Pala Band of Mission Indians

Pala Band of Mission Indians

Pala, California

First Nations established the Native Arts Initiative (NAI) in 2014 to provide direct grantmaking, networking opportunities, and training and technical assistance (TTA) to Native-led arts and cultural hubs who are working to preserve and advance traditional Native arts through programming focused on supporting artists and intergenerational sharing of artistic skills and knowledge.

Under the NAI, First Nations provides awarded grantees with organizational and programmatic resources, including direct grants and technical assistance and training. Since 2014, First Nations has awarded more than $3.5 million in grant funds to a variety of eligible Native-controlled nonprofit organizations and tribal government programs under the NAI.

2023-2025 Native Arts Initiative

 

About Pala Band of Mission Indians

The Pala Band of Mission Indians (PBMI) is a federally recognized California tribe in San Diego County consisting of more than 900 enrolled Luiseño and Cupeño Indians ― many who live on the nearly 12,500-acre reservation. The Pala Reservation was established on December 27, 1875. At the heart of PBMI’s economic enterprise is the AAA Four-Diamond Award-winning Pala Casino Spa & Resort. The Cupa Cultural Center, founded in 1974, houses the tribe’s cultural treasures, and plays a key role in the community for preserving and teaching traditional practices.

How First Nations Will Help

With funding from First Nations, PBMI collaborated with nearby tribes to create a series of traditional art workshops for multiple generations of Pala tribal members. This project was named “Atáxam Pe’míxan Némxet Pemşhúunngax,” which translates to “The People’s Gift from the Heart.” Workshops were taught by a balance of talented, local Pala artists, as well as artists from the Navajo, Kumeyaay, Chemehuevi, Los Coyotes, and Seminole communities. Multi-day workshops ― many held at the Cupa Cultural Center ― ranged from beadwork, pottery, and gourd painting to plant-gathering, basket weaving, printing, and flintknapping.

 

COMMUNITY PARTNER Q&A

Cultural treasures are the artifacts, language recordings, photographs, arts and crafts, and pivotal events in our tribal history that we house and protect at the Cupa Cultural Center to pass down to future generations. We also consider the intergenerational workshops cultural treasures since we are sharing deeply valued traditions, skills, and art forms that would be lost if we did not teach them to the Pala community. We are excited about building new relationships with different artists from all over Southern California who are teaching these workshops and helping us preserve Pala culture.

The Cupa Cultural Center was founded for the sole purpose of preserving, perpetuating, and enhancing traditional cultural practices of the Pala community. Our signature cultural event is Cupa Days, held during the first weekend of May to commemorate the removal of the Cupeño people from Cupa, their ancestral village, in May 1903. The center also serves as a gathering place for a multitude of groups, like the newly formed Beading Club. As part of the NAI grant, we contracted with a Native-owned digital video and photo production company to film intertribal workshops. These videos will be accessible to the entire Pala community to learn artistic techniques at their own pace. Looking ahead, PBMI plans to illustrate existing language stories and make children’s books to help with language revitalization and preservation efforts. The illustrations from the storybooks, along with the documented audio that goes along with these stories, will then be used to create videos that will be featured on the PBMI’s language website.

Learn more about the Pala Band of Mission Indians