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

-->

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.

-->

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.

Learn about Yucca!

This Dragonfly Lecture is one not to miss.

About Daniel McCarthy: Daniel McCarthy received his BS and MS in anthropology from the University of California, Riverside.  For the past 40 years, he has worked at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Joshua Tree National Park, the western states and throughout Southern California, compiling photographic inventories of rock art sites.  He has worked with Elders and Traditional Practitioners for more than 35 years throughout Southern California. 

For 17 years he was Tribal Relations Program Manager for the San Bernardino National Forest and recently received the National Lifetime Achievement award by the Office of Tribal Relations. Currently he is Director of the Cultural Resources Management Department, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

Research interests include desert archaeology, aboriginal trail systems of the Sonoran, Mojave, and Colorado deserts; rock art distribution, documentation, interpretation and working with tribal communities in public education of Native culture; and recording string figures.  

He conducts Southern California Native American cultural awareness classes, providing information about native plant uses (particularly agave, acorns, yucca, prickly pear cactus and pinyon), rock art, and material culture. He organized the annual Malki Museum Agave Harvest and Tasting, now more than two decades strong.  He was co-instructor in offering an Applied Archaeology field school for six years (2006-2011) and in 2013 where half the students were Native American from local tribes. He worked with several tribal governments (particularly Serrano, Cahuilla, and Luiseño), traditional practitioners and Native organizations such as the Southern California Indian Basket Weavers Organization, where he is currently vice president. He also is president of Malki Museum Board of Directors. And he is a cherished member of Chia Café, which incorporates Native foods into contemporary cuisine, such as at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center’s annual Dragonfly Gala.

Daniel has published several reports and articles, including, “Medicinal Plants Used by Native American Tribes in Southern California” with Donna Largo and Marcia Roper. 

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center awarded Daniel McCarthy our 2013 Dragonfly Award for high-soaring achievements in saving and sharing cultures.

Explore the Valley of Fire

Valley of Fire near Las Vegas has some of the most dramatic petroglyphs in the West. Add petrified wood and other natural beauties, and Nevada's oldest state park beckons and invites you to explore. Come for an armchair tour at our next Dragonfly Lecture. Dr. Stephenie Slahor will describe the geology, history and flora and fauna of Valley of Fire, and will emphasize the rich archaeological petroglyphs that abound in the park. 

DETAILS: Monday, April 13, 2015, 6:00 pm, San Manuel Gathering Hall at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center,127 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning. Information: 951.849.7736. Your $5 helps us save and share Native Cultures.

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.

Discover

2013 Dragonfly Gala!

Daniel McCarthy (left) with President Ernest H. Siva (Carlos Puma Photo)

Thank you, to all who supported, donated, and volunteered at our 2013 Dragonfly Gala. Thanks to you, the annual celebration of Southern California's Native American cultures was a huge success. We're thrilled that we awarded Daniel McCarthy the Dragonfly Award for his high-soaring achievements in saving and sharing Southern California Native American cultures.

Rock Art Rolling In

Our next Dragonfly Lecture is March 22.

Steve Freers, who drew a standing-room-only crowd last year with his lecture on prehistoric rock art, is returning for another fascinating journey into this world of ancient mystery and beauty.

At his last Dragonfly Lecture in 2009, Mr. Freers discussed the similar designs in rock art that repeat for miles around Mt. San Jacinto.

In the informal setting that encourages illuminating interchange at our Dragonfly Lectures, American Indian basketweavers discussed how prehistoric rock-art designs also appear in old baskets.

Freers also told about his research on the gender and age of the prehistoric people who left their handprints near rock artwork.

For a bit more about the sacred mountain, Ayaqaych (Mt. San Jacinto), read here.

Who is Steve Freers? Read here.

One person's review of a Steve Freers lecture here.

DETAILS on the next Dragonfly Lecture:

ROCK ART with Steve Freers

When: 6 p.m. March 22

Where: Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 W. Hays, Banning, CA

Donations at the door help the nonprofit Learning Center save and share Southern California's Native American cultures, languages, history, and music and other traditional arts.

Explaining a Native American rock art site:

Pinyon Pine Nuts, 2

Pinyon pines are prolific in the San Bernardino Mountains, so it should be no surprise that their pine nuts also were prized by the Serrano people.

The single-leaf pinyon is also called the piñon pine as shown in our most recent post.

The Latin name is Pinus monophylla.

The Serrano name is tuvat.

(That's according to Ernest H. Siva, Cahuilla-Serrano elder and president of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center.)

John Peabody Harrington (1918) and Ruth Benedict (1924) were among those reporting the historical methods of collecting the pinyon pine nuts for food, and for use in ceremonial and ritual activities (Lerch 2005).

Our speaker on Feb. 22, Daniel McCarthy, tribal relations manager for San Bernardino National Forest, has found prehistoric roasting ovens that were used for pine nuts.

Come to the Dragonfly Lecture to learn more from Daniel McCarthy about this fascinating tree and its traditional uses.

DETAILS:

Feb. 22, 6 p.m.

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 W. Hays, Banning

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

Piñon Pine Nuts

Our first 2010 Dragonfly Lecture will take us back several thousand years or so.

Daniel McCarthy will speak about piñon pines.

Piñon pine in San Bernardino National Forest © Pat Murkland

The nuts inside the pine cones have been an important Native American food source for centuries.

Growing pine cone, San Bernardino National Forest © Pat Murkland

Closeup of nut remaining in aged cone © Pat Murkland

People often focus on the importance of the oak acorn, but the pine nut also was important to Inland Southern California's First People.

Still is.

Learn more about San Manuel Reservation's 2009 harvests, part of the tribal cultural education program, here.

