California Native American Day was established as an official state holiday in 1998. Today, all California schools recognize the fourth Friday in September as the official Native American holiday.

UCSD's California Native American Day Celebration Committee promotes events to enhance the relationship between San Diego's tribal communities and UCSD students, staff, and faculty. All events are free and open to the public. (Note: Parking fees are required on weekdays.)

Friday, Sept. 28
Noon – 2 p.m. Price Center, Sun God Lounge

• Celebration kickoff: This year's events kick off with a reception featuring:
  • Remarks from Chancellor Fox; Burton Ober, president of the UCSD American Indian Faculty and Staff Association; and Marco Murillo of the ASUCSD
  • "Reconnecting Family & Culture through an Artificial Border" Keynote address by Louis Guassac, executive director of the Kumeyaay Border Task Force
  • Special preview of the "Akway Nyewa'a: Coming Back Home" photographic exhibit in Price Center, Gallery B

Monday, Oct. 1

• Mini-grants (application deadline, round 2): Grants of up to $1,000 are offered to promote innovative educational activities and programming related to Native American perspectives at UCSD. Read information about submitting a mini-grant proposal to fund a California Native American Day Celebration event, or e-mail Cynthia Davalos.

Friday, Oct. 5

• Entry deadline: High school essay contest This year's topic: "How does it affect a culture, city, and country when communities and people are not visible and their stories not widely known? What responsibility does society have in making communities more visible, and what suggestions do you have to achieve this locally, state, and nationwide?" See more information, including how to apply, or call Kim Sykes at (858) 822-3772.

Thursday, Oct. 18
3–5 p.m., Cross-Cultural Center (map)

• "American Indians and American Education" Dr. Sandra J. Fox, former school reform and education specialist with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and an emeritus adjunct professor from the University of New Mexico, will discuss California tribes' need for and access to higher education.

Friday, Oct. 19
Noon–1:30 p.m., Cross-Cultural Center (map)

• "Indians vs. Native Peoples: Struggling Against America Indian Representations in Film" Natchee Blu Barnd, Ph.D. candidate in UCSD's Department of Ethnic Studies, will explore the ways in which Native people have been and are (mis)represented in film, why motion pictures and the media matter, and how some filmmakers have attempted to combat these depictions.

Tuesday, Nov. 6
6–7 p.m., Price Center Theatre

• "The Business of Fancydancing" Sherman Alexie's award-winning first film (2002) is a poetic story of growth, death, and the choices that define us. A discussion will follow the screening.

RESCHEDULED to Wednesday, Nov. 28
7 p.m., Student Center (info)

• 7–8 p.m. "Sovereignty in Contemporary Native America"
  The Helen Edison Lecture Series presents Anthony Pico, former chair, Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, as he looks back at the accomplishments of the indigenous peoples of San Diego and forward, with great hope, toward their future.

RESCHEDULED to Thursday, Nov. 29
6–8 p.m., CLICS (map)

• "Akway Nyewa'a: Coming Back Home — Images From San Diego's Native American Communities circa 1900:" This exhibit of photographs opens with a public lecture by Julie Holder of the California Indian Basketweavers Association. The exhibit will continue at the Center for Library and Instructional Computing Services (CLICS), 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily, through the academic year.