Image: Poem in Cahuila Language
by Christina ‘Nina’ Madriles, MBA
For more than 100 years, Native American children were forcibly removed from their families and communities. Boarding schools and the effects of its cultural genocide are a part of our history that is finally being discussed. In 2021, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report published in May 2022, which speaks on the US policies that were used to justify the assimilation of Indian children in the United States. In July 2024, a follow-up report provided details on the number of children who were forced into the US boarding schools and the 973 reported children who lost their lives to this neglect inflicted on them by this government.
On December 20, 2024, the TRUTH AND HEALING COMMISSION ON INDIAN BOARDING SCHOOL POLICIES ACT; Congressional Record Vol. 170, No. 190 was presented to urge the President to call for the Federal Commission to investigate the Federal Indian boarding era and to recognize the laws made by the US government to assimilate American Indians.
Intergenerational trauma was caused by federal laws, Indian policies, and the enthusiasm of the government to eradicate our ancestors by way of assimilation, which intended to terminate our languages, cultures, religions, and connections to ancestral lands. Our relatives had to endure psychological, physical, sexual, and mental abuse due to enforced removal from their homes and community. My grandmother, Amelia Macias, was one of those children removed from her home and made a servant through the Sherman Indian Institute's involuntary labor. Children were used to supplement funding for the school and worked in the owned and operated Sherman Farm. Girls such as my grandmother Amelia were placed in white homes as maids and often abused and neglected by their so-called employers.
In 2000, the United States Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Kevin Gover (Pawnee), stated: “The trauma of shame, fear and anger has passed from one generation to the next, and manifests itself in the rampant alcoholism, drug abuse, and domestic violence that plague Indian country. Many of our people live lives of unrelenting tragedy as Indian families suffer the ruin of lives by alcoholism, suicides made of shame and despair, and violent death at the hands of one another.” Former Viejas Chairman Anthony Pico stated, “We who have suffered childhood trauma, die early from suicide, auto accidents, drug overdose, homicide, alcoholism, cancer, and poor health. Early death stalks us at every turn”.
Understanding the effects of historical and childhood trauma is crucial. Whether our ancestors moved from the Boarding School to the Barrio or returned to their communities, these illnesses continue to harm us and future generations. But we can empower ourselves and our communities by openly discussing these subjects and striving for cultural and language revitalization.
As part of my effort to regain what has been lost through the Boarding School era, I attended Cahuilla language classes, and my classmates and I wrote a poem. As Indigenous people, we must hold on to our stories, language, teachings, and ceremonies. This poem is for our ancestors who have experienced trauma through the boarding school era, for those who lost their lives, and for those who experienced cultural genocide at the hands of the mission system and governmental entities.
Táxliswetem múluᶦk chemyáxwe muᶦchemqal.
The first native people say,
“We are still here.”
HishTáxliswetem múlu'ukvichem chémyaxwe(n),
"Mú chemqál."
Chem Táxliswetem, Chemsun kíll ngi i.
HishTáxliswetem, chémsun kíll mípa' ngíi'i.
We are Cahuilla; our hearts have never left.
Chem táxvukeninqa.
Taxchemvukméninwe(n).
We change like the seasons.
Táspá, chem páluwe áyaxwe séleki’sh sé ish.
Táspá, chempáluwe(n), áyaxwe(n) úshul sélekíchi'.
Spring, we are beautiful like the red rose.
Táwpá, chem wé wenem áyaxwe Táwpá méa ti.
Táwpá chemwéwenwe(n), áyaxwe(n) táwpá méáti.
Summer, we rise like the summer sunbeam.
Síva - Chem áyaxwe Síva.
Yuchíwivá, chemtáxaw héveve', áyaxwe(n)
yuchíwivá xélla'li'.
Fall, we are soft like a blanket in Autumn.
Pén áyaxwe Támivá, chem ívawet, áyaxwe ya i.
Pén chemkíyawe(n), áyaxwe(n) támivá wéwnish wéle'ti', chem'ívawe(n).
And we survive like the winter storm;
we are strong.
Táxliswetem múlu k chemyáxwe mu chemqal.
HishTáxliswetem múlu'ukvichem chémyaxwe(n),
"Mú' chemqál."
