| Pala Reservation Ethnology-Language: Cupeņo, Luiseņo and Kumeyaay Established: 1875 County: San Diego Acreage: 11,892 Population: 585 Location: Forty miles northeast of San Diego, on S6 along the San Luis Rey River The Pala reservation is home to three distinct peoples - Cupeņo, Luiseņo and Kumeyaay. Formally ancient Luiseņo land, the Pala Reservation became home to the displaced Cupeņos who were removed from their ancestral village of Cupa, now called Warner Springs, in 1903. Elders still tell the stories, as heard from their grandparents, of this 'trail of tears'. Pala survived its tenure at the center of a tribal gaming controversy that pitted tribes against one another in the pre-Proposition 1A & 5, Pete Wilson era. A 100,000 square foot casino is set to open in May of 2001, providing the tribe with much needed economic development opportunities. The Cupa Cultural Center serves as a repository for materials relating to Cupeņo history, including archival photos, documents and artifacts. The village is home to the reconstructed Mision San Antonio de Pala Asistencia with its Indian cemetary, a charter school, newly built Boys and Girls Club, Fire Department and Pala Learning Center. Library: Pala's well-developed library is housed within the newly opened (1998) Pala Learning Center. Once located in a small, broken down trailer, Pala's library boasts one of the larger tribal library collections in the region (7,600 volumes). The new shelving, circulation desk, media equipment, furniture, and computer lab reflect the tribe's support for the library (dating back to the early 1990s) and their success in procuring federal and private funds. Palomar College classes are now held at Pala, thanks to the acquisition of the eighteen requisite networked computers. Library graduate school interns from CSU Fullerton, have participated in the Tribal Library Intern Project at Pala by assisting with automating the collection, designing components of the move to the new building, cataloging, developing user surveys, de-selection of materials, working on collection development guidelines and organizing the growing children's collection. Doretta Musick, Pala's library manager, has established the library as the educational hub of the reservation. Everything from Head Start storytimes, to after school homework assistance, to GED preparation, to college coursework is centered within and administered by the library staff. Pala's hours are 8:00 - 5:00, Monday through Friday, with the hope to extend hours to one weekend day. |
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