After two years of work and with the aid of a $4 million
endowment from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, one
student’s vision to facilitate collaboration between
educational and tribal leaders became a reality with Wednesday
night’s official opening ceremony for the Tribal Learning
Community and Educational Exchange program.
Housed under the UCLA School of Law within the Native Nations
Law and Policy Center, TLCEE’s main focus is to foster a
curriculum that educates students ““ both native and
non-native ““ about the various aspects of native communities,
including tribal law.
Chris Duro, a native of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians
and an American Indian studies student, spearheaded its creation
after transferring to UCLA and realizing that none of his courses
were relevant to his origins, he said.
“I hope the program will attract native students in
Southern California to get an education that is relevant to what
they are doing back home,” Duro said.
With over 100 federally recognized tribes in the state of
California, the program strives to establish a series of courses
that are relevant to native students and can help them address the
specific needs of their communities.
“We want to generate courses that draw together the
knowledge and learning priorities of tribal communities (and then)
draw that together with the knowledge that resides in the
university,” said Carole Goldberg, a UCLA professor of
law.
In addition to law students, undergraduates may also take
courses developed under TLCEE.
DeAnna Rivera, director of TLCEE and a member of the Boriken
TaÃno community, said the program is not just a means to
encourage university education, but to make native communities more
comfortable with American higher education.
Already home to a tribal legal development clinic, the UCLA
School of Law is no stranger to native communities ““ faculty
and students have been assisting tribal communities in
strengthening their legal structures.
“Because of long-standing federal and state policies that
have stood in the way of exercising their sovereignty … we help
(them) execute what they want to do,” Goldberg said.
With several hundred guests, traditional bird songs and hors
d’oeuvres at the opening, faculty, students and native
members of nearby tribes eagerly talked about the innovative
program.
Though other universities do have centers that deal with tribal
communities, UCLA is the first to launch a program where students
and tribal leaders learn directly from one another.
TLCEE also offers online courses ““ open to anyone ““
on pressing issues facing native communities such as violence
against native women.
Members of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians hope programs
like this will provide exposure to cultures often weighed down by
exaggerated misconceptions.
“Giving people the opportunity to learn about us is key to
shaping minds” away from preconceived notions of native
peoples, said Deron Marquez, chairman of the San Manuel Band of
Mission Indians, who mentioned that people still ask him if members
of his reservation live in teepees.
“This program will allow for a proper paradigm
shift,” he said.