For Immediate Release
February 10, 2009

Learn about medicinal uses of native plants at UCR Extension's class

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Join Native American instructors Lorene Sisquoc and Barbara Drake as they show you how Native Americans made healing salves, lip balm, soaps and teas from indigenous plants grown in Southern California in UCR Extension's class, Native Plants of California: Medicinal Uses. The class meets 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, 2009 at Sherman Indian High School, 9010 Magnolia Ave. You will have the opportunity to make some of these products yourself.

A field trip to Mockingbird Canyon on Saturday in California Citrus State Historical Park is included. Mockingbird Canyon is a 2,429-acre, 8-mile long drainage in Riverside County. A Native Plant nursery is located within the canyon. Native plant species located there include black, sandbar, red and arroyo willow, Fremont cottonwood, mule fat, black and white sages, coast live oak, western redbud, arrow weed, coyote bush, buckwheat, brittlebush, blue-eyed grass, salt grass, rush grass, and yerba mansa.

In this class, students will learn about how the indigenous peoples of Southern California used the plants in their environment to help heal their bodies, and in return cared for the plants in their habitats. Instructor Barbara Drake, Native American educator and consultant, has 30 years experience presenting cultural workshops on Southern California Indians. Drake is a member of the Gabrieleno-Tongva tribe. Fellow Instructor Lorene Sisquoc, curator of the Sherman Indian Museum, has taught basket making throughout Southern California. Sisquoc is a descendent of the Mountain Cahuilla and a member of the Fort Sill Apache Tribe.

The class fee is $145 per person. A materials fee of $12 is due the first day of the class.

For more information, call (951) 827-5801 or e-mail arts@ucx.ucr.edu. To register for classes, visit www.extension.ucr.edu or call (951) 827-4105. To receive a free UCR Extension catalog, which includes a complete listing of all our current courses and certificate programs, call (951) 827-3806.

UCR Extension is the continuing education division of the University of California, Riverside. Extension offers more than 1,800 courses and certificate programs in a variety of academic programs, including agriculture and landscape, arts and humanities, business and management, education, teacher's credentialing, English, environmental management, geospatial analysis and technology, health services and behavioral sciences, information technology, languages, law and public policy, Native American studies, natural sciences, forensic investigations and public safety, and yoga.