CSUN Honors American Indian Communities

A mural and a powwow mix tradition and art

California State University Northridge continues to honor American Indian communities in Los Angeles and Southern California. And 2024 offered a powerful mix of tradition and art that especially recognized the historic Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians (FTBMI)–upon whose land CSUN sits.  

A collaboration between CSUN University Library, the FTBMI and mural artist Lindsay Carron, resulted in “The Continuum of Time,” which can be viewed in the west wing of the University Library. Carron won a selective contest with her depiction of the tribe’s history and environment, and “how the tribal members continue to celebrate their culture, land, and ways of life … through symbols of hope, resilience, strength and harmony with the natural environment of northern Los Angeles County,” she says. The CSUN American Indian Studies program and its former Director, Scott Andrews, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, also played a pivotal role in the project. The mural was dedicated in November 2024.

The 39th Annual CSUN Powwow took place on Saturday, November 30 in the Sierra Quad. The powwow is a longstanding tradition of CSUN’s American Indian Student Association and American Indian Studies Program, The student group and the academic program were created in the wake of the red power movement in the 1970s.The powwow showcases ceremonial dance, Native American culture, arts and crafts, jewelry and popular Native American foods such as fry bread.

CSUN offers a minor in American Indian Studies through the College of Humanities.