Back in 2002, a charter school was opened in east Los Angeles with a unique mission: to teach the culture and intellectual heritage of indigenous peoples in Southern California.
Today, the Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory school is paying it forward by buying 12 acres of land in Monterey Hills and returning it to the Gabrielino Shoshone tribal nation, the area’s original inhabitants.
LA times Melissa Gomez wrote about the extraordinary gesture and what it means to our local indigenous people. She joined Lisa McRee on “LA Times Today.”
“This family that is very tied to the nation, the Rochas, they have struggled for years to find space in LA to practice ceremonies, to gather with their band. And so with this land, they’re able to do that. The thinking is the school will act as a steward and use this land to promote their sort of as an extension of the school,” Gomez said.
The Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory bought the land last August. Gomez expanded on the school’s mission.
“The school leaders view their role as decolonizing education. To do that means centering Indigenous history, Indigenous voices. The school has a focus on Nahuatl, which is the language of the Aztecs before the Spanish arrived in Mexico. So, what you have there is a school that embraces Indigenous culture and history and language. Kids there are taught in English and Spanish and Nahuatl,” Gomez shared.
Marco Aguilar and his wife, Minnie Ferguson, co-founded Anahuacalmecac together
“Since the beginning, they wanted to have some sort of way to give back to indigenous people in California. They saw that opportunity after they came back from the pandemic. They wanted an outdoor space to serve as an extension for their school. I talked to Marcos, and he said it was as easy as looking at what land was available near them in El Sereno. And they found this property of land and they just worked really fast to get the grants to secure it,” Gomez explained.
The proposed learning center will be called the Chief Ya’anna Learning Village, after an influential Indigenous leader.
Watch the full interview above.
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