Conference provides students with accurate depiction of California Native American culture

Corded headbands made of raffia, bird songs set to the percussion of gourd rattles and animal hooves, basketry and pottery are just a few aspects of Native American culture presented to third- and fourth-graders during the 16th annual California Indian Cultural Awareness Conference Sept. 19 – 23 at Cal State San Bernardino.

The weeklong program was designed to provide students an accurate depiction of the culture and traditions of California’s first people, and presented by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Cal State San Bernardino and the San Bernardino City Unified School District. Over 2,000 students participated in the conference that culminated with the celebration of Native American Day Friday evening with tribes from across the region converging on the campus and the participation of hundreds of community members.

“This is an opportunity to educate the community about who we truly are in the area and to give factual accounts of the sights and sounds of the California Native Americans,” said James Ramos, director of the California Indian Cultural Awareness Conference and San Bernardino County 3rd District Supervisor. “There’s a misconception that our culture is imbedded in the past when it is very much alive today.”

Ramos led a seminar on traditional Bird Songs, correcting the misconception that Native Californians used drums and hunted buffalo, the latter of which is foreign to the area. Rather, the region’s Serrano people used animal hooves of game animals and gourd rattles, the Me-wuk Tribe in Central California used clapper sticks, and big horn sheep were hunted.

He explained that songs were a storytelling medium of the culture’s origins, relationship to God, nature and man and the history that continues to be written, before delving into a rendition of “Big Horn Sheep” explaining it was traditionally sung before the hunt.

Students broke off into smaller classes where they were introduced to the native language of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, basket weaving and cordage. Educator Jacque Nunez of the Juaneno Indians in San Juan Capistrano showed students how to twist, pull and twirl raffia palm reeds to make rope the way Native Americans did thousands of years ago. Then they were tied to make headbands.

“It’s important to put accurate and authentic information out there about our heritage,” Nunez said.

The village was the center to which the lives of Native people were tied, and replicated on stage for students with interactive theatrical performances that demonstrated how plants, music, crafts and language all define California Indian life.