UC San Diego

This study tracks Kumeyaay educational experience from past to present, focusing on state-run educational institutions. This study will further analyze the organization of knowledge by exploring all types of education: formal, informal, and nonformal. There are five educational phases for the Kumeyaay, beginning with indigenous education, subsequently followed by the introduction of formal education: Spanish (1769-1833), Mexican (1833-1848), American (1848-current) and Indigenous and American/Mexican education (current) time periods. After years of resistance, forced assimilation, and isolation the Kumeyaay are re-taking their education. The Kumeyaay are using educational institutions as tools to "educate" or "re-educate" their youth. If they do not reclaim their education, it will be lost to formal schooling. Thus, this study shows how the Kumeyaay are reclaiming their culture by the appropriation of educational institutions for the continuation of Kumeyaay traditions, memory, and language. These educational institutions range from language revitalization programs, museums, and other forms of education that originate in the household. The fifth phase of education for the Kumeyaay is a period of practicing sovereignty and the restoration of their traditional knowledge