Dragonfly Exchange

"Saving our culture by
Learning and Sharing our Story (Chaterha')
Loving each other (Piihanich)
Reading our history (Ushranich yerhyer')
Creating a future for Morongo (Tum hiitii uu')
Watching our Elders (Yerhyerher')
Making our Ancestors Proud (Ichu'uv)"
Morongo Reservation School students plan to share this message at our Aug. 11, 2018, Dragonfly Gala, as part of our Dragonfly Exchange. 
This is a call to participate with them — and all of us — in the Dragonfly Exchange at our Dragonfly Gala.

The Back Story: When Ernest Siva sings the Dragonfly Song, he says that Dragonfly will either come to you, or stay away from you. "The teaching goes, if you are kind and have kind thoughts, he will come to you. Conversely, if you are troubled, nervous, angry, etc., he will leave your presence. The elders say, 'Mehuun terrux!' "Quiet your heart!' In other words, be calm and confident before proceeding with anything of importance." (Siva 2004)

The Exchange: At our Dragonfly Gala on Aug. 11, 2018, we'll have our second annual exchange. Bring a dragonfly (handmade, art, what have you) and take home someone else's dragonfly! Bring kind thoughts and friendship to another person, and take home the same. Share the peace, comfort, and beauty that comes when your heart is open and Dragonfly comes to you.

LOOK AT THIS! This is only part of what Morongo Reservation School is bringing to the Dragonfly Gala for the Dragonfly Exchange. The students all made these beautiful beaded bracelets with dragonflies. They are enclosed in special gift boxes. With that special message inside. So, when you come to the Gala, please bring a dragonfly that's from your heart, to share.
GALA DETAILS: 

An Evening With Dorothy Ramon

Step into a world of wonder in our next lecture on July 30, 2018, with Dorothy Ramon’s family members, Ernest Siva and Carolyn Horsman. Hear the beautiful words flowing in one of Southern California’s own languages, and explore some of the cultural memories of Dorothy Ramon.

The power of the old ways
Dorothy Ramon was a force to be reckoned with. Descended from a traditional Serrano ceremonial assistant and filled with knowledge of the power of the old ways, she was in her 80s when she began working with linguist Eric Elliott to save and share the Native American Serrano language and culture. She is believed to be the last primary speaker of Serrano, that is, the last to think and dream in Serrano first, before English. The linguist later recalled that when he first met her, she was wearing a bandage on one hand from getting accidentally locked out of her home. To regain entry she had smashed her fist through a glass window. She initially refused to talk to him in Serrano, and he recalled that his nerves plunged over the brink and he began sweating profusely. Eventually they worked together for years and became dear friends. Because of their work and the work of other linguists, the language continues.

The resulting readings transport you, whether it’s to an ancient traditional time when shamans listened to the ocean and mountains to learn their teachings, or later times, when Native Americans faced the losses of their homelands. Although Dorothy Ramon ends every story with” ‘Ama’ ‘ayee’ “ — “That’s all” — we’re thankful for an amazing legacy that’s never “all.” 

DETAILS: 6 pm Monday, July 30, 127 N San Gorgonio Ave., Banning, CA. Your $5 donation helps the Learning Center save and share Southern California’s Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.

The call of the red-tailed hawk

The Serrano Native American name for Red-tailed Hawk is Kwaat. If you listen to the hawk call in the first recording (Alaska 1975) in this link at Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the hawk just may be screaming its name in Indian. (Maybe, maybe not? ... Tell us what you think.)

Explore and discover more in our July 16 lecture with Rebecca K. O’Connor of Banning, "A Raptor As a Guide: Lessons on connecting and listening to the natural world gleaned from hawks, eagles, and falcons.”
She will discuss her 25 years of working as a licensed falconer with birds of prey, and how this experience has given her a meaningful connection based in respect and honor for wild animals and the open spaces she shares with them.

By Daniel Ankele (Grover Beach, California) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

We also will share information on Native American relationships with a few wild birds of prey and their landscapes, led by Center President and Elder Ernest Siva (Cahuilla/Serrano) and the Learning Center.

DETAILS: 6 p.m. Monday, July 16, 2018, at The Center’s Gathering Hall, 127 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning. Your $5 donation will help the 501(c)3 nonprofit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center save and share Southern California’s Native American cultures, languages, history, and music and other arts.