Linking families, language and heritage (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Linking families, language and heritage
Center for Native Americans opens in Visalia

http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/news/stories/20040526/localnews/504888.html

By Shannon Darling
Staff writer

[photo inste - Steve R. Fujimoto/Times-Delta. Andrew Hernandez, 19
months-old, left, and his brother Mathew Hernandez, 3, explore the
infant-toddler room. The room is part of the Tulare County Family
Literacy Program at the Owens Valley Career Development Center, 2376 W.
Whitendale Ave. in Visalia. The center celebrated its grand opening
Tuesday.]


[photo inset - Steve R. Fujimoto/Times-Delta. Nicole Herron, 7, looks
through the library-resource center at the Tulare County Family
Literacy Program at the Owens Valley Career Development Center.]


[photo inset - Steve R. Fujimoto/Times-Delta. Mathew Hernandez, 3,
explores the school-age room.]

Seventy-year-old Marie Wilcox has a simple dream, a dream in which she
hears the language spoken by her Wukchummi grandparents once again.

The language is dying.

"It is something I feel in my heart, I want to hear again," Wilcox said.

The dream came one step closer to becoming a reality Tuesday when the
Owens Valley Career Development Center held its grand opening.

'The center's mission is to provide Native American Indians with
cultural education, programs and opportunities.

Wilcox will teach families that go to the center the Wukchummi her
grandparents taught her.

"[Learning the language] will help bring families together," Wilcox
said. "And they will be proud of their heritage."

Wilcox, a resident of Woodlake, said it is a welcome sight to see a
center for Native Americans open in Visalia.

The center will provide services for Native American families. Those
services include Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, vocational
education and family literacy.

The nonprofit, federally funded center says it hopes to use welfare
reform money not only to help families in need, but also to empower
Native Americans with culture.

"We will provide families an opportunity to strive for economic
self-sufficiency," Esther Stauffer, family literacy coordinator, said.
"It will also help them identify who they are and where they came
from."

Stauffer, a native Alaskan, said it is important for Native Americans to
know their language and history.

Tracy Andrew of Visalia is half Cherokee Indian. She said the center is
a great place for her children.

"They make moccasins and take classes on Indian heritage," Andrew said.

Her children also participate in basketball, boxing, basketmaking and
photography classes.

The center will also have math, reading and writing tutoring, parenting
classes and vocational classes, which will vary.

Stauffer said the center currently serves about 65 Native American
families, and that is before its official opening.

There are other Owens Valley Centers in Tulare County also in
Porterville and on the Tule Indian Reservation.

Owens Valley Centers are also in Inyo, Mono, Kern, Kings and Fresno
counties.

Families gathered at the opening of the center, and Wilcox gave a
blessing in her native language before they ate dinner.

"Help us learn our Indian language," she said. "Help me bring my
language back to me."