
The Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians provided a $50,000 grant to the CICSC and Palomar
College’s American Indian Studies Department to create Luiseño language cartridges
for the Nintendo DSi. Dr. Proudfit and her students created the program using the
voices of tribal elders and children to teach terms for numbers, colors, animals and
other basic vocabulary. The words coincide with uploaded photos, songs, images, prayers,
quizzes and stories.
The American Indian Student Alliance assisted the project and distributed about 150
cartridges to Pauma tribal members, as well as to the tribal library and after-school
program. In the future, the preservation program plans to expand to include participation
from the other five Luiseño bands.
Here are several news links about the project: