PAUMA VALLEY—Focused on revitalizing its indigenous language, the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians awarded $40,000 to the California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center (CICSC).

The gift is meant to create technology-based language learning devices that will preserve and teach the Luiseño language to tribal members.

"We are passionate about this project and its potential for finding a practical way to help preserve the Luiseño language for future generations—not just for our tribe but for all Luiseño tribes," said Patricia Dixon, Education Committee Chair of the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians.

The collective $50,000 grant is shared between CSUSM and Palomar College’s American Indian Studies Department. The CICSC at CSUSM will serve as the lead organization for the Luiseño Language Preservation Project.

"The California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center is both honored to spearhead this project and excited about the role this plays in our mission to help support the sovereignty and cultural heritage of local tribes as well as foster more collaborative research and learning opportunities for CSUSM students," said Advertisement

"This generous donation by the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians also enables the University to help ensure that the Luiseño language will not be lost, and further supports our dedication to fostering community partnerships, one of the University’s main areas of focus," said Neal Hoss, Vice President for University Advancement at CSUSM.

CICSC collaborators will study and document the language, and produce tangible language-learning tools that can be disseminated through modern technology.

Working in partnership with the CICSC, Palomar College collaborators will host instructional workshops for Pauma tribal members on the use of the language technology and devices, as well as explore and develop additional mediums for project dissemination.

For more than 20 years, CSUSM has sustained collaborative relationships with the many local American Indian tribes in its service area.

After President Karen Haynes established a Native American Advisory Council in 2007, the University established CICSC, a formal center dedicated to developing and conducting research projects that support the maintenance of sovereignty and culture within tribal communities.