NO BOUNDARIES: Enriching the Native American Experience at Cal State San Bernardino
by Amanda Mattox
Limitless – the word that Vincent Whipple, director of tribal relations at Cal State San Bernardino, used to describe the university and its opportunity to connect with and support the Native American community.
“I find there are no boundaries here in what the university can potentially do with tribes,” he said. “There’s a real big support in place.”
A large part of that support first came from CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales when he impaneled the Task Force for Native American Recruitment and Retention in 2018, a group he created as part of his presidential initiative to increase Native enrollment at the university and institutions statewide. Then in late 2018 came the unprecedented three-year $960,000 gift from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in support of the initiative.
NO BOUNDARIES: Enriching the Native American Experience at Cal State San Bernardino
by Amanda Mattox
Limitless – the word that Vincent Whipple, director of tribal relations at Cal State San Bernardino, used to describe the university and its opportunity to connect with and support the Native American community.
“I find there are no boundaries here in what the university can potentially do with tribes,” he said. “There’s a real big support in place.”
A large part of that support first came from CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales when he impaneled the Task Force for Native American Recruitment and Retention in 2018, a group he created as part of his presidential initiative to increase Native enrollment at the university and institutions statewide. Then in late 2018 came the unprecedented three-year $960,000 gift from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in support of the initiative.
The university’s Native American Enrollment and Achievement Initiative, which established Whipple’s newly created role in early 2019, will help strengthen CSUSB’s relationship with tribal communities and serve to encourage and increase Native American enrollment and success.
"I see this as a really great opportunity for the university,” said Whipple, who has served in a number of positions supporting and advocating education for Native Americans. “My goal is to not only meet our objectives, but to really see those opportunities happen and see tribal communities succeed.”
With valuable partnerships and goals in place, CSUSB is committed to not only bringing more talented Native American students to campus, but enriching the experience for them, their tribes, and the overall university community.
A Familiar Face
With Whipple part of the CSUSB team, current and prospective Native students have a familiar face to turn to.
“I think it’s good that I’m Native and I think that it’s good our first recruiter is Native because there’s just that connection that Native people have with one another,” said Whipple, whose father is a member of the Lakota tribe from Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and his mother is a member of the Navajo tribe.
“I think people can trust me on behalf of the university that it’s real – that what we are doing here is really to help. I want people to know that I believe in this myself and that’s why I came here,” he said. “It’s having a name, it’s having a face, and fortunately, I have that familiarity with the community that they feel comfortable coming to me.”
Whipple, unfortunately, did not experience that comfort when he entered college as an undergraduate, as he was one of only four Native American freshmen out of a class of 1,600. He never met the other three, and the school lacked specific resources to help him as a Native.
“I know what it’s like to be the only Native student and to be overlooked completely,” he said.
Despite the fact that California is home to more individual Native people than any other state in the nation, Native American college enrollment is low. CSUSB is leading an effort with support of this critical grant to increase Native American student enrollment at the institution by 50 percent and to illustrate pathways to college across the state.
“Our youth is our future,” he continued, “and I believe that it is our responsibility as Native people who have already gone through higher education to come back and help prepare our communities.”
A Strong Support System
While many higher education institutions make “surface level efforts” in building their relationships with Native Americans, according to Isabeles, he believes CSUSB is making more efficient strides in connecting with the community.
“My impression since starting my position here is that CSUSB is genuinely dedicated to building and maintaining a positive relationship and support network for Native students,” he said.
And it’s vital for that support to encompass the students’ communities as well.
“It is not enough for a university to support only the Native student coming through their doors – that support needs to be extended to their community because that community is a part of each and every Native student. You can’t support one without supporting the other,” said Isabeles, who works one on one with Native students, tribal schools, community organizations, reservations and tribes. “Community is central to us as Native people, so I want to ensure that a strong Native community is built so that students feel supported by the university and their peers from the time that they are prospective students, all the way through graduation.”
According to Whipple, tribes have a strong interest in having their youth pursue higher education, so they can eventually return to their communities and work. As a result, there is growing reciprocal support between CSUSB and local tribes, such as the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.
“We are extremely proud of our longstanding partnership with the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, which has played a key role in our becoming a hub for Native American culture and education,” said Morales in announcing the nearly $1 million grant the tribe gifted the university.
