“Coming Alive Through Story:” Free workshops start Friday

Explore the power of ancient Native American stories and discover how they apply in healing ways to contemporary living. 

Dr. Renda Dionne Madrigal, Luke Madrigal, and family will lead "Coming Alive Through Story," four free workshops starting Friday, June 7, at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 127 San Gorgonio Ave., Banning, CA.

The sessions are scheduled from 7:30-9 p.m. on June 7, June 14, June 28, and July 12, at the nonprofit Center, which saves and shares Southern California's Native American cultures, languages, history, and arts.

These workshops are free and are for adults and older teen-agers; all are welcome. Please RSVP.

Dr. Renda Madrigal is a licensed clinical psychologist based in Temecula who combines mindfulness and story in her work. Her heritage as Turtle Mountain Chippewa informs her focus on the importance of respect, balance, and connection for well-being. 
Luke Madrigal is a Cahuilla culture bearer and has worked for years on Indian child welfare issues.

Their daughter, Isabella Madrigal (Cahuilla/Chippewa), recently wrote, directed, and produced a play performed at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, "Menil and her Heart," which explores the healing powers of Native American stories. 
The play earned 16-year-old Isabella her gold level in Girl Scouts, the highest achievement level. She and her sister, Sophia, 15, have won a $5,000 grant from Dragon Kim Foundation to continue the work in cultural revitalization through Native storytelling. 

April 28th concert

DIY SUPERBLOOM!

Escape the tax doldrums on Monday, April 15, 2019, and come to Dorothy Ramon Learning Center in Banning to learn how you can create your very own riches, your own superbloom at home. Learn how you can surround yourself with the beauty of a diverse array of native plants that will attract pollinators, songbirds, and other wildlife year round.

Madena Asbell will show you how. She's director of plant conservation programs at the Mojave Desert Land Trust in Joshua Tree, CA where she oversees the native plant restoration nursery, seed bank and herbarium. Her focus is on restoring desert habitats, educating others about the importance of our diverse desert flora, and preserving this diversity for future generations. Before joining the Mojave Desert Land Trust, she was director of horticulture at the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants in Sun Valley, CA.

DETAILS: 6 p.m. April 15, 2019, Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 

127 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning

Your $5 will help save and share Southern California's Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.

Discover the Painted Caves of Baja

Hidden deep in the mountains of central Baja are some of the world's most beautiful prehistoric rock art paintings. The United Nations has ranked this world heritage site as one of the top five rock art sites in the world. Few people trek to see them, because they are so hard to reach. Britt Wilson and Maria Puente did. Now you can discover and explore the painted caves of Baja with them as your guides.
DETAILS
Dragonfly Lecture on Monday, March 4, 2019, at 6 p.m. 127 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning, CA. Your $5 will help us save and share Southern California's Native American cultures.

Find out more about this magnificent rock art

About Lecturers Maria Puente and Britt Wilson

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Maria Puente was born in the northern Basque city of  Bilbao (Spain). Her first introduction to archaeology was in the first grade when she visited the famous cave paintings at Altamira Cave in northern Spain. She attended the private Jesuit University of Deusto in Bilbao, for three years, and then moved to Madrid to complete her studies, earning an M.A. with a double major in History and in Art, and the Certificate of Pedagogical Competence from the University Complutense (1987). Ms. Puente also completed studies that earned her the Superior Degrees in Classical Piano and Chamber Music from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid (1989).  In 1983, Ms. Puente formally enrolled and  attended the School of Archaeology for the Basque Country for one school year. She took part in the excavations (Roman site) in the Cave of Arenaza through the University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain.

Ms. Puente came to the United States through a cultural/teacher exchange in 1990 and has lived in the Coachella Valley since then. Each summer she returns to Spain to enjoy the warm waters of the Mediterranean in southern Spain.

Ms. Puente served as a member of the City of La Quinta Historical Preservation Commission from 1994 until 2015.  She is also a certified Bureau of Land Management Site Steward for Corn Springs in eastern Riverside County.  She has helped record several archaeological sites in the desert region.  She is a member of Coachella Valley Archaeology Society.

Britt Wilson, originally from Los Angeles, lives in Palm Desert and is an employee of the City of Rancho Mirage where he serves as a management analyst.  He has worked for four cities in his career as a planner or management analyst. Mr. Wilson has a master’s degree in Public Administration and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.  

During a hiatus from city work, Mr. Wilson worked as an archaeological technician conducting surveys throughout southern California and Nevada, working on most of the solar projects in eastern Riverside County.  He has a deep interest in native cultures particularly the Apache, Cahuilla, and Serrano people.  Previous to working as an archaeological technician, he was the Cultural Resources Coordinator for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and did a short stint at the Cahuilla Tribe in Anza. 

Mr. Wilson is also a volunteer archaeological surveyor for the Bureau of Land Management. As a volunteer, he has recorded close to 500 new sites throughout the southern California region including village sites, rock art sites, rock shelters, milling sites, etc.  He has worked in Anza Borrego State Park, the San Bernardino National Forest, and BLM lands across southern California in addition to his previous work on Indian reservations.  His current project is researching and recording trails and rock art sites along the western shore of ancient Lake Cahuilla.  Mr. Wilson is also a certified Bureau of Land Management Site Steward for Corn Springs in eastern Riverside County.

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He is a published author and has written two ethnographies on the Cahuilla/Serrano people. He is a member of the Society for California Archaeology,the Malki Museum, the Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, and the Mayflower Society.  He is also the President of the Coachella Valley Archaeological Society.

Menil and Her Heart: A Play

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Isabella is in her junior year at the Orange County School of the Arts in the Acting Conservatory and is pursuing her Girl Scout gold award project. As part of this project, she has gathered traditional Cahuilla Indian stories. Her play combines these stories into a telling that highlights a contemporary Native American issue. She has chosen to focus on the high rate of disappearances of Native women, as well as to highlight the importance of cultural revitalization, which includes bringing back the stories. Please join her to explore how age-old stories can have deep meaning in contemporary times, and healing powers that are timeless.

photo by Carlos Puma for Dorothy Ramon Learning Center

details: 3 p.m. February 24, 2019, 127 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning, CA FREE

Being Native American in 2018

Come listen and engage in this discussion on following traditional cultural pathways in our contemporary world, being true to one's Native American identity, respecting the past in present tense. 

Being Native American in 2018

A panel discussion with Culture Bearers and Catalysts

Moderator: Elder Ernest Siva (Cahuilla/Serrano)

Including Sean Milanovich, Cahuilla Red Elk, Gerald Clarke Jr., Terria Smith

DETAILS

6 pm Oct 15, 2018

127 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning CA 92220

Your $5 donation helps the 501(c)3 nonprofit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center save and share Southern California's Native American cultures, languages, history, and music and other traditional arts.

Ballerinas and Native American Flute

Today, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018: Julia Olsen Rodriguez and San Gorgonio Ballet Company present "Fusion, Revisited," classical ballet interpretations of traditional and contemporary Native American music.

Flute music by Ernest Siva.

Our local ballet company also will present other classical and modern dances.

Details: 3 p.m., Sept. 23, 2018, San Manuel Gathering Hall at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 127 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning CA 92220. Your $10 helps support the Center's 501(c)3 nonprofit work to save and share Southern California's Native American cultures.