S1: It's time for Midday Edition on Kpbs. Today we are talking about preserving the culture of the Kumeyaay Nation. I'm Jade Hindman. Here's to conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. We'll talk about the ways Kumeyaay tradition and history are inspiring the next generation.
S2: All these people who were powerhouses in the native civil rights movement. They inspired me to , you know , continue on and to teach.
S1: Plus , we'll explore the little known Kumeyaay history that shaped the region. And we'll hear from Sdsu tribal liaison about what it means to have an inclusive and culturally relevant college experience. That's ahead on Midday Edition. San Diego County has the most tribal governments and reservations in the country. That includes the Kumeyaay Nation , whose ancestral land San Diego sits on. Historically , the Kumeyaay were forced off their ancestral lands and their language and culture suppressed. Today , students , especially native students , don't get an opportunity to even learn about that history and heritage until college. That's where Professor Stan Rodriguez comes in. He's the director of Kumeyaay Community College , one of three tribal colleges in California , and chair of the Kumeyaay Studies department at Cajamarca College. His work is centered around preserving and passing along Kumeyaay culture. Professor Rodriguez , welcome.
S2: Well , thank you very much.
S1: So glad you're here. Okay , so tell me about yourself. How did you grow up ? I hear it's a fascinating story.
S2: Oh , gosh. Well , I was born off the reservation. I was born up north and Madera , California , and and spent many of my years until about 16 coming back and forth , uh , between my mom and my dad that were separated and finally came back down into San Diego. I was living on the San Juan reservation first , and after I got my associate's degree in 1985 , I joined the Navy , and I was in the Navy for nine years , and I lived in Kumba by the temple reservation , and later on I lived on the reservation before finally moving to San Isabel. So going all over the place , really.
S1: I see , I see.
S2: I was , um , waiting to see if I was going to get accepted at Fresno State University. And the Navy said that they would be able to pay for my education. Came to boot camp in San Diego three days after I got there. I was able to call my grandmother , and she got a letter from Fresno State saying I had been accepted with full financial aid , a little bit late , but that was my career in the Navy.
S1: Oh my goodness.
S2: Yes. And she passed away the same day that President Kennedy was killed. So actually , I thought that , uh , when they were having the funeral for President Kennedy , they were having it for my grandmother. I was like five years old. But , um , my other grandmother , uh , stressed the importance of culture and learning traditional values and traditional skills. And that , along with my aunts , my aunts were the ones that one of them in particular. She spoke the language , and she came from a difficult time. Uh , for me , I wanted to learn because I heard older people using the language , and there were fewer and fewer people speaking. I remember my aunt would say , why do you want to know ? Why do you want to learn ? But she came from the boarding school era where languages was stifled. It was suppressed in order to , uh , I guess , protect the younger ones. Many of them didn't want to teach. So that was a problem then. But although there was difficulty in learning , I just felt in my heart that need to know the language. So I would just keep going and going and pestering people.
S1:
S2: As it shifted , there was focus on decolonization , learning our languages if we didn't speak , learning our culture , our history , teaching our own native epistemology , our own organic science , our own history through the lens of native people. I also grew up doing Wounded Knee , other , uh , other events that took place which brought pride to native people in the community and said , yes , you know , our culture is I mean , it is of incredible value and we should never be ashamed. Because of who we are , we should be proud of who we are. So all of this growing up and in this era and meeting people like Dennis Banks , Russell Means , the Belcourt brothers , all these people who were powerhouses in the native Civil Rights movement. They inspired me to , you know , continue on and and to teach , to learn and to teach.
S1: You mentioned , you know , this movement to to decolonize. You know , it's it's it takes a conscious effort for us to decolonize our minds and to to embrace our individual cultures and customs and to to learn them.
S2: And when I wasn't with my own people , I worked with other people who were doing the same thing. And up north was the Monos with the yoga people , other different groups , with the Lakota people and many different groups , and coming and working with my own , my own people , my own family. It was an inspiration and a challenge at the same time , because I didn't grow up all my life down here , many people see me as a newcomer and that that posed its own challenges. However , working through it and seeing people who wanted to learn and starting to learn and able to use the language and seeing that shift in them , the pride that was coming and other people who were here and wanted the same thing that brought joy to my heart and still does.
S1: All right. And , you know , you're you're also the director of Kumeyaay Community College , which is focused on Kumeyaay language , arts , culture , history and other subjects.
