New school name to honor area's Native American legacy

"Elementary School 14", being built in Audie Murphy Ranch, will be named Telamawish Elementary School. Menifee 24/7 photos: Doug Spoon

Local residents know it is fairly common for schools in the Menifee Union School District to be named after historical figures in the area. Chester Morrison, Kallie Kirkpatrick, Hans Christensen and Herk Bouris were all pioneers from the 1800s and 1900s who are memorialized in the names of MUSD schools.

But when members of a committee to name the new elementary school being built in Audie Murphy Ranch presented their suggestions to the MUSD governing board on Tuesday, they went back quite a bit further in local history.

All three of the names presented to school board members for consideration were taken from the language of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, who have inhabited the Menifee Valley and adjacent areas of Riverside County for thousands of years. In fact, the rocky hill that towers above the site of the school being built on Stage Coach Road is considered sacred land by local Native Americans.

A desire to honor the legacy of the Luiseno Indians, first suggested by committee member and City Councilman Matt Liesemeyer, resulted in research of appropriate Native American names. Ultimately, it led on Tuesday to the approval by the MUSD board of the Native American word telamawish as the name for the school.

According to Craig Gruber, a teacher at Herk Bouris Elementary School, telamawish (pronounced tel-A-ma-wish) is the suggested phonetic spelling for the word. The Luiseno Indians had no written language, so district officials will consult with Pechanga officials to determine if that is the preferred spelling. He said the committee consulted with representatives of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians in considering name choices.

Telamawish, roughly translated, means "understanding" or "knowledge", Gruber said. That suggestion was by far the most popular choice of the audience, which included many teachers who cheered loudly when board member Robert O'Donnell suggested that name as the final choice.

"The choice I liked was No. 2," O'Donnell said, referring to its order of suggestion rather than attempting to pronounce it. "The meaning has to do with education, and that's what will take place at that school."

According to Gruber, the hills above Audie Murphy Ranch are considered sacred ground by Pechanga Native Americans because their medicine men used to gather there to learn ancient medical procedures. Gruber said he used to ride horses in those hills and saw Indian pictographs painted on boulders, including an image of a bear. The Pechanga Tribe eventually bought the land they used to freely inhabit and have fenced off the area to protect it.

Before Telamawish Elementary School was approved as the school name, board members discussed all three suggestions. The others were totomy, which means "place of little rocks, or boulders", and ushla, which is the Luiseno name for the California wild rose plant on those hills that were used by Native American medicine men for medical treatment.

Before any discussion of the item, a motion was made by board member Randall Freeman, who went with the geographical meaning in suggesting the name totomy. His choice was seconded by Jerry Bowman, a member of the selection committee along with Liesemeyer, Gruber, Menifee Teachers Association President Brenda Myers, resident Linda Denver and superintendent Steve Kennedy. Bowman said he would second the motion but requested discussion to hear the feelings of other board members. Board member Reg Bennett briefly expressed agreement with the motion.

But after O'Donnell's preference for telamawish received an enthusiastic response from teachers in the audience, board members began to reconsider.

"I think the easiest to pronounce is No. 1 (totomy), but I really like the meaning of No. 2," Bennett said. "I've also been strongly influence by the audience."

Board President Ron Ulibarri was the final board member to enter the discussion.

"When I first heard the choices, I was baffled," Ulibarri said. "I thought the name would be something like Audie Murphy Ranch Elementary School. It took until tonight to really understand the work done by the committee members, who did a lot of research on this. I feel more connected to the word meaning understanding and knowledge. Those are the things we strive to do every day."

Freeman then rescinded his original motion and made a motion to adopt the name Telamawish Elementary School, which was approved unanimously.

The school is scheduled to open next fall. A public meeting will be held in the near future to discuss school boundaries.