“CSUSB’s commitment to college access extends across the Inland Empire and throughout California,” Morales said. “But we must work harder to engage and recruit disadvantaged student populations who may not have ever considered higher education part of their future. This remarkable grant strengthens our relationship with tribal communities, creating partnerships to encourage and grow Native American enrollment, not only at CSUSB, but across California.”
And Morales himself is a strong advocate for the advancement of Native Americans.
Morales and Whipple once worked together at Cal Poly Pomona to establish the Native Students Center at the university, where Morales, working as provost at the time, secured the resources for the center.
“That center had his full support and I saw the support he gave to the other ethnic centers. He takes the time to focus where the focus is needed, and he realized there’s that need here on campus,” Whipple said. “Knowing that the university has someone who has a demonstrated track record of helping Native people is a big plus. I’m grateful to work with him again.”
A Historical Connection
CSUSB, which sits on Serrano ancestral territory, named its student union in honor of Santos Manuel, the leader of the Yuhaviatam clan of Serrano people, who in 1886 led his people to safety from the San Bernardino Mountains to the valley to escape militia forces that killed many tribal members.
Today, the people of Santos Manuel are those of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the tribe of the Yuhaviatam, or the “People of the Pines.”
“For nearly 20 years, the span of one generation, CSUSB has played host to programs that have shared the languages, culture and history of San Manuel and other Native nations with school-aged children, university students and the public at large,” said San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Chairwoman Lynn Valbuena.
Further, Assemblymember James C. Ramos, prominent CSUSB alumnus and the first California-born Native American elected to the state Assembly, is the great-great grandson of Santos Manuel.
“It really is with great honor that we continue to move forward and spend the time here at California State University, San Bernardino where the motto is ‘We Define the Future,’” said Ramos, who represents the 40th Assembly District, during his historic swearing-in ceremony on campus in February 2019. “And as we look around this room … to be sitting inside of a building named after my great-great grandfather, Santos Manuel, the first building named after a California Indian leader in the state of California is right here at California State University, San Bernardino.”
And plans are in the works to expand the Santos Manuel Student Union.
“We literally are going to be more than doubling the center,” Morales said. “It’s going to be, I think, the most incredible student center named after an extraordinary Native American leader.”
A Hub for Native Americans
CSUSB continues to grow its programs and introduce events to support, celebrate and bring awareness to the Native American community and its culture.
The inaugural Native American Speaker Series, which was launched in spring 2019, welcomed renowned Native American activist, artist and educator Charlene Teters as the first lecturer.
Teters, a member of the Spokane Tribe who is often referred to as “the Rosa Parks of the American Indian movement,” presented at both CSUSB and its Palm Desert Campus in April, with her speech “Whats in Your Heart.”
Teters said the phrase is a translation of Spokane Salish.
“It is a greeting that we say my name and ‘Whats in your heart.’ To remember that our languages are blessings, it’s embedded in that greeting,” she said. “It’s a cultural lesson to remind you to look within, to look within. How have you been treated and how are you treating others.”
The Native American Speaker Series, which was implemented by the Office of Tribal Relations and will continue annually, will feature speakers from diverse tribal backgrounds who share a common commitment to advocating for Native people, creating opportunities for tribal communities, advancing social justice, and supporting the rights of indigenous people.
The university also established the First Peoples Center in September 2017, dedicated to the social and personal success of indigenous students with the support of staff, faculty and community members of local clans and cities.
In early 2018, the center received a state Assembly resolution for its work.
“I truly believe that we not only have to respect each other, but we also have to take the time to understand one another, and to build spaces where we can do just that,” said Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes, D-San Bernardino, during the recognition. “The First Peoples Center is such a place, which not only supports indigenous students to succeed academically, but also celebrates their heritage.”
“Those of us from Native American and indigenous communities know that we continue to do what we can in the face of significant challenges,” said Valbuena. “And one of those significant challenges is educating the general public and educating civic organizations about what we do and our culture. And that goes on across the country.
“However, as leaders of tribes and nations and education, we are convinced that by establishing important initiatives, like the First Peoples Center here at Cal State San Bernardino, that we are making progress in addressing these challenges with greater conviction than ever before,” she said.
Housed in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, CSUSB also has the Center for Indigenous Peoples Studies (CIPS), the site for innovative programs for the study of American Indians and local, national and international indigenous peoples.
