We have a relationship that’s been thriving for as long as anyone can remember.
It’s with a mountain.
Ayaqaych, known on modern maps as San Jacinto Peak, also Mt. San Jacinto, rises more than 10,800 feet to claim fame as the one of the most prominent peaks in the United States. Our San Gorgonio Pass lies between Ayaqaych and older brother Qwirriqaych (Mt. San Gorgonio). We see their beauty and majesty every day.
Today we’re talking about how, from the earliest times, Native American people have had an intimate relationship with Ayaqaych.
Our view of Ayaqaych on February 8, 2022 (Pat Murkland Photo)
Elder Ernest Siva (Cahuilla-Serrano), Dorothy Ramon Learning Center president, explains that Ayaqaych in Serrano means “Gathering Mountain.”
Ernest Siva and his dog, Remy, walk together on their ranch with views of Ayaqaych. (Pat Murkland Photo)
The people would go to Ayaqaych to hunt, gather and process foods and medicines, from animals, plants, everything the mountain has to offer.
People of spiritual power also would go to the mountain to learn their songs from Ayaqaych, Ernest Siva says.
The mountain in ancient times was powerful and sacred to First Nations for many miles around.
Rock art in Cahuilla homelands near Idyllwild remains from ancient times of ceremoniously connecting the passage from childhood into adulthood with the mountain.
The Cahuilla name for the mountain is Taqwish He'kii, Elder Christina Morreo of Torres-Martinez Reservation told us at the Center in 2007. In a story that you don’t want to listen to at night, Ernest Siva explains:
Go away, monster. While the foot trails that once took people from the edge of the Pacific Ocean into the desert and miles beyond have transformed into the freeways we know in 2022, the timeless mountain keeps watch.
Cars and trucks speed along Interstate 10 in Banning, California, near Ayaqaych. (Pat Murkland Photo)
People seek fast food and gas in Banning as evening falls on Ayaqaych. (Pat Murkland)
We imagine the landscapes as the ancestors looked at this same view, so many years ago. As Culture Bearer Kim Marcus (Serrano-Cahuilla) of Santa Rosa Band told us in "Calling in Your Ancestors" (March 3, 2021, News from Dorothy Ramon Learning Center), “When you bring something out to today’s context, you’re bringing power from ancient times into today, or the realm of today, which is the here and now.
The Moon rises over Ayaqaych. (Pat Murkland Photo)
“So, you’re bringing power forth from an ancient time up into now,” Kim Marcus says. “Same as with the songs or with the stories that are told from our people. So … actually what our people believe is that you’re calling in your ancestors into the … context of now.”
Indigenous people: Sing the songs. Tell the stories, he says.
Revisiting a favorite traditional song that Ernest Siva shares with children, with his added tribute to Ayaqaych:
Thank you for reading along with News from Dorothy Ramon Learning Center today. Enjoy the view — and the beauty and the wonder.
Share your selfie and your story about Ayaqaych: EMAIL. Ernest Siva leads Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that saves and shares Southern California Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts. We welcome your donations. (MORE INFO.) — Editor Pat Murkland, February 9, 2022.