Superior Court Judge Devon Lomayesva, CAL history alumna, follows her heart to make a difference

In search of a sense of belonging, Devon Lomayesva (‘94), a first-generation transfer student to San Diego State University, discovered the Native American Students Association (NASA) and a professor who helped set her on a career path that would change her life.

Transferring from Grossmont Community College to SDSU as a history major, she had no support and felt overwhelmed. “I was trying to find some belonging,” she said. “I did it on my own, until I found people to help me along the rest of the way.” 

The late Linda Parker, chair of the American Indian studies department, whom she met through NASA, became a beacon. 

Lomayesva and Parker bonded over law. Professor Parker had a J.D., but didn’t practice law, and Lomayesva had a keen interest in law dating back to middle school. “We really hit it off,” she said. “[Parker] encouraged me to go to law school and she became a really good friend and mentor to help keep me on track.”

While a student, Lomayesva worked full-time alongside her studies — for a couple semesters she worked for the American Indian studies department in the front office and then moved on to the Barona Casino where she worked late nights and weekends.

An AIS course inspires and solidifies law journey 

In Parker’s Federal Indian Law course, Lomayesva’s interest in tribal law was piqued. She originally planned to focus on a career in criminal defense, but her goals were re-envisioned due to Parker’s suggestion to attend the University of New Mexico’s, American Indian Law Center Pre-Law Institute summer program. During the eight-week program, Lomayesva excelled in first-year law courses, and even had a chance to participate in a moot competition.

The coursework prepared her to apply to California Western Law School where she earned a juris doctorate in 1999 and soon thereafter began her career trajectory. She held staff attorney positions at California Indian Legal Services and the California Indian Lands Office. She was executive director at California Indian Legal Services for five years, and in-house counsel for both the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel and the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians.

At the Intertribal Court of Southern California she was chief judge for eight years, until 

last year when she was appointed, by Governor Gavin Newsom, to serve as a San Diego County Superior Court Judge. In her role, she enjoys educating the community to help demystify the court system. “What is rewarding is the sheer number of people I can help,” she said.

Lomayesva was also an American Indian studies lecturer at SDSU. The courses Lomayesva taught covered tribal law, the political experience, and California Indian history to explore “how unique we are from the rest of the country.”

Invariably students in her classes would say, “Wow! I never knew that about tribes.” She found it rewarding to offer students something they had never been taught in school. 

Community engagement starts at SDSU

She and fellow student (now husband) Dwight K. Lomayesva, a political science major with an American Indian studies minor, met through the NASA. There they hatched an idea to start an afterschool program to bring American Indian high school students from local tribes to the SDSU campus to help prepare them for the college journey.

They asked for support and found it in the American Indian studies advisory committee who endorsed the project and asked how they could assist.

With their first donation from the Barona Band of Mission Indians, their idea came to life. Now 32 years later, the American Indian Recruitment Programs, known as AIR Programs is a nonprofit 501c3 that has given 1,500+ students opportunities and guidance as they navigate their academic success in higher education.

The program offers students skills in research and public speaking that aligns with Native topics intrinsic to them. In addition to SDSU, the AIR Program now partners with UCSD, Palomar and Cuyamaca Community Colleges, among others over the decades.

“Students are getting into college by utilizing courses that AIR offers,” she said. “AIR also has a partnership with the Intertribal Court of Southern California.”

Students that take AIR courses are also interested in being peer decision makers for the Intertribal Court’s Tribal Youth Court. Lomayesva said that Native youth from the community grow up, finish college, and then come back as mentors. Even their kids have come back as students and mentors in the program. “It's been an amazing and rewarding 32 years,” she said.

Impactful projects strengthen communities  

Working with the Native community elders to ensure that the ‘Iipay Aa Santa Ysabel dialect and language is preserved remains close to her heart. 

“It's been a lifelong goal to be able to bring that language back through a living 'Iipay Aa dictionary.” Lomayesva said. “And we have so many young people who are interested. I am thankful that we have our elders working with me and the others to document our language and make sure that it carries on.”

After months of working with the elders to document the language, the opportunity to use the Miromaa software program, a partnership with the Aboriginal Language & Technology Centre in Australia, allows Native speakers to be recorded and the user can click to hear the pronunciation of each word as well as see pictures and other features. For instance, the word eyay 'ehan means “happy or glad” in English, and in a literal sense, it means “his/her heart is good.“ 

Lomayesva is also engaged in her Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel community. For the past 20 plus years she has been the chair of the traditional gathering committee. In the traditional village of Ellykwanan near the Santa Ysabel Mission every year more than 500 people gather the first Saturday in August to engage in traditional singing, dancing, and game playing. “I love it,” Lomayesva said. “It’s a lot of work, but now my sons and daughter are helping. We are passing it on to the younger ones to start taking the lead.”

‘Do what your heart tells you.’

As a college student Lomayesva received sage advice on how to stay true to her lifelong dreams. She’ll never forget the advice Professor Parker gave her about finding a fulfilling career by tapping into a true passion.

Paying it forward, Lomayesva’s advice for students is: “Don’t pick a profession because you will make money, or because someone tells you that you should have a specific career. When you look back at someone's degree, and then you see what job they have — many times they don't match.”

She advises students to finish their degree — no matter what challenges are in the way “because, your diploma is not just a piece of paper — it is really a symbol of the hard work that you've done, and people notice it when you get out in the world.”

“At the end of the day, it's about bettering yourself and the people around you,” she said. “Do what your heart tells you.”