Online Dragonfly Adventures!

Join the Center in online events 

Our theme for 2020 is a celebration of resiliency.

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center is working to nurture our community and bring us all even closer together. We embrace our mission since 2003 of saving and sharing Southern California’s Native American cultures, languages, history, and music and other traditional arts.

Connect with one another and the wonder of our Southern California Native American cultures. 

Discover and explore the tools of resiliency, reciprocity, and healing in Native American cultural ways and traditions, and stories and songs. Explore how to connect with the world and deeper understandings of our region’s vitality and uniqueness.

A Few Upcoming Online Dragonfly Adventures (watch for details on how to connect):

Monday, July 20, 6 pm. 

Healing through the Art of Storytelling. 

Online family workshop in partnership with the Luke Madrigal Indigenous Storytelling Foundation, led by Madrigal family members Renda, Sophia, and Isabella Madrigal. Donations welcome.

Monday, August 17, 6 pm. 

A Raptor as a Guide: Connecting with the Wilderness through Hawks, Eagles and Falcons. 

(Co-sponsored by the Rivers and Lands Conservancy) 

Journey online with longtime falconer Rebecca K. O’Connor into the wild, as seen through the perceptive views of the wild birds she calls her partners. Refresh your vision of the natural world around us, and the wonders in your own back yard. Donations welcome.

Monday, September 14, 6 pm. 

Pal Et Qwapi! Water is Life! 

Savor the essence of the world with Sean Milanovich,  Cahuilla Culture Bearer. Donations welcome.

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.

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: 

Summer activities at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center

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!

Native Voices January 29 Concert

Rock Art! Explore the Coso Range

Talking Stone

 A film about the rock art of California’s Coso range and what it may mean.

Alan Garfinkel Gold, Ph.D.

Principal Archaeologist, Ultrasystems Environmental, Irvine, CA

Dr. Gold has studied California rock art for many years. He will share a wonderful film and answer questions.

Monday, February 16, 6:00 pm

San Manuel Gathering Hall at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center

127 N. San Gorgonio Ave.

Your $5 helps us save and share Southern California Native cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.

NATIVE VOICES: Poetry Festival on January 17, 2015

Time to Celebrate!

Lecture on Leadership

James Ramos, who blazed a path of leadership and became the first Native American serving the public in varied state, regional, and county governmental posts, will lecture on leadership at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 9, 2014, at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 127 N. San Gorgonio Ave. in Banning. Your $5 helps us save and share Native American cultures.

Ramos, of San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, is the first Native American:
• Elected as a San Bernardino County Supervisor (serving the Third District since 2102);
• Elected to the San Bernardino Community College Board of Trustees, where he served as president (2005-2012);
• Serving on the California State Board of Education (since he was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011).

Ramos also is chairman of the California Native Heritage Commission, and has served on that commission protecting California Indian cultural resources since appointed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008. He also is the immediate past Chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

His civic leadership includes service on numerous boards and organizations promoting business, economic, and social opportunities in Inland Southern California. His numerous awards for service and leadership include an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Northern Arizona University (2009), recognition from the California League of High Schools for his support of the education community of Region 10 (2010), and the Congressional Community Leadership Award (2003).

Ramos was born and raised on San Manuel Indian Reservation, where he and his siblings lived in one of three mobile homes along Victoria Avenue. He began working at an early age, and today he’s a successful entrepreneur, operating two restaurants in the San Bernardino area. He and his wife of 24 years, Terri, are the proud parents of four children. Ramos earned his associate’s degree at Victor Valley Community College, his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Accounting from California State University, San Bernardino, and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Redlands.

Ramos has a deep commitment to the preservation of California Indian culture. He is co-founder of the San Manuel Band’s Cultural Awareness Program, and serves as director of the California Indian Cultural Awareness Conference held annually at California State University, San Bernardino. He is one of the founding board members of the nonprofit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, which saves and shares Southern California’s Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.

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!

Werre' ... Haeh-hae'

Today's February 14, so without further ado,

here's how to say it in two of our Southern California American Indian languages:

SERRANO:

Pihan'in emey.

CAHUILLA:

Ne'en a'aiyoqal.

Say what?

Say, I love you.

Werre'. (Serrano: Yes.)

Haeh-hae'. (Serrano and Cahuilla: Yes.)

Our Word of the Year

Center Leaders Ernest and June Siva in the gathering-hall-to-be. © Pat Murkland Photo

The American Dialect Society, which has been celebrating and studying English language usage in North America since 1889, has chosen app, slang for computer application, as 2010 Word of the Year.

While app is the word for 2010, the Native American Serrano word ap has been around for countless years. Ap means there. Great word.

But we would have to say that our 2010 Word of the Year is ip.

Ip (pronounced eep) means here.

And 2010 was all about our ip, here

at the Center, Ahunika'.

Here's what happened in 2010:

• While we have a $2 million renovation plan for our building at the corner of San Gorgonio Avenue and Hays Street, we wanted to have a "meanwhile." So, we started sprucing up the building.

• The city had earmarked some facade grant money for us, and that helped fix the leaky roof and other problems.

Habitat for Humanity Hero © Pat Murkland Photo

• Habitat for Humanity volunteers worked hard, every week, to make the building ready for use. Four storefronts that were in disrepair are now connected and looking good! Restrooms are working! The Center really has a home ip.