S2: One of the reasons is how our history and culture were being taught in the primary , secondary and tertiary institutions. Now , let me digress for a moment. We're talking about Kumeyaay community because actually it all goes back to Alcatraz in 1969 , when Alcatraz was taken over by Richard Oakes and a number of other Native American students. They took it over because they seen how a cultural history is being taught in the school system , and they wanted to change that narrative. So they took over that island , and they wanted to turn it into a tertiary institution , a college , tribal college or university. When that didn't happen , when they were evicted , they took over another piece of land. It was an abandoned Army communications post outside of Davis , California. Well , that became known as Deakin University. And Deakin University started in the early 70s. And in 1975 I went to that school and they just obtained accreditation. So I got my associates when I was there , and it was completely different from any of the schools out there that school was teaching to honor our culture , honor our spirituality , honor our languages , our history , and to teach it from a native lens. So Deakin University started expanding and created a satellites. One of the satellites was here in San Diego on the Szechuan reservation , and when GCU lost its accreditation , the satellite became its own institution , became Kumeyaay Community College when that happened. Uh , Shirley Murphey , who's a Lakota who was married to a tribal member at second , she was the one taking the lead with her and wanting it to go. And we obtained an MoU with Cuyamaca Community College. So we offer classes for college credit. The institution developed language courses and history courses , then ethnobotany , ethno ecology , humanities and anthropology courses. So we have an accredited and associates degree program in human studies. And at this time we're developing an accredited bachelor program in Kumeyaay studies.
S1: You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman , I'm speaking with Professor Stan Rodriguez , director of Kumeyaay Community College and chair of the Kumeyaay Studies program at Cuyamaca College , and Professor Rodriguez. You know , I mean , you mentioned there's just three colleges here in California , three tribal colleges , including. Community College. It seems like there just aren't many opportunities for native people to have a culturally relevant education at this point , like especially when K through 12 curriculum is dominated by white American narratives. Do you hope to see that change ? I mean.
S2: You know what ? I do hope to see that change. And you brought up an interesting point in primary school. What did they showcase in grade fourth ? The building of the missions. And if you really know the history of the missions , you know , our people have endured three waves of encroachment the Spanish wave , the Mexican wave , and the American way. When the Spaniards brought the missions , it was a weaponized form of indoctrination of native people that were used to house and sequester native people. Use them for servant or slave labor in building this , teaching rudimentary skills in anticipation of Spanish colonists coming. So when they , you know , build missions with , they're basically romanticizing the building of concentration camps. So one of the things that they do not teach is when the Spaniards first came to San Diego in 1769 , or people attacked that first mission , then when they moved it again in November 5th , 1775 , hundreds of native warriors attacked that mission , burned to the ground , and killed Father Jaime and two others. These things are not talked about. Another thing that's not talked about is during the Mexican era , the companies were almost successful in running the Mexicans completely out of San Diego. The last time the refugees from San Diego were out of Point Loma , waiting for a ship to take them away. So all these things were happening out here , and you never hear them hear about them in the history.
S1: You mentioned the Mexican encroachment. What was the the encroachment there ? Okay.
S2: So what happened was the Spaniards were basically here in California for about 50 some years , not that much. So when Mexico gained independence , uh , the government wanted to secularized missions , take them out of , uh , church hands. And there were two main groups in Mexico at the time. The majority , the vast majority , which is indigenous population , and then the minority , which were Spaniards born into Mexico. Now the indigenous populations wanted to be free. They wanted freedom for themselves , and they wanted land so that they could live. The Spanish minority. What they they seen was that the Spanish government was becoming too liberal , and they wanted to go back how it was. So they wanted to create Estancia , where these estates around the missions and continue with the process of subjugation. So this is what led to the attacks and to the push of the Kumeyaay people to run these , the Mexican elite , out of the area and , uh , just send them out of Kumeyaay territory.
S1:
S2: And it's it's a shock for me. And I tell them , this is historical. We are not making this up. It's just history that has not , you know , been publicized. So now we're giving this to you so that you can learn the whole whole thing. And we have some students who already have their degrees. We have students who are teachers , professors. We have doctors coming in , people who want to learn. We have high school students coming in who are taking courses at Tucumcari Community College , where they get high school and college credit , and we open it up to all. And the discussions that we have during the classes are very powerful and very inspiring.
S1: You also mentioned preserving the Kumeyaay language.
