Native Voices Poetry Festival 2017

Time for Dorothy Ramon Learning Center's annual
Native Voices Poetry Festival!
Celebrate the human voice in all the arts. 
Explore the richness of Southern California Native American
Cultures, Languages, History, and Traditional Arts.
Discover & Be Inspired By Our Region's
Beauty, Vitality & Uniqueness.

FREE Family-Friendly Workshops for all ages. Cultural arts, creative writing, and much more!
FREE Performances.
KIDS! Make and take home a basket for free with Malki Museum.
Make string the way Indians did and learn a beautiful Cahuilla hand game.
Learn all about native plants as foods, medicines, tools, and in the arts with Chia Cafe Collective. 
Write your own poems and stories and share them in performance.
Hear stories, songs, poems and much more!

Come to Native Voices Poetry Festival!

Our Poetry Festival a First for the Region

First Native Voices Poetry Festival Celebrates Richness of Native Cultures and Region

Storytelling, songs, and poems at the first Native Voices Poetry Festival will explore the richness of Southern California Native cultures and the beauty, vitality, and uniqueness of the region. The family-friendly festival from 9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 17,  at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 127 N. San Gorgonio Avenue, Banning, celebrates the human voice in all the arts. And it’s all free. Children, young adults, and adults also can create their own poetry, stories, and zines in free workshops led by teachers and poets.

Festival participants are invited to:

• Discover the wonder and beauty of Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts from the songs and stories of Culture Bearers, including Ernest Siva (Cahuilla/Serrano), president of the nonprofit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center; Barbara Drake (Tongva); and Kim Marcus (Serrano/Cahuilla). 

• Be inspired by Native writers Casandra Lopez and Gordon Johnson, who will be joined by many talented poets from throughout the region, along with musicians such as Bill Bell and Don Strandberg, and the Dragonfly Wind Flute Ensemble. Sessions include readings fused with the music of Native American flutes.
• Create poems, stories, and zines in four engaging workshops led by talented performers and teachers.  The workshops are designed for children, young adults and adults, but space is limited, so please check out our online schedule (www.dorothyramon.blogspot.com) for additional information.

Juan Delgado, the Poet Laureate of Inlandia Institute and co-director of Native Voices Poetry Festival, said, “We hope families, students, and community members are inspired by the cultural richness and unique literary expression they will be exposed to in this one-day festival that is free to public.” The festival’s many sponsors with the nonprofit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center include California State University, San Bernardino; College of the Desert; Inlandia Institute; Poets & Writers, Inc.; SCIPP (Students, Coyotes, Instruction in Poetry and Prose); PoetrIE; AS/US; and Super Subs restaurant. The Learning Center saves and shares Southern California’s Native American cultures, languages, and traditional arts, part of our national heritage.

For more information, please call 951. 849.7736, email info@dorothyramon.org, or visit www.dorothyramon.blogspot.com and Dorothy Ramon Learning Center on Facebook.

Storytelling, Songs and Poems at FREE Poetry Festival

NATIVE VOICES: Poetry Festival on January 17, 2015

Singing & Storytelling for The Center

Our Fourth Sunday cross-cultural concert series so far has taken us on a musical journey across the seas, to different continents and diverse cultures. 

We traveled with the fiddle music of Bill Bell to the lands and ballads of his ancestors. We enjoyed the Silver Sounds flute chorus and the inspiring Celtic-themed odes to our natural world on Earth Day. 

Our most recent concert with GG & the Jazz Masters took us to our American history with some old jazz favorites and some foot-tapping swing and Big Band numbers much appreciated by our audience. 

Now we're coming Home. 

Photo by Carlos Puma for The Center

Our next Fourth Sunday concert, scheduled for 3-5 p.m. ... yes, the fourth Sunday in June — June 24 — will feature our own Ernest Siva, President and Founder of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center.

Mr. Siva is Cahuilla/Serrano, and he brings a lifetime of learning and sharing Southern California Native American cultures and traditional music. It will be a thrill to hear his voice, and the voices of his Native American flutes, in the beautiful acoustics of our Center's San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians Gathering Hall at 127 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning. 

Look forward to singing and storytelling. 

Photo by Carlos Puma for The Center

Mr. Siva says:

"I plan to sing a variety of Serrano and Cahuilla songs with their stories and educational information. I will use the flute to illustrate how these songs can be used for personal enjoyment. 

