"Native Americans from Inland Southern California gathered on the Interdisciplinary Building lawn Dec. 4 to perform a Serrano-Cahuilla ceremony blessing the structure that houses the California Center for Native Nations.

Students lined the upstairs balconies as more than 100 faculty, staff and Native Americans — including students from Sherman Indian High School in Riverside — arrived for the Tobacco Blessing Ceremony.

Tobacco is sacred to Native Americans, who view it as a gift from the Creator, explained Cliff Trafzer, Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs and director of the California Center for Native Nations. The center, established in 2000, relocated to the Interdisciplinary Building from the Costo Library in the Tomás Rivera Library two years ago."

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Tobacco Blessing Ceremony Held at the California Center for Native Nations (University of California Riverside 12/12)