Ken Shoji | San Manuel Band of Mission Indians | (909) 864-8933 | kenneth.Shoji@SanManuel-NSN.Gov
Alan Llavore | CSUSB Office of Marketing and Communications | (909) 537-5007 | allavore@csusb.edu
Cal State San Bernardino was the site of the annual California Native American Day hosted by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. Taking place on the fourth Friday of September each year (this year, on Sept. 27), the event celebrates California Indian culture, heritage and family.
California Native American Day is a day to honor California’s indigenous people, an opportunity to learn about Native American culture and a time for people of all cultures to reflect on and remember their traditions.
The celebration featured traditional Northern California brush dancers, Southern California bird singers, a traditional Native American theater company performance featuring all-ages dance groups from Central and Northern California, food and demonstrations of traditional life ways and knowledge.
California Native American Day followed the weeklong (Sept. 23-27 ) annual California Indian Cultural Awareness Conference Student Field Trips at CSUSB. Approximately 1,500 students from San Bernardino and Riverside counties visited the university to learn firsthand from tribal members, elders, historians and academics about the culture, traditions and experience of Southern California’s Native American Tribes.
“California designated the fourth Friday of September in 1998 as California Native American Day to dismantle the misconceptions about California Indians,” according to the California Native American Day website. “Previously, Students were led to believe California history began with the arrival of the first explorers and lacked a fundamental understanding of Native American’s existing society. Native populations across the country were seen as primitive and were too often associated with stereotypes like teepees and drums.
“Education in K-12 schools and community colleges has since evolved to entail the extensive history of the many tribal groups in California,” the website states. “We now have programs and conferences each year on California Native American Day to continue educating our communities.”
For more information on California Native American Day, contact Kenneth Shoji at (909) 754-0298 or email kshoji@sanmanuel-nsn.gov and visit the California Native American Day website.
