In this News issue we explore how the act of sharing one traditional song continues to enrich countless people years later.
The Singer: Robert Levi
Because of Robert Levi, singers today are singing Cahuilla traditional bird songs, timeless and traditional music that connect all with ancient knowledge of the world and tell the story of how the ancestors came to the homelands.
Cahuilla Bird Singer and Elder Robert Levi was from Torres-Martinez Reservation. He went to Sherman Indian School in Riverside, where he met his wife, Esther (Navajo). While at Sherman he learned to play other instruments and became a fine saxophone and clarinet player. He served in World War II. He and his wife later worked at Sherman for many years and were beloved by many.
While many Native American boarding schools in their early years are known for trying to quash Native cultural ways, nothing seemed to slow down Robert Levi, who avidly shared Cahuilla cultural traditions throughout his 89 years.
He formed the Intertribal Cahuilla Bird Singers, giving individuals from other tribes an opportunity to participate; he believed an intertribal effort was needed to save the songs. An excellent bird singer, he recorded a 5-CD set of Desert Cahuilla Bird Songs that served to document and save this music, making it possible to share with new generations of singers as well as the public. He obtained a California Arts Council grant to train young singers. He shared his knowledge with many, including training a group of singers from San Manuel Reservation. Among them was James Ramos, who recently has sung bird songs before the state Legislature in Sacramento as the first Native American to be elected to the California State Assembly.
Dorothy Ramon Learning Center honored the now late Cahuilla Bird Singers and Elders Robert Levi, Alvino Siva, Anthony Andreas and his late brother John Andreas in 2006, for their soaring achievements in rescuing the bird songs.
Robert Levi had a twinkle in his eye and a wonderful sense of humor. This is the story of how he shared one funny Desert Cahuilla lullaby that has become a favorite of many people from many different cultures.
Coyote’s Waiting, © copyright painting by Gloria “Toti” Bell, courtesy of the Siva Family.
The Song: Coyote’s Waiting (Isyl Ipe Hiwen)
EDITOR’S NOTE: We are delighted to introduce our News intern, Candy Navarrete, a junior focusing on literature studies at California State University, San Bernardino, and active in her campus Native and Pacific Islander student association.
By Candy Navarrete
Nothing like a traditional Native lullaby to put the little ones to sleep …
Isyl ipe hiwen. Coyote is waiting.
Isyl ipe neken. Coyote is coming.
Eh kusik tewal yaxal, And he will come and get you,
Eh Kwa’ii tewal yaxal. And he will eat you. (1)
Wait, eat you? Yes. “Coyote’s Waiting” is a traditional Desert Cahuilla lullaby verbally passed down from one generation to the next. Robert Levi of Torres-Martinez Reservation passed the song to Ernest Siva via oral tradition.
“Cousin Robert Levi sang a Cahuilla lullaby for me,” Ernest Siva remembered in 2006. “Not that I wanted to sleep, but I must have asked him if he knew any lullabies that I might use in my class. I was always looking for songs that the students might sing. I taught a performance class (playing instruments, dancing, and singing) in American Indian Music at University of California, Los Angeles, which was quite popular … Therefore, I had them in mind and was looking for something special. And I found it.” (2)
To ensure the preservation of the lullaby, Ernest Siva recorded and transcribed the lullaby, writing the lyrics in Desert Cahuilla and translating into English. He notes that the use of the “n” in the words hiwen and neken show that the song is in Desert Cahuilla dialect; Mountain Cahuilla leaves the “n” off. (2)
Sharing the song …
He first taught it to his class at UCLA and since then has continued to teach to others by performing it. Ernest Siva, who has a master’s degree in choral music, then made a choral arrangement and added the English translation on the repeat. The lullaby became a favorite of the Pass Chorale, a community chorus that he directs, at a couple spring concerts. The summer chorus at Idyllwild Arts also performed it. He even passed the melody to the chairman of the California State University, San Bernardino, music department in hopes the band would make a fight song out of it — a perfect fit as the campus mascot is a coyote. And they did! “We heard them playing, one basketball game,” he recalled in recent conversation. (3)
He added today, “I think my cousin Robert would really have enjoyed knowing about that.”
Ernest Siva shared his happiest memory of singing “Isyl Ipe Hewen:”
“The first time the class sang it for Robert (Levi). … I used it as a surprise. That was an outstanding reaction.” (3)
How about that Coyote coming to eat you? Well, Ernest Siva says, what about the British lullaby about the bough breaking and you falling to your possible demise, if you don’t go to sleep?
We are truly grateful to Ernest Siva and to Robert Levi for passing this lullaby on for future generations to hear and to learn, but keep in mind there are so many more lost forever. Native songs, like storytelling, are tied to ceremony and performance, Ernest Siva explained. (3) When some ceremonies stop occurring, then so do their songs, and eventually there is no choice but to let them fade away, he said. Sadly, Ernest Siva revealed there are sacred songs his mother chose not to pass on because the ceremony that accompanied them was no longer held. We cherish those songs that we do have to pass on to new generations.
“Eh kwa’ii tewal yaxal”
In this 2016 video, Ernest and June Siva share this crowd favorite at Dorothy Ramon Learning Center’s Gathering Hall.
Notes
1. Ernest H. Siva, Voices of the Flute: Songs of Three Southern California Indian Nations, Ushkana Press, © 2004, book and CD set, pp. 14-15, CD tracks 3 and 4.
2. Ernest H. Siva, “A Cahuilla lullaby: Isyl Ipe Hiwen,” “Heritage Keepers” newsletter, Spring 2006, Volume 3, No. 2, pp. 4-5. © Dorothy Ramon Learning Center, Inc.
3. July 15, 2020 interview with Ernest Siva, by Candy Navarrete.
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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.
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Pat Murkland, Editor. Aug. 19, 2020