"Some of the songs will include: lullabies that teach lessons, hunting songs that aren't used anymore for hunting, but are beautiful songs to sing and remind us of our relationship to animals, such as the bighorn sheep and the deer; bird songs that tell of our coming to this world and the wonder of creation, and examples of special songs of some of our neighbors, the Chumash and Luiseño."

Photo by Carlos Puma for The Center

Your $10 at the door will help the Center do its important nonprofit work of saving and sharing Southern California's Native American cultures, languages, history and traditional arts such as music. 
See you soon!

Gathering at the Gathering Hall

Painting the exterior

On Saturday, we're honored that several traditional Native American singing groups will come see, tour, and celebrate the Hall. They'll sing with us there.

They'll sing Native American songs of Southern California's mountains, deserts, and the Pass.

We're looking forward to everyone's ideas for exhibits and events that will save and share Southern California's cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.

Please join us. Come listen to Southern California's own music.

We'd like you to come see our new Gathering Hall.

But it's more than just seeing. We're looking for vision.

We also welcome your vision of Southern California Native American cultural events you'd like to see there.

BYOI: Bring Your Own Ideas.

We thank San Manuel Band of Serrano Indians for making the Hall possible.

We're looking forward to everyone's help in making our dreams come true.

We're honored that Morongo Cultural Resources is co-hosting this gathering with us.

Details: 3 p.m. Saturday, June 18, 127 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning.

Donations welcomed at the door.

Music, Music, & More Music

Second Saturday Sidewalk Storytelling has been a hit since our debut earlier this year.

It's all about learning and free family fun.

This coming weekend our event features MUSIC:

• Learn about our Southern California music from Ernest Siva, the Center's leader.

Photo © Carlos Puma for The Center

• Discover animals that are in songs.

• Find out why we have dragonflies on our doors at the Learning Center.

Photo © Pat Murkland

Learn the Dragonfly Song! Make your own dragonfly to take home.

• Discover musical instruments of Southern California.

Make your own instrument to take home.

• Learn about flutes, hear flute music,

and play a flute.

Photo © Pat Murkland

DETAILS:

Corner of Hays and San Gorgonio Ave., Banning

1-4 p.m. this Saturday, April 9

INFO: 951.849.7736

Spring is for music

Serrano Stories & Songs

Families are especially welcome to our next Dragonfly Lecture.

Kids, you are welcome to bring your favorite teddy bear.

Come learn a song and story about a little bear ... and much more.

Explore the wonders of Serrano culture with culture bearer Ernest Siva.

Details:

6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 11

17 W. Hays, Banning, CA

Donations save and share Southern California's Native American cultures, languages, history, and arts.

Bighorn Sheep Songs

Ernest H. Siva will sing Serrano bighorn sheep songs and tell their story (and the bighorns' story) at our last Dragonfly Lecture of the year.

These ancient songs are haunting and beautiful. Ernest Siva is believed to be the only person singing them in recent years.

In 2008 Ernest Siva received a grant from the Alliance for California Traditional Arts to teach the songs to an apprentice. The Fund for Folk Culture supported the songs' recording.

Read more about the songs here.

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center is working in other ways to save and share these important songs.

Come hear the songs and learn about them.

Details: Dec. 7, 6 p.m., Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 West Hays, Banning

More Dragonfly Lectures

The last two Dragonfly Lectures for 2009:

November 16, 6 p.m.

The Art of Gerald Clarke, Jr.

Gerald Clarke is a contemporary Cahuilla artist. There seems to be no limit on the media he explores, whether it's bronze or video or a combination of both.

We'll be posting more about Gerald Clarke's art.

BIO: He was born in Hemet in 1967 and is a tribal leader on the Cahuilla reservation near Anza.

He has a bachelor of arts degree in painting and sculpture from University of Central Arkansas along with an M.A. (1992) and MFA (1994) from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas.

He then spent about 10 years teaching at the community college and university levels, but he left his teaching job at East Central University in Oklahoma in 2003 and returned home to the reservation after his father's death.

He and his wife Stacy run cattle and own a storage business. Gerald teaches art classes at Idyllwild Arts.

Gerald has devoted his life to saving and sharing Cahuilla culture and songs.

Dec. 7, 6 p.m.

Ernest Siva: The bighorn sheep songs.

