what?
18:24We?
18:25We can leave?
18:28My mom's like, oh, I thought you knew.
18:30No!
18:32I'm 30 years old!
18:35I thought we were stuck!
18:36I used to stand on a reservation line, like, looking out, you know?
18:45Being Native, like, I was naturally shy.
18:49So, it was a lot harder for me.
18:51Because when people come here, they're just like, they're so out there.
18:55They don't care.
18:57And I come from a place where people aren't like that.
19:00They're not so loud, boisterous.
19:03They're not, like, so daring.
19:05My dad told me one time, he said, that guy that's across from you, if you don't go get it, he's going to get it.
19:13And you're going to work for him.
19:14So, I just remembered that, you know?
19:18Then I joined the Navy.
19:19I deployed three times to the Middle East, you know?
19:22I used to launch planes off an aircraft carrier.
19:26I was the topside safety petty officer, so I ran the catapult.
19:31I was responsible for the catapult, and my whole crew, the flight crew, the jet, everything.
19:39I'm a veteran, you know?
19:41Right.
19:41So...
19:42Do you ever talk about that?
19:43No, I tried one time before, but sometimes it's something you want to forget about, you know?
19:49Did you feel like comedy allowed you to distract your mind from that trauma?
19:57Because it's kind of like double trauma.
19:59Here you are, both of us as Native people, we have that generational trauma.
20:05Maybe we didn't experience the brunt of things like our grandparents did, or our great-grandparents, or our parents.
20:13But we heard about it, and we felt the effects of having everything taken away.
20:20And then there weren't a lot of opportunities, like you went into the military.
20:24I would love to hear what it was like when you first got to L.A. as a Native.
20:29I got here in 99, and I didn't start stand-up until 2001.
20:35But within that year and a half, I was coming to Hollywood, and I don't see no Native American comedians.
20:42Nobody that looks like me.
20:43I'm full-blood, okay?
20:45I grew up on the res.
20:46I was born on the res.
20:48And this was over 20 years ago.
20:50Think about it.
20:51So if you're, like, going on stage, and there's no other Natives, well, first of all, you're representing people who have to try really hard to make it in any business.
21:03And where we come from in our background, and the oppression, and the systematic genocide, and all of it, it's all there.
21:09Now you've got to bring that here.
21:11You've got to get on stage.
21:12You've got to compete with all these other people who are going to all these fancy art schools and this and that.
21:18And you're the only one of your kind.
21:20Wow.
21:20There was Charlie Hill, there's Larry Omaha that are here, but I never knew them.
21:26And I was the new guy.
21:282009, we were on national TV doing the American Indian Comedy Slam.
21:33No reservations needed for Showtime, right?
21:37It's the first time Native Americans ever had their own comedy special on national TV in America.
21:46You and it sounds like a couple of other guys here.
21:49You guys grinded it out, and now there's a lot more opportunity, like preservation dogs.
21:56There's a lot of comedians on that show, and I think now, hopefully, I mean, hopefully it's our time now.
22:07We can make a difference in a handful of people's lives, and I mean, that's why we do this.
22:14Laughter is just a beautiful thing.
22:16As the sun sets on the city of angels, the legacy of the first people continues to shine bright.
22:23In a city known for its storytelling, it's the stories of the Native Americans that provide an anchor, a reminder that beneath the vibrant surface lies a deep heritage, a bridge between past and present, offering a glimpse into a world that once was and still endures.
22:40Their heritage is a reminder that no matter where we come from, no matter our origins, we are all connected by the universal desire to protect our history, to celebrate our identity, and to share our wisdom with those who are willing to listen.
22:55This is my country, my damn country, give me my country, you can keep the rest.
23:01This is my country, my damn country, and it don't mean a thing if you don't pass the test.
23:06If you ain't never cheated or been cheated on, then take off your boots, you rhinestone fraud.
23:11This is my country, my damn country, and it don't happen to us all.
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