Greetings

© Pat Murkland

Aya Qaych (Gathering Mountain in Serrano)

Also known as Mt. San Jacinto

"This is where our people would go to gather and process food and medicine. People of spiritual power would also go there to learn their songs [from the mountain]."

— Ernest Siva, Voices of the Flute

(Ushkana Press, 2004)

There is so much to learn from the world.

There is so much for the Elders to teach us.

We thank the Elders for making our world a better place: for singing the songs, telling the stories, and for speaking in the voices of our Native American cultures — the Native languages.

As Dorothy Ramon Learning Center approaches 2011, we're ready to leap into that new year and continue to save and share Southern California's Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts with you.

Hope you can join us!

Merry, Merry

Pat Murkland Photo

Our leader, Ernest H. Siva, has been visiting the new Morongo Reservation School and sharing culture, language, history, and traditional arts with the schoolchildren.

He received this beautiful thank-you giant card and framed artwork from the second-grade class of Mrs. Alaniz and Ms. Marsha.

It was his turn to say: Hakupa' ay! (Thank you!)

The card has references to the visits:

Maharch (The number five, from counting fun)

Respected

Serrano language

Indian day

Very kind

Aya Qaych (the Serrano name for Mt. San Jacinto)

And the artwork features illustrations of the visits, too:

Here he is, singing and playing his gourd rattle.

And here he is, playing the flute, with a little traditional music on the right, too.

What joy! These are our future cultural stewards.

Someday, someone may be doing artwork of them singing, saving and sharing these cultural stories and songs.

Lowell Bean on Monday

We are honored to have Lowell Bean for our next Dragonfly Lecture on Monday, Dec. 6.

Dr. Bean is renowned as an eminent scholar.

He has been working with the Cahuilla people for more than 40 years.

He includes the voices of the people and their traditional knowledge.

Ethnography, anthropology, history, research: His pioneering work began when he was a graduate student; that work continues today for the now-retired university professor.

Dr. Bean plans to discuss unpublished animal stories that he began collecting in the 1960s.

DETAILS:

WHEN: 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6

WHERE: Dorothy Ramon Learning Center,

17 W. Hays, Banning, CA

Donations at the door help the nonprofit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center save and share Southern California's Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.