S2: That border cut right to our territory. So of that , there's approximately 28 people who still speak the language. So under the Unesco , nine factors of language stability and endangerment , five being stable , zero being extinct. The Kumeyaay language is listed as one critically endangered. So one of the problems with that is because of diaspora of the nation. Let's say you're Kumeyaay from one of the communities in Baja , and I'm Kumeyaay from this community. If we are not in a place where we can communicate with each other , language atrophy takes place. Also , the younger people who do not know they have very little opportunities to hear the language spoken in order to. Use the language.
S1: And so much is lost culturally when that happens , because in other languages there are there are words that aren't even expressed in the English language.
S3:
S2: One really has to explain the meaning of it in order for somebody to understand it. An example would be the word hawker , which means hello. However , it doesn't mean hello. The word for our soul is mortal , which means the fire within our body. So when we say how God was saying that may that fire , you know , continue to glow brightly. It's actually a blessing. And if you do not understand the language , then you really don't know what the true meaning of that is. And then there's dialect differences. Everybody speaks a little bit different. And one of the things traditionally has been if you spoke one way and I speak another , just how you speak , I would know where you come from. But we would still be able to communicate it. But due to diaspora and restriction to various communities , the language appears to have gone incestuous unto itself. In other words , we can still talk , but if we haven't had that much time to interact , you may not be able to understand what I'm saying. I may not be able to understand what you're saying.
S1: In sort of preserving the language and the culture. I want to know you're also a mentor to many native students.
S2: Now that's making a renaissance. Same thing with language. I know this one young girl who was 11 , 12 years old. She came to a language class. She was scared. Frightened. She didn't want to do it. She came back again when she was 13. She was scared. Frightened. And when she came back again when she was 16. And she stuck with it. And one of the beauties is being able to hear when , you know , we can sit down and talk for over an hour. And she's comfortable with it , and she has it , and she is a role model to others because you brought up something that's very important for young people. I would be considered a fossil. Okay. But young people , when they have how would you say mentors or , you know , people who are their own age , they become an inspiration to them and they're the true ones that teach. Children learn better from other children. So these are things that we're working on and we're also working on developing immersion programs. We started a pilot program where we were doing immersion eight hours a day , five days a week for one month. The terminal objective of this was upon successful completion , the participants would be able to communicate in the language for at least one hour without using without using notes or anything. The first class. All of them were successful in doing that. The problem with it is again due to diaspora. If they're not in close proximity to each other , you start seeing language atrophy taking place very quickly. So one of the things that we've learned is a one month program just barely gets them going. I'm looking at maybe three months or six months or a one year program in order to really be able to solidify it with those students.
S1:
S2: Uh , contact Kumeyaay Community College. The classes that you would take are accredited. We do Kumeyaay languages one , two and three. We do Kumeyaay history one and two. We do Kumeyaay humanities , which is what we do is we make the traditional houses tool , both traditional tools. We go out showing , uh , the different types of foods , how to gather , how to prepare them , the other things that you want to know to get on naked and afraid and gain weight. We teach ethnobotany , Kumi ethno ecology , the different plants. Um , we teach anthropology , all these classes. So it's the Kumeyaay Community College. And the number to get Ahold of is area code (619) 445-6917. As for Amanda Rosas , she is a college coordinator and she'll be able to get you , get all the information and get you locked in so that you can start taking classes , hopefully this spring.
S1: All right. And of course , you can find all that information@kpbs.org. I've been speaking with Professor Stan Rodriguez , director of Kumeyaay Community College and chair of the Kumeyaay Studies program at Columbia College. Professor , thank you so much for joining us.
S2: Thank you. Thank you for your time.
S1: Coming up , Sdsu tribal liaison tells us how a culturally relevant education can create a sense of belonging for Kumeyaay students.
S4: For me to sit there when I speak , anywhere I go , I see all the things that have been created by natives that are here now , and the indigenous people that started since the beginning of San Diego State. Of all the efforts of trying to get a place where they can feel like they belong.
S1: You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. Jacob Alvarado is the first ever tribal liaison at San Diego State , a position that was created in 2020 as tribal liaison. He's building relationships with various tribal communities while also working across the university to help native students feel safe and included on campus. He joins me now to talk about his efforts to serve native students on and off campus. Professor Ypc , welcome back to Midday Edition.
S4: Thank you for having me.
S1: So glad you're here. So you graduated from Sdsu in 2014.
S4: We didn't have the Native Resource Center at all. And I mean , if you go go across campus right now , you'll see the work that has been done through the native community. And with our leadership here on campus and our our teamwork overall as a university and creating a diversity , equity , being inclusive environment in everything that we do. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And I know you studied abroad at the University of British Columbia , where you encountered a lot of native representation there.
