The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians will give UCLA School of Law $4.05 million to support a center for understanding the life, law, culture and history of Indians, a university spokeswoman said.

The Tribal Learning Community and Educational Exchange will enable "students and the members and leaders of tribal communities to be able to use this knowledge to build and govern their own nations," said law professor Carole Goldberg, who heads the effort. The center opened last year, she said.

A San Manuel statement on Monday said the gift would be the largest ever by an Indian tribe to a university. San Manuel Chairman Deron Marquez could not be reached Monday. In August he told Indian Gaming Business magazine the donation was $4 million.

In the article, Marquez said the tribe wants to familiarize Native American children with university life so that they will be more comfortable with the idea of going to college.

"One of the biggest problems for our native kids is the intimidation factor of a place like UCLA or Cal State San Bernardino. Our goal is to curtail that somewhat," he told Indian Gaming Business.

The goal is to create a center of knowledge about the Indian tribes of Southern California, Goldberg said.

The center will help Native Americans prepare for college so that more Indians might attend and enhance their professional development, and will offer new courses on the history of California tribes, culture and policies, Goldberg said.

Last May, the tribe gave $3 million to Cal State San Bernardino to expand the student union and provide programs, scholarships and internships.

The tribe also makes substantial political donations, handing out $760,124 in 2003, a tribe document on file with the county said.