Language Retreat
Pechanga/UCR Luiseño Language Retreat, The
Lodge, Great Oak Ranch, Pechanga Reservation, December 6, 2002.
 Front
row,left to right: Brigette Maxwell (Director of Early Childhood
Education), Mary Magee (Vice Chairperson of the Cultural Committee),
Eric Elliott (Head Linguist, Pechanga/UCR Takic Language Revitalization
Project), Sarah Hicks (Director, Social Welfare Reform, National
Congress of American Indians, and Postgraduate Researcher, College
of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, UCR), Joel Martin (Costo
Professor of American Indian Affairs, College of Humanities, Arts,
and Social Sciences, UCR), Gary DuBois (Director, Pechanga Cultural
Resources). Back row, left to
right: Tony Foussat (Luiseño Language Learner, Pechanga Band
of Luiseño Indians), Chris Hartzell (Teacher and Second Language
Specialist, UCR Extension), Sheila Dwight (Associate Dean and Director
of International Education Programs, UCR Extension), Margi Wild (Continuing
Education Specialist, Connections Project, UCR), Diania Caudell (Luiseño
Language Learner, San Luis Rey Band, and Indigenous Language Teachers
Program Fellow, UCR), Christina Schneider (UC Mexus, UCR), Leanna
Mojado (Program Representative, UCR Extension), James Lin (Director
of CHASS College Computing, College of Humanities, Arts and Social
Sciences, UCR), Sheldon Lisker (Associate Dean Emeritus, UCR Extension). Not
pictured Joanne Luker (Education Consultant, Pechanga Band of Luiseño
Indians), Sara Meza (Teacher's Aide) and Jim Brown (Digital Imaging
and Educational Television, Media Resources, UCR). Photo by Jim Brown.
On Friday December 6, 2002, the Pechanga Indian Reservation
near Temecula hosted the Pechanga/UCR Luiseño Language Retreat.
The mission of the retreat was to refine methods that will be effective
in rescuing and preserving the Luiseno language, which is in danger of
becoming extinct.
The Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians recently collaborated with the
UCR Extension Center and UCR Professor Joel Martin, the Costo Chair in American
Indian Affairs in the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences to create
the Takic Language Revitalization Project, a Costo Partnership. One of the
first achievements of this project was the hiring of Dr. Eric Elliott (pictured
above, front row, center) as the Head Linguist. The retreat, occurring at the
six month mark, provided an opportunity to take stock and plan ahead.
Martin stated, “After visiting other programs and attending national
conferences, we’ve come to realize that we are going to have to lead
the way, to create a model for language revitalization in southern California.
That’s an awesome responsibility and so we have assembled a collaborative
team of committed educators, experts, and volunteers. The retreat brought together
some key participants to review our progress, to regroup for the work ahead,
to examine the mission, to specify the contributions everyone can make, and
to set goals for the future, both long term and short term. We’ll definitely
do it again.”
The retreat consisted of focus groups and workshops which evaluated training,
current progress, strategy. Workshop topics included Enhancing Community Involvement
and Reinforcing Language Acquisition, using media, development curriculum materials,
electronic resources, designing a summer camp experience, creating a kindergarten
program and beyond. Participants included tribal members and officers and UCR
faculty and staff. (By Stephanie Wejbe)
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