“CIPS gives support to the most underserved of all peoples in United States colleges and universities, the Native, whether tribally landed or not, and the Indigenous in terms of low numbers, that are partly the result of hundreds of years of oppression and destruction, only now coming to the attention of supportive forces,” said James Fenelon, director of the center and professor of sociology, who is Lakota/Dakota from Standing Rock (Nation).
CIPS, which is coming into its 10th year, conducts research, facilitates curricular and instructional programs, and coordinates academic activities and interacts on at least four levels of indigenous peoples, contributing to the development of knowledge and advancement of related social issues. CIPS works in academic and Native social settings in various contexts, some of which will now be led by the Office of Tribal Relations.
“We look to continue these and more efforts with the tribal relations office in its exciting new growth prospectus, First Peoples Center for students and the broader community, and likely with new Native faculty who can help build curriculum and programs for our Native populations,” Fenelon said.
In addition, the Department of World Languages and Literatures offers courses in four native languages: Cahuilla, one of several languages that are indigenous to the Southern California region; Luiseño, the language of the
Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians; Classical Nāhuatl, the official language of the Aztec Empire; and Serrano, the language of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.
These courses put CSUSB in a unique category, as no university in either the California State University or the University of California system has previously offered an American Indian Language course sequence as part of its regular curriculum to fulfill the General Education world language requirement.
CSUSB is also the chief site for a number of Native American celebrations, such as the California Indian Cultural Awareness Conference, a five-day event where local students learn about Native American traditions, and in which Assemblymember Ramos serves as director; California Native American Day, a celebration to honor California’s indigenous people; and the annual Powwow, a popular three-day event that hosts thousands of attendees throughout North America.
“There are some good things in place already,” said Whipple, “and the Office of Tribal Relations will be a way to tie them all together and get that information out to the community.”
Charlene Teters, Native American activist, artist, educator and keynote speaker at CSUSB's inaugural Native American Speaker Series
Grand opening of the First Peoples Center, Sept. 22, 2017
Whipple hopes to expand the opportunities not only on the academic side, but also hopes to grow the athletic side by introducing sports camps and other related programs.
“Native youth are very active. They’re very sports-minded. They’re very physical. That’s how Native children learn,” said Whipple. “It’s a very kinesthetic hands-on way of absorbing knowledge.”
For Isabeles, he is concentrating on creating and expanding a variety of programs, such as forming a summer bridge program for admitted students and a Native community housing option, as well as further developing the First Peoples Center, the Native American Speaker Series and cultural events.
“These take time, but they are part of what Native students are looking for from a university,” Isabeles said. “Having these kinds of programs in place and making room to indigenize space on this campus will play into our ability to reach out to students and actually have something to offer them besides academics.”
Whipple agrees, stating that “education and culture go hand in hand.”
The university, according to President Morales, will continue to strive to enhance a better understanding and appreciation for Native histories and customs.
“This university celebrates the richness diversity provides and promotes the essential value of helping keep California Native American cultures alive,” he said during the swearing-in ceremony of Assemblymember Ramos. “CSUSB is – and will continue to remain – fully committed to making the recruitment, enrollment, retention and success of Native American students a high priority.”
With the instrumental support of the initiative and the momentum it has already experienced, CSUSB will remain limitless in what it can – and will – do for Native American communities.
A Look Forward With his experience working in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, Whipple has extensive knowledge of the efforts other campuses are making regarding the Native population. “I want to make CSUSB unique in the programs and the services for Natives,” he said. “Maybe put a little tweak on them to make them a little different from the other campuses.”
A Look Forward
With his experience working in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, Whipple has extensive knowledge of the efforts other campuses are making regarding the Native population.
“I want to make CSUSB unique in the programs and the services for Natives,” he said. “Maybe put a little tweak on them to make them a little different from the other campuses.”
Whipple hopes to expand the opportunities not only on the academic side, but also hopes to grow the athletic side by introducing sports camps and other related programs.
About the Cover
Native Americans highly value their traditions and culture, and ensure to keep them alive in today’s modern world, passing down their customs from generation to generation. Pictured on the cover is a visual blending of two generations of tradition. The cover merges CSUSB Director of Tribal Relations Vincent Whipple dressed in ceremonial regalia and Native American CSUSB student Mark Ortiz in contemporary fashion. A full picture of Whipple in his regalia can be seen later in the story.
