Forty-Six Years of American Indian Studies at CSULB

Forty-Six Years of American Indian Studies at CSULB

Founded in 1968, the American Indian Studies Program celebrate forty-six years as an independent program at Cal State Long Beach. Located on the ancient village site of Puvungna and listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a Sacred Site and the birthplace of an Indigenous Religion, CSULB is referred to as “the Beach” in reference to our location on the Pacific Ocean and as “Cal State Puvungna” in acknowledgement of the significance of our location at a sacred site that continues to be used for prayer and ceremony today. Serving one of the largest Urban American Indian populations in the United States, our urban intertribal American Indian traditions are celebrated during the second weekend of March at the largest and one of the oldest student sponsored event at Cal State Long Beach, the annual CSULB Pow-Wow. Now forty-five years old, over six thousand students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members attend our annual celebration of life that acknowledges the contributions of American Indians at Cal State Long Beach. The theme for this year’s celebration is “growing in two worlds” and refers to the ability of achieving balance in life.  Special thanks to Pam Muro who translated the theme and has provided a link on how to say this in Tongva,  “Growing in two Worlds”.