Coming: Dragonfly Gala

here's a postcard we just sent out to let everyone know ... Save the Date! Our annual Dragonfly Gala is planned for Aug. 14.

Answering the Call: From Warriors to Soldiers

Our Dragonfly Lecture on July 26 continues exploring our theme, Answering the Call: Honoring American Indian military veterans.

We are honored that our Lecturer is Gary Robinson of Tribal Eye Productions.

Mr. Robinson, of Choctaw and Cherokee descent, is an author and film maker.

He is co-author of the 2008 book, From Warriors to Soldiers: A History of American Indian Service in the U.S. Military.

A talented and passionate film-maker, Mr. Robinson's bio says he has written, produced, directed, shot, and edited more than 100 video/television programs for and about American Indian people.

Mr. Robinson's moving short film, "I Am the Warrior," won third place in the 2009 national Veterans Day short film competition hosted by the National Museum of the American Indian.

His children's video storybook, "A Native American Night Before Christmas," was nominated for Best Animation at the 2007 American Indian Film Festival. (View sampling of the story, which includes a sleigh drawn by buffalo!)

Other works include "Those Who Defend Us," a film under contract for the Santa Ynez Chumash Elders Board. According to Mr. Robinson, this film honors Chumash veterans and active duty soldiers and is accompanied by a booklet that provides a more in-depth appreciation of those tribal veterans.

Please join us!

DETAILS:

From Warriors to Soldiers with Gary Robinson

6 p.m. Monday, July 26

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 West Hays, Banning, CA 92220

(the corner of Hays and San Gorgonio)

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

Answering the Call

Answering the Call: Native American Military Veterans

is our theme this year.

Our Dragonfly Lecture tonight honors the sacrifices of American Indian soldiers and their families.

Angelo Schunke served on the committee at Morongo Reservation that developed the veterans memorial and he spoke at the dedication ceremony last year.

DETAILS: TONIGHT MAY 10

6 p.m.

Dorothy Ramon Learning Center

17 W. Hays, Banning, CA 92220

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

Meet Your Neighbor on Monday

Scores of people drive every day along Interstate 10 and see a reservation near Banning, but they don’t know much more about the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.

The next Dragonfly Lecture at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center on April 19 offers a chance to discover Morongo’s varied American Indian cultures and rich history.

In “Meet Your Neighbor: Morongo Cultures & History,” Michael Contreras Jr., Morongo Cultural Heritage Program coordinator, will discuss Morongo’s different American Indian cultures and the general history of Morongo and surrounding Indian communities.

Contreras said discussion topics also include: Cahuilla and Serrano Indian territories; the reservation system; detrimental policies in U.S. history; the assimilation era and loss of culture; tribal sovereignty and the struggle to maintain and revitalize.

Contreras, a member of the Torres-Martinez Band of Desert Cahuilla Indians, was born in Banning in 1975 and attended Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS.

As the Morongo Band of Mission Indians Cultural Heritage Program coordinator, Contreras is charged with caring for Morongo’s large collection of baskets, artifacts, photos, and library collections. Other duties include management of local sacred and archaeological sites, Tribal consultations, acquiring and archiving local tribal history, cultural educational involvement within Morongo’s preschool and elementary school, educational presentations throughout the surrounding communities.

DETAILS: WHEN 6 p.m. April 19

WHERE: Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, 17 W.Hays, Banning.

A donation at the door helps the nonprofit Center save and share Southern California’s Native American cultures, languages, history and arts.

Information: (951) 849-4676.

Lecture co-sponsored by Morongo!

The nonprofit Center currently is raising money to renovate the building at the corner of San Gorgonio Avenue and Hays Street, and recently received a $500,000 donation for that renovation from San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.

Major Donation to the Center

San Manuel has donated $500,000 to Dorothy Ramon Learning Center's building renovation project.

Read about the donation and project here.

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.

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: