James Ramos: Californians should commit to learning about Native cultures
November is National Native American Heritage Month.
Growing up on the San Manuel Indian Reservation, I have personally seen and experienced many changes, from living in a mobile home to overcoming economic challenges.
Our reservation hasn’t always been prosperous or well known by the surrounding community, but it took a while to become what it is today. Those of us who grew up on the reservation remember horse stables where riders from the outside community would come to ride horses. Then came the selling of cigarettes, through which our tribal government started to see some economic success, but that was short lived as a lawsuit brought a close to that venture. Then came bingo and for many of us we didn’t know how long it would last because everything else was short lived. But today that bingo hall grew into what is now known as the Yaamava resort and casino, through which the broader community knows us for our contributions for providing jobs and philanthropic kindness.
But there is a deeper understanding of who we are culturally, as a people.
History has not been kind to our people, but our ancestors and elders’ resiliency has proven to be the cornerstone of who we are today.
A history that saw a militia formed in the San Bernardino valley in 1866, and a documented 32-day battle to rid the San Bernardino mountains of Indian people that took place. To learn more about that, you can read the San Bernardino County Museum quarterly Vol. 5, Issue 3 titled “The San Bernardino Indian massacre, 1866-1867.” Ours is a culture and a people that also survived the assimilation policies of the boarding schools with slogans of “kill the Indian, save the man.”
Then there are the many current issues, like the problem of missing and murdered Native peoples, often with little-to-no investigation or concern, or the problem of Native communities unable to have Native remains respectfully returned.
Our community continues to try and educate the broader public about our culture, our food and our music. Teaching of traditional music from our area helps break misconceptions that all Indian people use the drum, when in fact the drum was traditionally foreign to our area, we use gourd rattles, hooves of animals, elderberry flutes for our traditional music. Breaking the pan-Americanism view that all Indian people hunted the buffalo, when in fact we hunted the bighorn sheep in this area. These are but a few misconceptions that are still being corrected today about who we truly are as Native people.
The knowledge of following the foods and plant life during the seasons of the year has also been handed down from our cultural knowledge bearers. In March, we hold our Yaamava (spring) celebration, to honor the new growth of the coming foods and plant life. One plant that blooms around May is the yucca plant. We hold our yucca harvest where we teach the process of cooking the flowers for food, and leaves for rope.
In summer we travel to our ancestral territory in the Big Bear Valley to collect the pine nuts which bloom around mid-August to mid-September. Where we harvest and process the pine nuts during our annual Yuhaaviatam camp. In the fall, the collection of acorns takes place from the oak trees in our area. The acorn harvest was just completed on November 18, 2023, showing that our culture is very much alive.
The resilience of our ancestors and elders to overcome atrocities and the ability to look beyond the past, to create a future where good can be found in all people to live together to honor one another is what has been taught. I call on all in the state to truly learn to honor and respect one another as we celebrate National Native American Heritage Month.
James Ramos represents the 45th Assembly District.