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.

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!

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.

A Chemehuevi Song: Dragonfly Lecture November 16

The Oasis of Mara

The new book, A Chemehuevi Song: The Resilience of a Southern Paiute Tribe, brings together a chorus of Native American voices, both past and present, to narrate the story of tireless efforts to gain tribal recognition and autonomy. 

Please join Clifford E. Trafzer, distinguished professor of history at UC Riverside, also the Rupert Costo Chair in American History, as he shares the story of the power of perseverance in a Dragonfly Lecture at 6 p.m. November 16, 2015, at 127 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning. 

Your $5 will help the nonprofit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center save and share Southern California's Native American cultures, history, languages, and traditional arts. Information: 951.849.7736.

Storytelling at Banning's Art Festival

Serrano Toys & Tools

What tools did American Indians use?

What toys did American Indians play with?

Find out this coming Saturday, Feb. 12, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, corner of Hays and San Gorgonio, Banning.

You're invited to Serrano Toys and Tools. Try out some Indian tools for yourself. Make and take home a toy.

And learn and take home some accurate and interesting information about our region's Serrano culture, language, history, and traditional arts.

Each month we host the FREE Second Saturday Sidewalk Storytelling event.

It's for families. For kids of all ages. It's for you.

And it's FREE.

This month, staff members and volunteers from the San Bernardino County Museum are going to bring lots of interesting and fun toys and tools. Don't miss this program!

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.

Native Uses of Plants, continued

If ever there were a photo to illustrate contemporary Native American uses of native plants, this is it.

Thank Rosie Ramirez and Deborah Small, our next Dragonfly Lecturers.

Yes, they will be giving a multi-media presentation:

Edible, Medicinal, Material, Ceremonial

Contemporary Ethnobotany of Southern California Indians

Who is this beautiful elder?

What plant has she gathered?

What is she going to use it for?

How is she going to prepare the plant?

Find out at our Dragonfly Lecture on Oct. 19 ... and discover much more.

Deborah Small and Rosie Ramirez also will have copies of their 2010 calendar available. Check out sample pages and see other information about native plants here.

DETAILS: 6 p.m., Oct. 19, 17 W. Hays, Banning

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

Contemporary People & Plant Uses

Our Dragonfly Lecture on Oct. 19 is our next exploration of modern Native American uses for native plants.

This time, Rose Ramirez and Deborah Small will give their well-received and informative multi-media presentation,

Edible, Medicinal, Material, Ceremonial, Contemporary Ethnobotany of Southern California Indians.

Their 2010 calendar also will be available.

About our Dragonfly Lecturers:

Rosie Ramirez (Chumash/Yaqui) is a contemporary basket weaver who works hard to help save and revitalize cultural traditions. She also works to protect culturally important native plants, their landscapes and habitats.

from the book Seaweed, Salmon, and Manzanita Cider: A California Indian Feast By Margaret Dubin & Sara-Larus Tolley Heyday Books, Berkeley © 2008:

"Deborah Small is a writer, artist, and teacher and one of the cofounders of the Indian Rock Native Garden Project, an ongoing collaboration between art and anthropology students at California State University, San Marcos, and the San Luis Rey Band of Luiseño Indians. She documents the cultural revitalization of Native traditions in southern California, focusing on edible, medicinal, material, and ceremonial plants and their uses."

DETAILS:

Monday Oct. 19, 6 p.m.

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, Banning

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

Sweet Plant Tricks & Treats

We have a pair of Dragonfly Lectures flying in.

Both are fun evenings devoted to the modern uses of traditional plants, with special treats and offerings for participants.

THIS MONDAY:

IN THE KITCHEN WITH LESLIE

We can think of no better way to mark Columbus Day than to come to a Dragonfly Lecture devoted to integrating use of traditional plant foods and medicines into our modern lives.

They're still here!

Leslie Mouriquand, Riverside County's archaeologist, plans to combine demo and lecture, a la Julia Childs.

She'll focus on mesquite, pinyon pine sap, and chia seeds.

Here's what to look for:

Info. on traditional uses and preparation.

Nutritional values.

Health benefits.

Recipes!

