Katherine Siva Saubel
Native American leader and scholar
Katherine Siva Saubel (née Siva; March 7, 1920 – November 1, 2011) was a Native American scholar, educator, tribal leader, author, and activist committed to preserving her Cahuilla history, culture and language. Her efforts focused on preserving the language of the Cahuilla. Saubel is acknowledged nationally and internationally as one of California's most respected Native American leaders. She received an honorary PhD in philosophy from La Sierra University, Riverside, California, and was awarded the Chancellor's Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the University of California at the University of California, Riverside.
Saubel was an enrolled member of Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians and served as their tribal chairperson.
Early life and education
Saubel, the eighth of eleven children, grew up speaking only the Cahuilla language until she entered school at age seven. Her mother, Melana Sawaxell, could only speak Cahuilla. Her father, Juan C. Siva, eventually mastered four languages: Cahuilla, Spanish, Latin, and English. While in high school, Katherine grew alarmed when she found that as she spoke Cahuilla to her friends, they would respond back to her in English. She worried that her people were losing their language.
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This entry incorporates text from “Katherine Siva Saubel” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.