2025 Indigi-Con recap
Honoring Indigenous Storytelling Through Comics & Sequential Art
Indigi-Con 2025 lit up UCSD Park & Market with three unforgettable days of Indigenous art, comics, storytelling, and community. The free, all-ages festival brought together creators, culture-keepers, and fans for electrifying panels, vibrant exhibitions, and powerful conversations about Native futurism and ancestral storytelling. With energy spilling into San Diego’s pop-culture week, Indigi-Con became a standout celebration of Indigenous creativity—bold, inspiring, and absolutely buzzing with talent.
2025 Indigi-Con - Featured Authors & illustrators
weshoyot alvitre
Weshoyot was born in the Santa Monica Mountains on Satwiwa, a historic Indigenous territory and later the site of a cultural center
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founded by her father, Art Alvitre. She grew up close to the land, raised with traditional knowledge that inspires the work she does today, which focuses on an Indigenous lens and voice in projects ranging from children’s books to adult-market graphic novels.
chag lowry
Chag Lowry, M.Ed. is of Yurok, Maidu, and Achumawi Native ancestry from northern California. His imprint Original Voices produces comics and books with a focus on Native stories
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and history. He is the writer of the science fiction comic book, Reflections, with art by Eli Hyder, the writer of the water advocacy comic Where the Water Flows Strong with art by Weshoyot Alvitre (Tongva), the co-writer of the basketry comic My Sisters with art by Weshoyot Alvitre, the writer of the western comic Follow the Water with art by Rahsan Ekedal, and the writer of the award-winning graphic novel Soldiers Unknown with art by Rahsan Ekedal and published by Great Oak Press. Soldiers Unknown is endorsed by the Yurok Tribe, the United States World War One Centennial Commission and the American Indian Veterans Association of Southern California. Chag directed multiple programs for the PBS documentary series titled Indigenous Living Biographies and is the author of The Original Patriots: Northern California Indian Veterans of World War Two and The Original Patriots: California Indian Veterans of the Korean War. He has presented numerous times at the San Diego Comic-Con and is currently working on a World War Two comic anthology and a Native horror comic anthology.
ethan banegas
Ethan grew up on the Barona Reservation. A BA in History, Religious Studies & Political Science
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and MA in History from the University of San Diego. The owner of Kumeyaay.com and Historian for the San Diego History Center. He was first published in 2017 (Indian Gaming in the Kumeyaay Nation) and in 2020 published the Kumeyaay Oral History Project. In 2024, he published two comics – “Beyond Gaming” and “Our Past, Present, and Future” – and served as project director and author of the Kumeyaay Visual Storytelling Project.
Dr. Courtney Lewis
Professor Courtney Lewis is Duke University's inaugural director of the Native American Studies Initiative/Research in US Indigenous
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Studies and Engagement (RISE) program. And the Crandall Family associate professor in cultural anthropology. A lifelong “Indiginerd,” she has been formally teaching about American Indians in comics and graphic novels for the past five years.
jackie fawn
Jackie Fawn is a graphic illustrator currently residing in Akwesasne, Mohawk Territory. Her art
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has been recognized in Indigenous spaces by her vivid depictions of warrior women defending the land and people against modern day colonialism. In recent years, Jackie’s work has begun to enter educational curriculum, environmental organizations, and health campaigns to uplift Indigenous resiliency and healing.
Dr. Darcie Little Badger
Dr. Darcie Little Badger is a Lipan Apache writer with a PhD in oceanography. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, Elatsoe, was featured in
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Time Magazine as one of the best 100 fantasy books of all time. Elatsoe also won the Locus award for Best First Novel and is a Nebula, Ignyte, and Lodestar finalist. Her second fantasy novel, A Snake Falls to Earth, received a Nebula Award, an Ignyte Award, and a Newbery Honor and is on the National Book Awards longlist. She was the co-author of the comic series Strangelands and is currently working on an original comic series. Darcie is married to a veterinarian named Taran.
theo tso
An enrolled member of the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe who at a young age taught himself how to read and how to draw from comic books. As he
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got older he did his civic duty and sat on the tribal council for two consecutive terms. He created his comic book character, Captain Paiute as a necessity for our youth to have a hero that looked just like them. Some who they could relate to that also lived on the reservation and deal with everyday life as a Native American. While reading the many comic books over the years he noticed that there were no Native Americans in lead roles in any of the comics that he was reading. He also realize that Batman or Superman wouldn’t come onto the reservation to deal with any of the cultural issues that we as Native Americans must face. This was a huge driving force into creating Captain Paiute. He’s currently rebooting the storyline along with new art!
Xatimniim Drake
Xatímniim Drake is a Karuk tribal member with Hupa and Shasta background as well. She is a native artist, her culture and homelands help inspire her art.
Roy Boney Jr.
Roy Boney, Jr. is an award-winning Cherokee Nation artist, filmmaker, and language revitalization activist from Tahlequah, OK. He is also a designated Cherokee National Treasure
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for painting and Master Artist by the Five Civilized Tribes Museum. His work combines Cherokee language and culture with influences from popular culture. He served as Cherokee Nation language program manager for over a decade before transitioning to Cherokee Film as a Cherokee Language Revitalization Manager. His work has been widely exhibited and published in various outlets, including Indian Country Today, The Cherokee Phoenix, First American Art, Oxford University Press and Marvel Comics.
2025 Presenting partners & sponsors
Presented by the Indigenous Futures Institute at UC San Diego, in collaboration with the Eyaay Ahuun Foundation and the University of California Humanities Research Institute, Indigi-Con is generously supported by the San Pasqual Band. Together, these organizations have come together to highlight Indigenous creativity, community, and culture through the expressive power of comic arts.
University of California Humanities Research Institute
Eyaay Ahuun Foundation
Indigenous Futures Institute (UC San Diego)
San Pasqual Band
Sponsors & Partners
Join Our Story
Whether you’re an artist, illustrator, a comic enthusiast, or simply curious about Indigenous storytelling, Indigi-Con invites you to be part of our program. Together, let’s uplift Indigenous voices, embrace creativity, and build community connections for generations to come.
(Admission is free for panels & industry mixer at UC San Diego Park & Market – Registration Required)