S4: My whole perspective on what it feels like to be on a campus where you feel comfortable. It was a study abroad program from , uh , San Diego State University to study up in Canada , University of British Columbia , the First Nations. So it was my last part of my bachelor's degree. So that what I noticed was really quickly is that the difference of when I walked on campus , when I drove on campus , I saw totem poles , you know , that represent the Coast Salish , Musqueam Nation people. All my classes are First Nations studies , you know , and I'm learning about the Coast Salish arts. The people , what they do , what they eat , the language , everything. That's encompasses the land of the people. And I went to class and my , um , there are native professors there , you know , that was like a first. You know , I've seen them hardly. And it was like over about 75% native students. I was like , well , this is cool. Like I've never experienced this in my life. I was like , what is this ? You know ? And then all of a sudden , we were at an event in their First Nations House of learning , which is a giant center for native students. And I was like , yeah , we don't. We need that. You know , we need this space like our own campus. But when I was there , we were able to have prayer circle and we would have lunch and everybody would be welcome. So it was like this community that was built there for indigenous people and on campus that were chiefs. Um , they were elders , like in residence First Nations people could go to these chiefs , to these elders and talk to them if they wanted to , you know , and they also had a , um , a museum that had all artifacts , you know , talking about the First Nations people and the the most shocked thing that I ever experienced was when I was sitting there. And then they , uh , they gave a land acknowledgement and in my mind , I was like , whoa , what ? That's cold. That's made my heart feel good. You know , you're honoring the first people of the land.
S1: I can so relate to your experience , having gone to an HBCU and finally seeing myself and and all of those things , it was a nurturing experience , for sure. And , and I know that that experience informs much of the work , if not all of the work that you do today. You know , you mentioned land acknowledgement.
S4: Like the Living Land acknowledgement we have. It's being implemented right now at Sdsu. Um , as indigenous person , you know , as native Kumeyaay by we always honor the first people no matter where we go. Right. That's just the thing. There was elders that got together , one of our awesome legendary elders , uh , Mike Connelly. He spearheaded that and brought a land acknowledgement to San Diego State University , you know , and now our students , faculty , staff , alumni , they know who the culmination is. They have honored the culmination. They have said the land acknowledgement. And it's important because our people have been here for thousands of years since the beginning of our creation. We have to continue to be who we are , while also. Living in a world that has been changed around us as indigenous people. So we're like , uh , we move with the flow of things , you know , and we're very strong , strong people. You know , we're still here , we're continuing on , and we want to create relationships. You know , that's what we're about is collaboration and creating relationships with the future. Right.
S3: Right.
S1: And speaking of relationships , I mean , in fall of 2022 , there were 79 native students enrolled at Sdsu out of a student population of 35,000.
S4: Uh , and creating relationships with local tribes , even indigenous people that are relocated in San Diego. And then there's also reservations that aren't even state are not recognized federally , but they are state recognized. And all of them , you know , is building that relationship by going to the reservations , you know , creating relationships with them , talking to them about college , uh , going to college fairs , um , to each reservation because that's what we do. We go to the reservations , we go to the we go to , uh , the education departments on the reservations. We get to know who's over there or the children there , and that's on each reservation. You know , we we've been to a lot of them. And this is how you create relationships. And also we've introduced ourselves to the school districts , um , the high schools to show in presence that that were here. We want to help our students succeed. We want to create pathways to San Diego State University. And this is how we're doing it. And there's a lot of examples that we've already done here on campus. Like we have students that are students here at San Diego State , that myself and Doctor Sara , we work together in teaching the students who the combination is through the history , cultural traditions , and we invite community members from the reservations. And the most really cool thing about this is that our students get to go to the reservations. They , uh , we created many relationships across the board with this one class , and our students are now on , um , borrowing a reservation. We didn't have it this fall , but we're having the class in the springtime. It's open right now. Everyone wants to take it. Join it. We are going to be visiting reservations , uh , working with children's on the rez so that we have an understanding of what the rez life is , how , uh , how things operate , creating a relationship with the students , creating a relationship with the teachers there , and , um , just being a supportive asset to the community. And that's how you create relationships. And that's just one way to , like , create a relationship. Going into the reservations and talking to everybody and spreading and bringing awareness of , like , hey , we have these programs at Sdsu. Guess what ? We have a native resource center now. Like what ? Like , are you kidding me ? Like , for me to sit there when I speak , anywhere I go , I see all the things that have been created by natives that are here now , and the indigenous people that have started since the beginning of San Diego State. Of all the efforts of trying to get a place where they can feel like they belong and they did that , they put that work in from the past all the way till now it has been planted , the seed has been grown. Now we have Native Resource Center , and I am super proud because I sit back and I look around , I was like , wow. Like we were just talking about this , like in 2019 , even back in the day. Furthermore , up in Canada , like the things that we needed and to see it already here. It's amazing. It's a blessing and it's healing for us and our people that that we can be anywhere and feel good. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And you mentioned the Native Resource Center , which was first created in 2019. There are also specific programs that support native students coming into Sdsu , especially first years and transfers. How are these resources really supporting native students who might feel unseen on campus ? Yeah.
