There’s a dramatic moment in every bird song when the gourd rattle acts like a compass and gives direction to the singers and dancers. The lead singer raises his rattle straight and high in the air, and a tremolo, or rapidly circling rattle, with repeating series of notes, signals that the melody is rising. After the second rise, the people follow that direction and begin dancing.
This is the Serrano story, as told by Dorothy Ramon Learning Center President and Elder Ernest Siva (Cahuilla-Serrano) and by his late aunt Dorothy Ramon (Serrano), of how the first rattle was a compass — and, how a compass is a rattle.
The First Compass
“The Rattle, or Aiht, as used by the Serrano of southern California for leading the singing and the dancing, was given to them at the time of their arrival on earth by the Creator,” Ernest Siva says.
“… The place of our previous existence had become over-crowded. The people weren’t getting along each other. Chunup (the one we revere) called the people together and told them, “I am going to take you to mukihtowan, your homelands. But, you must believe. If you don’t believe, you won’t get there.”
But then, Ernest Siva says: “Some of our people … lost their way.” (1)
“Suddenly, Something Came to Them.”
Ernest Siva’s aunt, Dorothy Ramon, told, in Serrano:
… Mutu' 'ap kwana' chewpchewpk kimiv.
They got lost coming along the way.
Qaym 'enan haynkwa' 'ingkwa' mya'qam.
They did not know which way to go.
'Ingkwa'm kimay warrȇngk, 'anim chewpchewpk.
While they were on their way here, they got lost.
'Ayee' kwana' peetaq maaya'. “Hamintac nyiiv?” key kwana'. “Chewpkaych.”
So they asked one another, “What are we going to do?” they asked. “We’re lost.”
Qay' kwana' 'enan hayynkwa' peemiktti'.
They did not know which way to go.
'Ayee' perqatki'ik kwan pemeka' xhit pichyi'.
Suddenly something came to them.
Ama' Peenep pernafc kwecaati' kwan 'akupuva' yȇy.
Their Lord grabbed it up in the air.
'Ap Peenep pernafc, hiit hami', kwan yawa’nkin 'amay kwecaati'.
So then their Lord, whatever he was, grabbed that piece of wood.
'Ama' kwecaat kwenevu' 'ap pinay 'ingkwa' tervayka'.
That stick led them to this planet. (Mrs. Ramon speculates that this stick was perhaps a gourd rattle.) (2)
Leading the Music
Ernest Siva says: “They were wondering what they were going to do. The leader raised his hand, and in his hand appeared the Aiht. With that, he led the people.”
And Dorothy Ramon said: “… 'Im 'anim 'ip qace'. And so they are here.”
Ernest Siva explains: This was the start of the Lead Singer of the Serrano people. Neighboring groups in Southern California also have stories of the rattle and the Lead Singer. Among all, there is one Lead Singer who leads with the rattle.
In older times, only the Lead Singer (Chaaqa' in Serrano, or Haunik in Cahuilla), played the rattle in ceremonies. The other singers backed him up with their voices and dancing. That way, the version and style of the host people could be more easily achieved. Our neighbors to the south of us, the Luiseño, have the practice of one leader and helper, with a chorus of men.
This information applies to their traditional songs with which they employ the turtle-shell rattle. However, when singing the "Birds" their practice is the same as the Cahuilla and Serrano, which today allows all to play the gourd rattle in unison, while singing.
A Compass for Living
There is more to the compass. Cahuilla Bird Singer Luke Madrigal explained at a Dorothy Ramon Learning Center storytelling workshop in 2019 that the songs aren’t merely musical notes and words. The songs sing themselves. They come to life in the singing, and they transform the singers and their listeners.
Each song — its words, cadence, and music — tells a story of the people. The songs may be in a shorthand, and there was often a story that went with them, although some of the stories that go with songs are no longer told or remembered, Ernest Siva says.
The bird songs tell the stories of how the people came to their homelands and about the world around us. The story often is a guide to living life.
Since the beginning of time, then, the gourd rattle and its music are still a compass — a compass for living our lives well.
Please join the Center and the Morongo Bird Singers on Facebook Live at 6 pm Aug. 7, 2020. Meanwhile, here are Ernest Siva (at right) and Kim Marcus singing Birds at the Center’s Gathering Hall in Banning in 2017.
Notes
1. Ernest Siva, “Rattles, and More Rattles,” in “Musical Instruments of Native California,’ News from Native California magazine, © Summer 1998, Volume 11, No. 4, pp 31-33. (Explore what’s in the current issue.)
2. Dorothy Ramon (and Eric Elliott), “First Compass,” in Wayta’ Yawa’: Always Believe, Malki Museum Press, 2001, pp 64-65.
Thanks for the artwork of singers to Randy Fruchter. He’s a comic book artist who participated in a recent storytelling workshop with the Center and the Luke Madrigal Indigenous Storytelling Nonprofit. Download and color Randy’s artwork from a work in progress here. Art of gourd rattles by Pat Murkland for the Center.
Dorothy Ramon Learning Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that saves and shares Southern California Native American cultures, languages, history, and traditional arts.
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Please tell us what you’d like to see in your newsletter: Email. Thank you! Pat Murkland, Editor. July 29, 2020