Thank you, our hero volunteers!

• Leaders Ernest and June Siva also acquired the former Post Office building next door, for use as a gathering hall.

• Thanks to a $500,000 donation in 2010 from San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians the construction of the gathering hall has now begun. Once completed, it will be available for use by all community groups. We expect it will become an anchor in Banning's fledgling downtown Arts District.

• And we're already beginning to fill the spruced-up corner building with activities that save and share Southern California Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.

Volunteer Chuck Flanagan surrounded by flute-makers at the Second Saturday.

© Pat Murkland Photo

Our first Second Saturday Sidewalk Storytelling Event was standing-room only. See you on Feb. 12 for Serrano Toys & Tools!

That's ip, here,

at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center.

The Center at San Gorgonio Ave. and Hays St., Banning, CA © Pat Murkland Photo

Flutes At the Center

We had a standing-room-only crowd at our new Second Saturdays event.

Participants weren't just standing, though ...

They were making flutes with Antonio Flores.

Thank you all for coming and helping save and share Southern California's American Indian cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.

Read about the flute-making event — and why it's important to Banning's downtown — here.

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month

© Pat Murkland 2010

Kiich means house in Serrano.

Pronounce: kii as in "turn the key" and ch as in "children"

Every month is Native American Heritage Month

at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center.

But in November we especially take pride in the national celebration of our American Indian cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.

November is a good time to discover Ahunika'.

Discover The Center at these activities and events:

Nov. 13

Native American Flute Class

This class starts on Nov. 13 and will be meeting every second Saturday.

Bring your flute, learn to play with your heart.

Performance-oriented class led by flutists from Inland Empire Flute Circle.

Only $10. Proceeds will go toward Dorothy Ramon Learning Center's nonprofit work.

Where: The Center, 17 W. Hays, Banning, CA.

When: 6-9 p.m.

© Pat Murkland 2010

Ernest Siva plays the flute

Nov. 15

Serrano Language and Culture Class

Every first and third Monday, learn Serrano language and songs, and explore Serrano culture with Elder Ernest H. Siva, president of the Center.

FREE

Where: The Center, 17 W. Hays, Banning, CA.

When: 6-8 p.m.

Nov. 18

14th annual Banning Unified School District

Cultural Celebration

Enjoy Native American storytelling, singing, dancing, arts, crafts, food.

© Pat Murkland 2010

Jacque Nunez tells a story.

See a replica Indian village.

Try Indian frybread.

Participants include Morongo Bird Singers and Dancers, Daughters of Morongo, Jacque Nunez, Ernest Siva.

Co-sponsored by Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, Banning High Indian Club, Banning Unified Indian Education, RSBCIHI Native Challenge Project.

FREE

Where: Banning High School, 100 W. Westward, Banning, CA.

When: 5:15 p.m.

Nov. 19

Waat: A Celebration of California's First Cultures

Bird singing, dancing, storytelling, cultural demonstrations and displays.

Replica Indian village.

Co-sponsored by San Manuel Tribal Cultural Awareness Program, Crafton Hills Community College, Yucaipa Valley Historical Society, Dorothy Ramon Learning Center.

FREE

Where: Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, CA

When: 6 p.m.

Nov. 20

The Center at the Phineas Festival

Discover Ahunika' during Banning's downtown holiday festival.

Open house, music, arts, crafts, fun.

FREE

Where: The Center, 17 W.Hays, Banning, CA

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m

© Pat Murkland 2010

Discover the Center. Please join us.

Art Hop Springing Into View

Time to start thinking about the Art Hop, Banning's annual downtown cross-cultural arts event. This year it's May 1. But we're celebrating cultural arts the whole weekend!

A few of our planned activities:

American Indian Music Workshops

Flute-Making Workshop, April 30, May 1 & 2

Make a beautiful wooden six-holed Plains-style Native American flute in a 3-day workshop with master flute-maker Marvin Yazzie, Navajo, and his wife, Jonette. Learn the basics of playing with Ernest Siva. Discover the music of the First People of Southern California. Limited to 10. $300.

Pre-register siva@dishmail.net, 951.849.4676.

Art Hop Workshops, May 1

• Clappersticks

Chumash culture bearers Georgiana Sanchez and her family will teach how to make this ancient wooden musical instrument, then share and teach songs and stories important to the Chumash people. Decorate a clapperstick to take home. Sessions limited to 15 people. $20. Pre-register siva@dishmail.net, 951.849.4676

• Rattles for kids

Kids can learn how to make a tin-can rattle and about appropriate use. FREE as long as supplies last!

Discover The Center at Hays & San Gorgonio, Banning

OPEN HOUSE! Help Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit,

Save & Share Southern California’s cultures, history, languages, & traditional arts.

Visit with Ernest Siva

A few photos of Ernest Siva online:

Flicker portrait.

Playing flute via blog.

Here, as Dr. Ernest Siva.

Singing a blessing (scroll down to see him) at an educator's conference, where he also was honored as Elder of the Year.

Always in the news of saving and sharing Southern California's American Indian cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts. (Here, in 2008).

Tonight, Tuesday, 1/5: At the Palm Springs Library. Come enjoy Ernest Siva telling stories and singing songs.