Our Dorothy Ramon Learning Center president's first Dragonfly Lecture at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center will be about the Serrano bighorn sheep songs.

Ernest Siva is believed to be the only person singing these songs recently. In 2008 he taught the songs to an apprentice and Dorothy Ramon Learning Center has been working to document and share these songs more.

Read more about the bighorn sheep songs here.

DETAILS: Lectures start at 6 p.m. at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 W. Hays, Banning.

Donations at the door help us save and share our Southern California cultures, languages, history, and music and other traditional arts.

Eyes on the Night Sky

Orion, © J.C. Casado, courtesy of NASA

American Indians in Southern California knew the night skies intimately. 

The science of the skies was crucial to their stories and songs.

These in turn hold the essence of their cultural identity.

The First Cultures knew exactly when the solstice would come, in summer and winter. 

Archaeoastronomy and ethnoastronomy experts have extensively studied the roles that each solstice played in our area cultures. 

There are secret places only illuminated by light at the time of a solstice. 

Some of the beautiful Chumash rock art paintings along the California coast depict astronomical events. 

Some of these paintings have been linked to astronomy and mythology. 

We now can only guess at all the stories the ancient art tells about the Chumash view of the universe.

Here is one public place you can go to see ancient Chumash art: Painted Cave.

The Indians also knew their constellations. 

They didn't see the star formations the way we do.

No swan.

No goddess chair. 

No crab.

Instead of Orion's Belt, for example, the Serrano and Cahuilla people saw three bighorn sheep.

To several Indian nations, the Milky Way was a road to the afterworld. 

And Dorothy Ramon tells some wonderful Serrano stories in her classic work with linguist Eric Elliott, Wayta' Yawa',

including the story of how the Milky Way was formed.

The Milky Way envisoned as a road, 

© Larry Landolfi, courtesy of NASA

It started with a race between Rabbit and Coyote:

'Ami' kwan naami'n 'ayee'.

And then they raced.

'Ama' hwi't kwan puchuk ya'i': xhayp qac.

Rabbit ran like crazy off somewhere.

Hwi't 'uvya' kwan hakup puchuk ya'i' amay wahi'ti' pehpa'.

The rabbit ran faster than the coyote.

Yangk 'ama' puuyu' puchuk ya'i' 'ama wahi'ti' pehpa'.

He ran ahead right away.

Xhayp rrewetk 'ervrayt.

He was gone right away.

Kwan 'ayee' wahi' mutu' xhayp kimay.

The coyote was coming along.

Mitavu' hwi't cherner'k.

The rabbit stopped.

Kwenevu' puhca' 'amay.

He (the rabbit) was looking back at him (coyote).

'Ap wahi' kwan hakup kimay puchuk.

That coyote was coming along as fast as he could.

Payika' 'ingkwa' kwan hucuuchk kimivayu'.

He kept falling as he came along.

'Ani 'ama' hwi't puuyu' taaqn 'amay.

The rabbit was beating him (coyote) by a mile.

Haa, hwi't qay' pana' taaqan.

Yes, the rabbit did not beat him.

Qayvu' ta'taaqan 'ama' hwi't kwan wahi'ti'.

The rabbit did not beat the coyote.

'Ama' ni' kwan puca'.

He was looking back at him (he was waiting).

'Ap kwenevu' 'ayee' kuuman.

He fell asleep there.

'Ama'vu hwi't.

That was the rabbit.

'Ama' wahi' kwan 'ayee' penek.

And then the coyote passed him up.

Taaqan 'amay, hwi'ti', kem ki' parfcani'am, 'uviht.

He beat the rabbit, that's what the storytellers used to say.

Their path and all the dust made the Milky Way!

— Page 615, from Story No. 518, "Coyote and Rabbit Racing"

All Southern California cultures told wondrous stories about the stars.

For Chumash tales retold by the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, click here.

The arrival of certain stars in view meant new seasons, and the time for new tasks, or ceremonies. August Lomas  (Cahuilla) told Lucile Hooper: "The old men used to study the stars very carefully and in this way could tell when each season began ... They never went to the mountains until they saw a certain star, for they knew they would not find food there previously."

At the Western Center in Hemet on Saturday, the Riverside Astronomical Society and Ernest Siva teamed up for a powerful evening called "Stories and Stars." Ernest treated the audience to two lullabies, the Little Bear Song (Serrano) and the Dragonfly Song (Serrano/Cahuilla).

