Pechanga Tribal Nation

Luiseño program continues success

Pechanga language program completes first year

May 17, 2003
The Californian

On the anniversary of its inception, an effort to teach tribal members their ancestral language has been declared a success by cultural leaders of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians and scholars from UC Riverside.

The language program was born from the Pechangas' desire to save their language, one of about 100 tribal languages native to California, from extinction. The tribe formed a partnership with UC Riverside to develop a teaching model that would revitalize the Luiseno language and serve as a viable model for others to replicate.

Gary DuBois, director of Pechanga Cultural Resources, said the program has exceeded expectations.

"We are concentrating our efforts on the preschool program, and we have waiting lists of Pechanga children who would like to attend the preschool," he said. A kindergarten program is scheduled to start in the fall, DuBois said.

The program's goals, in addition to preserving the language, include teaching it to the children, producing new Luiseno materials and training tribal members to be teachers in Luiseno.

Last week, members of tribes from Northern California spent a week at UCR Extension learning techniques that can help them revitalize their own languages.

Sheila Dwight, director of International Education Programs at UCR Extension, helped assemble the team of language experts who worked on the program and hosted the group visiting the language program.

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