Come discover more.

Our lecturer, Daniel McCarthy, an archaeologist and tribal manager for San Bernardino National Forest, has done extensive research on the native uses of plants.

DETAILS:

6 p.m. Feb. 22

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center

17 West Hays, Banning, CA

Donations at the door will help the nonprofit Learning Center save and share Southern California's American Indian cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.

Art on Ayaqaych

© Pat Murkland Photo

Ayaqaych or Mt. San Jacinto

Sacred Mountain

We know this peak today as Mt. San Jacinto, but it once was known as Ayaqaych.

Ayaqaych translates roughly from Serrano as Gathering Mountain, a place for the people of the First Cultures to gather plants for medicines, foods, and other uses.

The people also came here to learn their songs ...

from the mountain, according to Ernest Siva, Serrano/Cahuilla elder (and Dorothy Ramon Learning Center's leader).

The peak, one of the tallest in Southern California at 10,834 feet, was sacred to different Indian cultures for miles around.

Small wonder, then, that the region also features ancient rock art.

Rock Art in the Mountains

In our next Dragonfly Lecture on Sept. 28, rock art expert Steve Freers will explore this special region. He explains:

"I plan on sharing the distribution of various rock art motifs and styles within the Southern California region, with an emphasis of the Mt. San Jacinto region."

A New Look at Hand Prints

Prehistoric rock art often touches us with an emotional connection ... especially when we see hand prints left untold years ago on rock. Who were these artists?

Freers has some information to share:

"I will be showing some new research on hand prints that suggests the age and stature range of individuals who created the pictographs."

Freers will offer a lively and visual presentation.

Don't miss it!

Details:

6 p.m. Sept. 28

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center

17 W. Hays, Banning

Your donations at the door will help save and share Southern California cultures, languages, history, and music and other traditional arts.

Our Next Dragonfly Lecturer

About our Sept. 28 Dragonfly Lecturer:

Steve Freers is a secondary chemistry teacher in Riverside County and a former sports and hand physical therapist. For 20 years he has been involved in rock-art research in Riverside and San Diego counties.

In 1994, he co-authored a book on Southern California rock art, Fading Images.

He served five years as a senior editor for the American Rock Art Research Association.

Using anthropometric data collected in the early 1900s by the famous anthropologist Franz Boas, he has been able to develop a rubric that often times is able to determine physical stature and gender of the makers of prehistoric hand impressions.

He currently teaches Native American Rock Art courses at the University of California, Riverside. Steve has also been recording rock art in the Grand Canyon National Park, BLM/Arizona Strip, and the Kaibab National Forest for the last 10 years.

Details:

Dragonfly Lecture: Art on Ayaqaych.

6 p.m. Sept. 28, 2009

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 W. Hays, Banning

Donations appreciated at the door.

His publications include:

Freers, Steven M.
1995 Shamanistic Pictograph Site in Northern San Diego County. In Rock
Art Papers, Volume 12, edited by Ken Hedges, pp. 59-74. San Diego Museum Papers 33.
1995 The Occurrence of Hand Prints in the San Luis Rey Style—Southern California. In Utah Rock Art, vol. XIV.
1997 Maybe I’m Amazed: Comparisons of Maze Imagery in Southern California and the Southwest United States. In Utah Rock Art, vol. XVI.
1998 Lending a “Hand” to San Luis Rey Style. In American Indian Rock Art, Volume 22, edited by Steven M. Freers, pp. 57-78. American Rock Art Research Association, Tucson, Arizona.
2001 The Hand Prints at CA-RIV-114: A Forensic and Anthropometric Study. Lending a “Hand” to San Luis Rey Style. In American Indian Rock Art, Volume 27, edited by Steven M. Freers and Alanah Woody, pp. 319-332. American Rock Art Research Association, Tucson, Arizona.
2003 A Race Against Time. Documentary film on the state of cultural resource preservation in southern California.

Freers, Steven M., editor
1997 American Indian Rock Art, Volume 23. American Rock Art Research Association, San Miguel, California.
1998 American Indian Rock Art, Volume 22. American Rock Art Research Association, Tucson, Arizona.
1999 American Indian Rock Art, Volume 25. American Rock Art Research Association, San Miguel, California.

Freers, Steven M., and Alanah Woody, editors
2001 American Indian Rock Art, Volume 27. American Rock Art Research Association, Tucson, Arizona.

Smith, Gerald A., and Steven M. Freers
1994 Fading Images: Indian Pictographs of Western Riverside County. Riverside Museum Press, Riverside, California.

Rock Art Rocks

Southern California's prehistoric rock art is beautiful ...
Sometimes mysterious,
Often mystical.
While archaeologists study the meanings, this ancient art often touches onlookers emotionally, evoking awe and wonder.

One cannot simply hop in the car and go out looking at great rock art. This is true of just about every archaeological treasure.
Although the art and other artifacts have survived untold years, all are increasingly fragile. Many sites have been destroyed. Others are being protected from further destruction.

Many sites are difficult to reach.
And a few public sites, like those at Anza-Borrego State Park, or Corn Springs, are just downright sizzling hot this time of year.

At our next Dragonfly Lecture, Britt W. Wilson will explore recent archaeological discoveries in the desert, and more.

If you are among the fortunate folks who came to his recent lecture on rock shelters, you know he'll offer a fabulous tour. You can take it all in without ever leaving your (air-conditioned) seat. This is one in a continuing group of lectures we're offering on our region's archaeology.

The details:

When: 6 p.m. Monday, July 20

Where: Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 W. Hays, Banning, CA

What else: Donations at the door support our 501(c)(3) nonprofit work to save and share Southern California's Native American cultures, languages, history, and 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!