But the evening was too exciting to put anyone to sleep!

Voices of the Flute

Mountaintop Music and Arts

The rising temperatures remind us that summer is coming, and so is the annual Native American arts festival on the (cooler) mountaintop in Idyllwild. 

Every July, aspiring flute-makers  explore the creative and inspirational  Native American flute workshop at Idyllwild Arts with Marvin Yazzie (Navajo) and his wife, Jonette, and Ernest Siva, president and founder of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center. 

The Yazzies teach how to make a beautiful wooden flute in the Plains style.

Ernest Siva (Cahuilla/Serrano) then teaches the basics of flute-playing. He shares stories and songs from Southern California's Native American nations. 

But much more happens. 

A community forms. People make lasting friendships, discover their inner flute player, and share discoveries and the wonder of our region's Native American music.

Discovering Voices

Our Voices of the Flute book and CD, our first publication from Ushkana Press, got its start on that mountaintop.

Each year, Ernest Siva shared a handmade, hand-written, photocopied, stapled-together work with the students that this Indian elder had entitled as a spoof, "Ten Little Indian Songs and More."

 

Much, Much More

Ernest Siva had written western music notations for this centuries-old music. It was the first time anyone had done this. He also wrote down the words in Indian for the songs. In some cases, Ernest Siva was the lone, known remaining Native American singer who was singing these ancient songs. Sharing them with the flute workshop was a way of saving them.

Saving and Sharing

When Dorothy Ramon Learning Center formed to save and share Southern California's Native American cultures, languages, history, and music and other traditional arts, publishing this work seemed not just a natural, but instead, a responsibility. Ushkana Press, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit's publishing arm, took on the project. 

But the title?

June Siva, Ernest's wife,  simply said: "Voices of the Flute."

Subtitle: "Songs of Three Southern California Indian Nations."

In the Chumash stories that have been passed down to us from J.P. Harrington, there is a Lizard who plays a flute.

He plays his flute to listen to the Voice of the World.

Each of these songs is the voice of a culture, a people.

Each time we listen, we can discover something new from something that is very old.

Make Music at the Art Hop

Scene from 2008 free tin-can rattle workshop,

Photo by Pat Murkland

UPDATED APRIL 9

Banning's annual Art Hop will be here April 25. Many events are free or affordable and family-friendly. Check out the 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. calendar chock full of activities at the Banning Cultural Alliance, the lead sponsor.

Last year more than 3,000 people celebrated a day of amazing cross-cultural arts events in downtown Banning, and Dorothy Ramon Learning Center was indeed in the Center of it all.

This year, we again are offering special events that save and share Southern California's American Indian music and other arts. We are proud to announce that Banning Unified School District's American Indian Education Program will co-sponsor our Art Hop workshops:

In the A.M.

CLAPPERSTICKS with Georgiana Sanchez and including family members Sue and Ray Diaz, and Patricia Estrada, Chumash culture bearers.

Limited to 15 people. $20 per person; all proceeds benefit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Learn about these traditional rhythm instruments that accompany song and dance. When struck against the palm, we hear a clacking, clapping sound. Decorate a bamboo clapperstick to take home with designs possibly from traditional stories or baskets. Learn about Chumash culture from traditional culture bearers. Share in a songfest and learn fun and easy songs to sing while you play your clapperstick. Some interesting kelp seaweed rattles and other unique music instruments will be on display.  Make sure you get in; pre-registration encouraged, siva@dishmail.net. We encourage teachers and parents to participate in this workshop purposely kept small. 

Don't miss their FREE onstage performance scheduled for 1 p.m. Here they are last year, with fellow singer June Siva (in Trojan red). Photo by Pat Murkland.

TIN CAN RATTLES FOR KIDS. FREE!

Kids learn how to make a tin-can rattle to take home and learn about the rattle's appropriate use in Southern California music. Presenters: Banning schools Indian Club members.

In the AFTERNOON.

GOURD RATTLE WORKSHOP with Gerald Clarke Jr., Cahuilla artist. 

Bird songs and other traditional music are accompanied by these beautiful-sounding instruments made from gourds. Learn how to make one to take home, while also learning the respectful use of the rattle accompanying traditional music. $30. Enrollment limited. Pre-registration encouraged, siva@dishmail.net. For teens and adults. Proceeds will benefit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center.

