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UPDATE: PLEASE NOTE that the date of the 2024 Dragonfly Gala is now AUGUST 24.
Dorothy Ramon Learning Center’s Dragonfly Gala since 2004 has grown into an iconic and beloved annual gathering celebrating Native American cultures. You won’t want to miss this year’s gala on Aug. 10, 2024. It’s going to be amazing.
We’re honoring Malki Museum.
Malki is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year as the first Native-run museum on a reservation in the United States. Here’s a little bit of the story of how Malki came to be, from one of the museum’s early newsletters:
Co-founders Jane Penn and Katherine Siva Saubel (courtesy of Malki Museum)
“Malki is the direct result of a Wanakik Indian [Cahuilla lineage] woman’s heartfelt desire that the culture of her people be made known to the rest of the world, not only for the education of other people but also to keep alive the legends, culture, and history of her tribal group.”
That of course was Jane Penn, daughter of William Pablo, a Cahuilla puul or medicine man. She later also became a Morongo tribal leader. Her relatives, Elders Margaret Pablo and Victoria Weirick, who still knew the old ways, gave her knowledge and artifacts that enabled her to start the museum initially in her own home. This grew into the museum we cherish today.
“Malki is made up of over 400 individuals,” the museum reported in the 1970s, “leaders in professions, also ordinary people, Indians and non-Indians alike. All are dedicated to the goal outlined in 1961 — to preserve, protect and enhance the Indian culture of Southern California.” The 1970s board of directors included the Native powerhouse leaders Jane Penn; Mariano Saubel (Cahuilla) and his wife, museum co-founder Katherine Siva Saubel, Cahuilla tribal council leader at Los Coyotes Reservation; Madeleine Ball, a Morongo social worker; Ted Toro, a Torres-Martinez tribal leader; and Anthony Andreas, tribal leader at Agua Caliente Reservation. Other board members included Lowell Bean, anthropologist.
If these Elders had not started sharing cultural ways with Native and non-Native people alike — well, we don’t even want to go there. Suffice to say we are filled with gratitude that we now see a new generation of leaders at Malki, including descendants of the original founding families.
Dragonfly Gala Info
Honor the MALKI MUSEUM and 60 years of leadership in Native American cultural preservation and education! Thank you to our major sponsor, Morongo Band!
WHEN: 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, August 10, 2024
WHERE: Morongo Community Center,
13000 Malki Rd., Morongo Reservation.
• Eat a delicious BBQ dinner with Native foods, beans and handmade tortillas, prepared by Willie Pink, & amazing desserts
• See Displays, Exhibits, including Malki Museum history, Morongo Cultural Department, Morongo School, San Manuel Education Dept., Mother Earth Clan, and more.
• Share Memories & Stories! Dragonfly Photo Booth!
• Enjoy Bird Singing and Dancing and other traditional music. Listen to flutes!
• Bid in our famed silent auction.
• Dragonfly Exchange! BRING A DRAGONFLY (art, handmade, be creative!) and TAKE HOME someone else’s, uplift everyone’s spirits and share the peaceful heart that calls in the dragonfly.
Limited seating. Don’t miss out: $60 for individuals, $1,000, $2,000, $3,000 tables. RSVP info here:
Concert this Sunday: Bells a ringing
From our vice president, June Siva:
“Have you ever heard an entire handbell concert played by one person? Have you ever heard a handbell played pianissimo? Well come to this concert and you can hear this and much more! Bruce McClurg is a voice teacher and college and church choir director, but he's also a handbell maestro! He and colleagues Chalmer McCllure, Paul Farmer, and Ed Yarnelle will present a program showing the versatility and many voices of the English Handbell. They will play hymn tunes, spirituals, opera pieces and more! We will all learn lots of what we never knew about handbells!”
What you Never Knew about Handbells with Bruce McClurg
Sunday, July 28, 2024, 3:00 pm
San Manuel Gathering Hall at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center,
127 N San Gorgonio Ave. Banning, CA
Admission: $10 Helps support the programs of the Center
Thank you
Center leaders Ernest and June Siva at the 2023 Dragonfly Gala (Carlos Puma Photo)
Thanks for supporting the 501c3 nonprofit Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, saving and sharing Native American cultures for more than two decades. As always, thanks for reading, sharing, and subscribing to News from Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, your FREE online newsletter. We welcome your ideas and contributions. PLEASE EMAIL.
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