UCLA

California’s educational system fails to implement culturally responsive curricula that meet the standards of California Indian nations. Despite the large population of Native people in California, specifically in the southern part of the State, Native people are erased in the state’s curriculum. Parents in particular are left without agency in how their youth should be educated. This research examines how parents from two Cahuilla nations envision a culturally responsive curriculum for their youth in a public school that I refer to as T�ktam School (TS). Additionally, this work examines the role of the Cahuilla language within the curriculum. This qualitative study unites an Indigenous research framework with a Cahuilla epistemology to understand how the critical components of Cahuilla lifeways could be implemented into a curriculum. I conducted in-depth interviews with seven parents/guardians of youth who identified as Cahuilla and were current students of TS were conducted. Document analysis of the current Native program at TS and participant observation of the Native American Parent Advisory Board meetings were collected and analyzed to understand the current curriculum Native youth were receiving at TS.The central finding that resulted from this work included the lack of a culturally responsive curriculum that youth are receiving at TS despite its relatively high population of Native students and proximity to three Cahuilla nations. Through interviews, the parents demonstrated their vision of what I term a “Cahuilla Culturally Responsive Curriculum” (CCRC). Parents outlined the central place that our Cahuilla language would take in the curriculum among other crucial components. The CCRC was found to be in stark contrast to the current curriculum at TS that lacks community input and fails to include Cahuilla culture, language, or a Cahuilla teacher. Parents identified a plan for implementing the CCRC and outlined the impacts they envision the curriculum would have on their children, families, nations, the school, and their communities. This study offers a framework for future Cahuilla researchers to do community-based research that follows a Cahuilla methodology. Within academic contexts, this study adds to the growing field of research on California Indian language reclamation and educational sovereignty. This study expands the scope of culturally responsive curricula by including the voices of Native parents in their children’s education.