What does this prehistoric pictograph in the Cahuilla homelands of Idyllwild, California, have to do with being Native American in 2021?
Everything, according to Culture Bearer Kim Marcus (Serrano-Cahuilla) of Santa Rosa Band.
Kim Marcus (Serrano-Cahuilla) tells a story at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center in 2015. (Carlos Puma Photo)
In this video that he shares with us, Kim Marcus explains how rock art was created. How the tools lead back to the Cahuilla Creation story. How the rock art in Idyllwild was tied to initiation rituals for children becoming adults. How Native American identity connects through generations, and with the world around us.
Video: The Design of Life
“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,” Kim Marcus says. “So, you’re bringing power forth from an ancient time up into now. 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.”
“… The identity of our people is fading because of modern culture, of modern values for example, the respect for life, the respect for society, other people, is fading …
“Until we bring it to the forefront of our Indian people, how important it is, it will continue to fade. It will continue to fade. If we do not keep that as a value, if we do not pass down the traditions, if we do not take the value and time to study our own people, it’s going to be gone.”
Kim Marcus singing traditional Serrano songs at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center. Ernest Siva, president of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, is in center. (Carlos Puma Photo)
Revitalizing Language
Ernest Siva (Cahuilla-Serrano), president of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, has led the Center in working to revive and revitalize Serrano and Southern California’s other languages, stories, and songs. This has included Ernest Siva’s years of helping linguists from San Manuel Reservation in their work of learning and teaching the Serrano language, and weekly visits (before the pandemic) to Morongo School on the reservation. The Center’s programs and events (online since the pandemic began in 2020) save and share Southern California’s own Native American cultures with everyone.
Join Us!
Thanks to Kim Marcus for sharing this video by Noli School and Media Arts for Social Justice. Contribute to News from Dorothy Ramon Learning Center. Tell us your ideas: EMAIL. Subscribe for free every week in your in-box. (G-mail users, check your promotions folder.)
Watch for Dorothy Ramon Learning Center’s upcoming spring online adventures! Dorothy Ramon Learning Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that saves and shares Southern California Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts. Join us at dorothyramon.org and Dorothy Ramon Learning Center on Facebook.
Pat Murkland, Editor. March 3, 2021.