5 Reasons to Love Our Dragonfly Gala

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center's 12th Dragonfly Gala is Saturday, August 8, starting at 4 p.m. at Morongo Community Center.
Here's 5 reasons why we see so many of the same faces among more than 300 people, year after year ...

1. We're Intertribal.  People of all ages, from cultures both Native and non-Native, from all walks of life, gather to celebrate and support the work to save and share Southern California's own Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts. The Gala includes exhibits by tribes and Culture Bearers, traditional music, and traditional foods.

2014 Morongo Cultural Resources Exhibit (Carlos Puma Photo)

2014 San Manuel Serrano game (Carlos Puma Photo)

2. The Food is Amazing.

Carlos Puma Photo of the Chia Café chefs 

You can have your typical banquet food. The Dragonfly Gala is catered by Chia Café, which is devoted to restoring and sharing the arts of indigenous traditional foods. Along with turkey and beef barbecued underground, homemade tortillas and beans, and other mouth-watering foods, past galas have featured rabbit stew, unusual and delicious salads made with wild greens, side-dish staples such as cactus pads and yucca, and other delicious and nutritious Native foods. Oh, and the desserts are to die for.


3. Our Silent Auction is Epic.

Silent Auction Photo by Carlos Puma

One-of-a-kind. Beautiful. Eclectic. Native handcrafted arts. Dragonfly items. Pottery. Jewelry. Shop, shop, shop. Don't miss it.





4.  We Sing. We Dance.
Just as Southern California people have done for centuries.

Bird dancers of all ages (Carlos Puma Photo)

James Ramos (left), 2014 honoree, with Ernest Siva

5. We honor someone each year for soaring cultural achievements

Carlos Puma Photo

The 2015  Dragonfly Award goes to Walter Holmes, Jr., leader of the Morongo Bird Singers and Dancers. (center, wearing hat).