On this day before Thanksgiving 2021, we reflect on those Native American Elders who teach us through cultural memories, stories, and songs. Elders help us understand who we are, where we came from, and where we are going.
Ernest Siva (right) singing in 2017 with the Morongo Bird Singers at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center’s Native Voices Poetry Festival. Traditional bird songs are thriving today due to the Elders who saved and taught them to new generations. (Carlos Puma Photo)
Elder Ernest Siva (Cahuilla-Serrano), president of Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, talks about the important roles of an Elder:
November 2021 marks 19 years since Dorothy Ramon died; we’re thankful that her gifts of the Serrano language, history, and cultural knowledge are thriving among new generations:
Honoring our Elders
By Ernest H. Siva (Cahuilla-Serrano)
Dorothy Ramon Learning Center President
“It is our pleasure to honor our Elders1 … Many of us have been touched and influenced in a profound way by someone in our family. Sometimes, someone in our family may have carried this torch. It may not have been necessarily an elderly person, but the effect was the same. It was someone we looked up to.
Traditionally, 'Atucenim (the Elders) were highly esteemed. Careful attention was paid to them. What they said, and how they said it, was of great importance. That is why the language is so important to us today, just as it was then. I often quote my great-grandfather, Lamsa' (Francisco Morongo). That is, I repeat his words as my mother and aunts taught me, using his language and expressions. So it was with the oral tradition: Listen and repeat what you heard.
How sure am I what Lamsa' said? By the sheer repetition of the different individuals telling what he said, and my faith in their word. Wayta' yawa' (Always believe) is our guiding principle. This is crucial to the efficacy of the oral tradition. That is why telling a deliberate lie was a taboo for the people and a great deal of ridicule was attached to the perpetrator. Jokes were made about lying.
Without the Elders, there was no one to ask. My mother (Katherine Ramon Howard) would often say, “'Atucenim qaym qatti, puyuum rreweq (The Elders are not here, they are all gone).” She had no one to consult with. Every one in turn had their Elders. I remember many times a visitor would drop by to seek her advice. Sometimes they sought traditional information, other times legal advice would be the issue. She did not have legal training, but was well-informed and aware of the outside world in general.
Dorothy Ramon (Photo by Michael K. Lerch)
Aunt Dot (Dorothy Ramon) became our Elder in her later years. She was particularly intent on helping us with the language. Thanks to Dr. Eric Elliott, friend and collaborator, she was able to write a book, Wayta' Yawa': Always Believe (2000).
She continues to teach us. Her language use is enormously helpful and the historical and cultural items are interesting and enlightening. An example of Aunt Dot’s care for correct language usage: She pointed out that contractions weren’t proper. The word shevek (indeed) shouldn’t become shiik, she declared, and chichiin't (boy) should never be chin't.
'Atucenim have come and gone, but their memory lives on in our language. Elders living today bear a slightly different role. Many of our Elders don’t speak the language as it was once spoken. However, their memories and opinions still are highly respected.
They kindle in us a respect for one another and our homeland.”
Thank you
Thanks to Jennifer Iyer of The Press-Enterprise for coming by Dorothy Ramon Learning Center and visiting with Ernest Siva. The Nov. 19, 2021, article: Morongo Elder dedicated to ‘saving and sharing’ cultures nearly lost
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Thank you from Editor Pat Murkland, Nov. 24, 2021.
Reshared from Heritage Keepers newsletter, December 2005, Vol. 2, No. 4, © Dorothy Ramon Learning Center Inc. “Honoring our Elders,” pp 1-2.