Variegated meadowhawk dragonfly in the Colorado Desert, by Steve Berardi, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Calling in the Ancestors
One meeting, one hour, once a month. Free. Drawing on Indigenous circle practice, and traditional cultural stories, we’re beginning a series of more than 80 fun, creative, and profound activities aimed at cultivating and growing authentic connections and strengths. One meeting, for one hour, meeting once each month. Free.
Morongo Empowerment Program, Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, and Renda Dionne Madrigal, PhD (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) are teaming up for one hour every month for a dynamic program based on Renda Dionne Madrigal’s The Mindful Family Guidebook: Reconnect with Spirit, Nature, and the People You Love (Parallax Press, 2021).
“What can we learn from Indigenous practices? One is that our ancestors are within us, and they have strengths which are necessary to bring forward and pass along for our journey,” she explains in an interview. “We can and need to bring those strengths forward.
“A second learning has to do with the Spirit of Respect,” she says. “In Chippewa the word is indinawaymainganug — respect for ourselves, each other, and the larger world.”
The first gathering is scheduled from 1 to 2 pm on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. Everyone interested is welcome, in person at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center’s San Manuel Gathering Hall, 127 N. San Gorgonio Ave., Banning, or via Zoom.
RSVP HERE.
Finding Medicine in Stories
Author Renda Dionne Madrigal, PhD. (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) is a licensed clinical psychologist who combines mindfulness techniques with medicine found in traditional storytelling, to help people regain balance in their lives. Her guidebook is geared toward families, from her more than 25 years experience in working in Native communities.
Renda Dionne Madrigal and her daughters Isabella and Sophia, through the Luke Madrigal Indigenous Storytelling Nonprofit, have partnered with Dorothy Ramon Learning Center through varied in-person and online workshops and plays to explore the wisdom and healing found in traditional cultural stories.
With Story Medicine we can gain insight, wisdom, and inspiration to help us navigate life's many challenges, Renda Dionne Madrigal says. “Story Medicine teaches you how to access and come into relationship with stories to grow and thrive. In the world of Story Medicine, stories are not mere make-believe narratives.”
She shares what Pueblo Native Storyteller Leslie Marmon Silko says: “I will tell you something about stories … They aren’t just entertainment. Don’t be fooled. They are all we have, you see, all we have to fight off illness and death,” Silko says. “You don’t have anything if you don’t have the stories.”
Focus on Healing
Morongo (Reservation) Empowerment Program works to end violence among families. The Mindful Family Guidebook series is supported by a federal grant awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. Morongo Empowerment Program protects and helps survivors find their healing path to physical and mental well-being. The program has grown organically with the vision of domestic-violence survivors who are now “thrivers.” These include Native people who have found resiliency and reconnection within traditional culture, and are now inspiring others also to thrive. (The Avellaka Inter-Tribal Sexual Assault Awareness Walk, which honored Ernest Siva, is among our top-read 2023 News shared with you.)
Ernest Siva was honored at the Awareness Walk with this artwork by Gloria “Toti” Bell that includes many aspects of his life that are important to him, including Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, and inspiring to the rest of us. (June Siva Photo)
Focus on Being Centered in Cultural Living
Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, a 501c3 Nonprofit led by Elder Ernest Siva (Cahuilla-Serrano), saves and shares Southern California Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts. In our previous News from Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, we shared how Ernest Siva has been inspired to follow his great-grandfather Francisco Morongo’s mandate, “Never forget your culture: your language, your stories, and your songs, for these are what and who you are. Otherwise … you will become Lost People. Your roots will be like those of shallow grass instead of those of a mighty oak.”
One gathering, for one hour, once a month. You’re invited to join us. Free.
Please RSVP HERE.
Thank you!
Thanks from Center leaders Ernest and June Siva and Editor Pat Murkland for enjoying News from Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, your FREE online weekly newsletter. Thanks for reading, sharing, subscribing! We welcome your ideas and contributions. PLEASE EMAIL. November 16, 2023.