Native Voices Poetry Festival

Discover. Explore. Create. Annual Native Voices Poetry Festival celebrates the human voice in all the arts.

Discover the richness of Southern California's Native American cultures. Explore the region's beauty, vitality, and uniqueness, and celebrate creativity by writing and making your own art at the annual Native Voices Poetry Festival in Banning.

Bring your creativity and enjoy free performances, cultural displays, and activities at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 127 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning, from 10 am to 4 pm on Feb. 8. Especially popular are the Center's writing and art workshops for all ages. It's all free.

A few scheduled highlights:

• Gordon Johnson, a Cahuilla/Cupeño from Pala Reservation in San Diego County, and author of "Bird Songs Don't Lie: Writings from the Rez," will present new creative work at the Festival for his many fans.

• Kat High, a Native storyteller and ethnobotanist who's participated in KCET's acclaimed series, "Tending the Wild," will share samplings of delicious foods from native plants that she calls "spring tastes." And she'll tell some traditional Native stories.

• Teen-ager Isabella Madrigal (Cahuilla-Chippewa) and her family, who have won national acclaim for the play, "Menil and her Heart," will lead a creative workshop that you won't want to miss. They also will perform.

• Ernest Siva, Cahuilla and Serrano elder and the Center's leader, will share songs and stories.

• Ernest Siva and Carolyn Horsman also will share Serrano readings from Dorothy Ramon.

• Bird songs! 

Partners with the Learning Center include Cal State San Bernardino, Malki Museum, Heyday Books and News From Native California, Morongo School, Morongo Cultural Heritage Dept., Rivers and Lands Conservancy, Banning Unified School District Indian Education Program, Dragonfly Wind Flute Ensemble.