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Transcription: [00:24:42]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 1"}
Right, in the case of the Kaiwa, you hit on a good note when you asked about educationally what are people doing, or if there is any support in so far as Indian culture being taught is concerned.

[00:24:52]
Um, and in large measure, a lot of what has happened in the Indian community that I come from is that we've tried to incorporate the school programs within -uh- into the Indian community, into an Indian setting.

[00:25:06]
I work with an elderly program where we are just within - about 200 or 300 feet of the public schools, and so what we do is we set up little classes in language. we also have storytelling sessions where we have the youngsters come over with their teachers and they sit around, we have a fireplace. The elders sit around and they tell stories, and it's kinda done in the old way, you know

[00:25:31]
And naturally, in most cultures, that is- at least for Indian cultures, the teachers, the educators, the leaders, all of the tribal government was based upon the wisdom of the elders, okay.

[00:25:44]
It was a very good way, and I think we should re-, in American culture we tend to overlook these important elements, you know. A person hits 60 or 65 we say well, this guy is ready to retire. You know, turn him loose, he's done his job, let him go, he's- we forget, we tend to forget about that.

[00:26:00]
But in Indian culture, we try to incorporate them even more. because when a person gets to that age level, they know a lot, they are at a point where everything is very clear in retrospect. OK, language, songs, all of these things that they've learned, and all of the good things that they wish to give to the children, they can give at that age.

[00:26:18]
So we bring them there, we sit them down, we try to record, we try to get some sort of dialogue going, and then the kids become open to the ideas, they open to the conversation, and so- it's an ongoing thing.

[00:26:30]
And, I've learned my Kaiwa language by growing with old people. I've learned the songs, I've learned the lifestyle of our people because the old people were around and they were the teachers. You went to them, and they were like a Rabbi, you could sit there and they were your favorite teacher.

[00:26:49]
I can remember after going to college if anyone were ever to ask me who were your first teachers or which is the most important teaching in your life, without a doubt I'd say my grandfather, because that was it.

[00:27:02]
{SPEAKER name="Speaker 2"}
Right, especially for the luiseno, being an elder was a specific role which meant teacher, it was synonymous with teacher

[00:27:09]
The younger people, the parents would go out and do the everyday work, gather the food, and they would leave their children with the elders all day. and they taught, they had a school, there was a school in every village. and there was a church in every village, well, what we call- what I guess everybody else calls a church [[laughter]]

[00:27:24]
But I think also it is particularly important to note that elders, um- when they get to a certain time, they're at a time when they're reevaluating their life and they're looking back over things, and they know what kind of information they want to pass on and what's important because they've lived and they know what they've used

[00:27:43]
what part of their ethnicity has been important to help them bridge particular times in their lives.