S4: So presence , you know , like our presence is everything. Um , and and knowing where we came from and understanding what our students are going to be feeling. Um , we're kind of like deleting that whole process of feeling that when we create places of belonging. So at the Native Resource Center to place , you can go do your homework , study. There are events happening there all the time. Uh , we have Facebook. Um , the native resource center that has all our events , and we have an awesome program called E and chop youth think is the translation. And that program is designed for juniors and seniors that are indigenous to , uh , mentor students that are freshmen and incoming freshmen. So when you have a mentorship there , you know , like you're being helped. You mean taking care of there's people asking questions. There's people asking your professors questions. There's people that have your back , you know , so like these mentors are set in place for that. And then our students come in and on Fridays they they meet for an hour. Um , there's guest speakers that come in from the indigenous community. Um , there's a , uh , professor that's there that teaches every single Friday. And it's a place that we're all students that are indigenous to get together , and they get to talk about different topics.
S3: You know.
S1: Sdsu first raised the Kumeyaay flag back in 2019. San Diego Unified and Mesa College raised the Kumeyaay flag last month.
S4: And I'm super proud of that. And I had some experience with that with , um. Just here on campus. We were , you know , what was the first thing they asked ? What's the first thing you want to do ? Uh , race combinations. Flag. You know , like we haven't , you know , this is the line of our people , and I want to honor them. So we did that here at Sdsu , and and it stays here every single day. If you go in the middle of our campus , you'll see the land of the flag. And if you want to know about more about it , you can come talk to me anytime. Um , you can even research it yourself on the internet. Like there's so much about Kumeyaay Nation , and there's 12 reservations around you that are Kumeyaay , you know that you can go visit and check out for yourself. But , um , yeah. And from there , you know , it's it's everything's like a ripple effect , you know , you plan to see what happens , it grows and you nurture that seed. It grows even bigger. So that's what happened. You know , um , different universities started contacting myself and Shanelle and people from the community nation on the process of honoring the Kumeyaay people , how , how how do we raise the flag here at their university ? So , like , there was a process and it was cool because we went through that process with them. We even helped them create , uh , help them with their land acknowledgement. And people had questions. So we were able to collaborate across different , you know , um , universities and colleges and. That itself is built in relationships. You know.
S1: I mean , talk to me about , you know , how young people are working to preserve Kumeyaay culture , identity and language. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. I mean , all over the nation , there's , uh , language programs , language revitalization , especially at , uh , Kumeyaay Community College. Um , they offer classes there one , two , three and four. We're actually in the process of creating some stuff with Kumeyaay Community College. We actually have an MoU with them. Um , that we worked hard towards for the last couple of years. So we we've established a relationship with , uh , KCC and the work that they do with revitalizing the language , teaching the language , teaching ethno humanities , teaching everything under the umbrella of the community nation. And our students can go to school there. And if you go to school there and you can come to school here. So there's a pathway. Go to KCC , go to if you want to transfer in. There's a way to transfer in Sdsu. You know we created all these pathways for students to come here. And um. Also like tonight , for example , we on my rez where we have culture class and we're going to be burgeoning and we're teaching the entire birdsong cycle and what that means and all the stuff that goes with that. And. We have a lot of people coming in. So like each reservation is doing their thing to to revitalize the culture and traditions. And , you know , all year long we have gatherings. Uh , the culmination has gathering starting in June all the way to the end of the year. You'll see , um , there's a there's flyers that where you can go and participate. You can come and eat. Um , it's a welcoming place , you know , for everybody. And these take place on the reservation so you can get an idea of who who the Kumeyaay people are , who indigenous people are around this area in San Diego.
S3: All right.
S1: I've been speaking with Jacob Alvarado Puck , the tribal liaison at San Diego State. Professor Park. Thank you so much for joining us.
S4: Thank you for having me.