Gerald Clarke, Jr. teaching the 2008 workshop

Photo by Pat Murkland

Meanwhile, our annual NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTE WORKSHOP with Marvin and Jonette Yazzie will run a three-day weekend, from April 24-26. 

In this workshop starting at 9 a.m. Friday, each student will construct and decorate a six-hole wooden flute under the guidance of Marvin Yazzie, experienced Navajo flute maker, and his wife, Jonette. Students will also learn some history of flutes as well as the care and handling of their newly created instrument. During the course, ethnomusicologist Ernest Siva, president and founder of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, will teach the basics of flute playing and each student will receive a copy of Voices of the Flute book and CD (Ushkana Press). You do need to sign up ahead of time, enrollment is already filling fast. The price is $300. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Learning Center.

Click here to see scenes from the Yazzies' similar flute class at Idyllwild Arts.

All events will be at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 West Hays, Banning.

Watch for more events, we're going to be adding some free family fun!

Meet the Serrano sports reporter

and also Serrano culture bearer and Learning Center leader, Ernest Siva ...

When: Wednesday, noon to 2 p.m.

Where: Mt. San Jacinto College Menifee campus

Room 927

Open to all

Learn more here.

Golden Oldies: Songs of History and Tradition

Read about bird songs and bighorn sheep songs here.

Serrano Bighorn Songs at Banning High

You're invited to Native American Cultural Night.

The details:

Who and what:

Singers, storytellers, workshops, frybread, family fun

Special event: Ernest Siva and his apprentice Isaac Horsman Rodriguez, a Banning High senior, will sing some Serrano bighorn sheep songs. Learn more about our project to save the songs here.

When and where:

5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20

Banning High School auditorium, 100 W. Westward Ave., Banning, CA

This event is FREE.

Co-sponsors: Banning Unified School District and Dorothy Ramon Learning Center.

What's Next: Flutes and More Flutes

This Saturday, Oct. 11, the Inland Empire Flute Circle will meet at 1 p.m. at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 W. Hays, Banning, CA. These folks love to make and play Native American wooden flutes, and they love to talk about flutes and share their flutes and their music with each other. If you're interested in flutes, you're welcome.
The Yazzies, for example, will show their new flutes inspired by Dorothy Ramon Learning Center's work to save the Serrano bighorn sheep songs. (See the video of Ernest Siva playing the beautiful flute they gave to him.)
Flutes Revisited
We were very fortunate to host the return of Antonio Flores on Sept. 27 during the "On Board for Stagecoach Days" event. He drove down from Oakland to Banning during the night, stopped by his favorite canyon to find some downed and dead (properly seasoned) elder wood, and then arrived at the workshop promptly at 10 a.m. Immediately, Antonio was mobbed by an eager crowd of all ages, wanting to learn how to make and play a Pomo-style flute.
Here is a slideshow (no audio, you'll have to play your own flute to accompany this) of some of the excitement:
Hours after the event was over, Antonio and his flute-makers were still at it, still making flutes! We thank him for instilling everyone with the excitement of American Indian flutes.

Where we've been

Photo by Pat Murkland

Saving and sharing Southern California's First Cultures happens 24/7!

It's been a very busy time:

• Ernest Siva played the flute in the First Sundays program Oct. 5 at Riverside Metropolitan Museum.
  
• We participated in sessions on song, storytelling, and history at the 23rd California Indian Conference at UC Riverside's Palm Desert campus on Oct. 3-4.

 
The compelling artwork of Billy Soza Warsoldier was on the conference poster.

We always find this conference to be inspiring and this year's offering was no exception. 

Our board member, San Manuel Chairman James Ramos, delivered a thoughtful keynote address.

There's More!

• We had fun sharing with families crowding the Sept. 27 downtown Banning event, "On Board for Stagecoach Days." The theme was "The Old West," and we offered a slight twist: exhibits and displays on "The Really Old West." 

A big hit was the replica Indian village and storytelling offered by Journeys to the Past, led by Jacque Nunez, Acjachemen. We thank Jacque for everything she does.

Here is talented artist and faithful supporter Lisa Patencio doing a video with her family members in the Village.

Photo by Pat Murkland

And here is Lisa's video, which also features our newest board member, her husband, Moraino Patencio. We thank them for their support!