Here's where Leslie finds a source for soap:

Pinyon pine © Pat Murkland

She promises to bring mesquite seeds for gardeners and sweet mesquite cookies and chia seeds to sample (yum!). Some of her famed salves and even flour may be available for sale.

DETAILS

Monday, October 12, 7 p.m.

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center

17 W. Hays, Banning, CA

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

About Leslie Mouriquand:

"I am very interested in sharing the modern ways of integrating traditional plants for better nutrition and health, while learning more about the associated history and traditions," she writes.

"I experiment and come up with recipes and techniques to try and accomplish this, such as the pinyon sap soap (and other types), mesquite cookies and brownies, lemon chia cake, etc.

"As I have time, I do the research to learn about the chemical/nutritional/health benefits of plants, and then get into my lab (kitchen) an d see what I come up with."

OCT. 19 LECTURE

CONTEMPORARY ETHNOBOTANY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INDIANS

Rose Ramirez and Deborah Small team up to present a multi-media presentation on some Southern California Indian edible, medicinal, material, and ceremonial plant uses.

We'll have more on this amazing duo and their work.

And yes, their long-awaited 2010 Ethnobotany Calendar will be available at the Lecture! If you haven't seen it yet, know that it is like a book inside a calendar, chock-full of information and grogeous images ... something you may want to keep past 2010.

DETAILS

Monday, October 19, 6 p.m.

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center

17 W. Hays, Banning, CA

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

Sing Birds Movie Trailer

New movie trailer for Sing Birds

Courtesy of Film Maker Sean Owen
First on-reservation screening this Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Morongo Tribal Administration building
Morongo Reservation
FREE

Panel discussion and bird singing to follow screening
Co-sponsored by Morongo Cultural Heritage Program

& Dorothy Ramon Learning Center
Information: 951.755.5025

Come learn about Native American cultures,

Celebrate this joyful ancient music,

And honor all who saved and are saving the songs for new generations.

Visit Sean Owen's YouTube Channel.

Not Found in the Books

UC Riverside Professor Clifford E. Trafzer on the power of learning and listening the first history of the Americas ... from the sources:

Sharing Stories and Songs

If you ever get a chance to attend a conference offered by the California Indian Storytelling Association take it!

The group keeps cultures vibrant by sharing stories and songs. 

In this video from 2008 are a few of our favorite Chumash songs, accompanied by clappersticks:

Dragonfly Gala 2009

Our theme this year for our Dragonfly Gala will be Indian cowboys.

Details:

WHEN:

Aug. 8, 2009, starting around 4 p.m.

WHERE: 

Morongo Community Center, Morongo Reservation.

WHAT: 

Celebrate Southern California American Indian cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts. 

FEATURES:

• Cultural displays and demonstrations.

• Indian Cowboy Photo Art Exhibit.

• Great Food!

• Traditional Singing and Dancing.

• Famed Silent Auction.

• Dragonfly Award.

• Community Gathering to support the 501(c)(3) activities of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center.

YOU'RE INVITED!

Lasso the date on your calendar.

We'll be sending out invitations soon, so make sure you're on our mailing list.

We thank our major gala sponsor, San Manuel Band of Serrano Indians.

Dragonfly Lecture on Monday

Traditional uses of plants
Foods, medicines, tools, and materials for arts are all around us, in native plants.
The First People were geniuses when it came to knowing the plants and discovering their many uses. Whether a plant root made a good dye for basketry, or another plant offered leaves that made a great shampoo or eye wash, or another offered blossoms for tea, the First People were the experts.

Yucca, for example, makes food and fibers. You can eat parts of the stalk and find it delicious, and use the same part of stalk to make rope.
Learn about fascinating traditional native plant uses, including yucca, from William Pink (Cupeno/Luiseno). 

Details: Monday, March 2, 6 p.m. Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 W. Hays St., Banning, CA. Donations gratefully accepted. 

Mr. Pink has worked in California Indian Arts for more than 30 years and serves as a consultant in cultural resources and traditions of the First Cultures. He often is a go-to person when it comes to ethnobotany and the traditional uses of native plants.

Mr. Pink is a member of the Dorothy Ramon Learning Center Board of Directors and has designed a proposed garden for the new center, featuring important traditional plants from desert, mountains, and canyons. Come see the exciting blueprint and learn our dreams for the future.