“We Are Birds” Project Updates..."

 

First, my apologies to all of the folks who have been following our website, and have been wondering what is currently going on.  Things have been so busy that I did not realize how much has happened in a short time, and how would you know if I forget to put it all here??!!

Since the “We Are Birds” project started back in November of 2011, a lot of things have changed.  It began with Albert and I talking between ourselves in our living room about what a dream it would be for him to learn about traditional Birdsinging by going to different reservations and talking to the head Bird Singers, the elders, about what they do.  Yes, he wanted to learn about all of this so that the information could be archived for future generations, but he also wanted to do this for a very personal reason.  As you know, Albert’s family, on both sides, left their reservation areas early on to find work in places like Los Angeles.  Albert was born there, and reached manhood there, but managed to find his way back to his culture after a long process of searching, making contacts, participating, looking from the outside in, learning to negotiate first powwow politics, then reservation politics, finding acceptance, not finding acceptance, and then acceptance again.  It is a process that is ongoing, and it has been emotionally exhilarating at times, and devastating at others.   But the learning always continued, as did the quest to always keep moving forward, because we both know that it is a rare thing indeed for anyone to grow up completely removed from the native community and find their way back in as a true participant. 

When we began the “We Are Birds” project, we had no idea, really, of what was going to happen.  We thought we were making a film about head Bird Singers in general.  I thought that my job was to only be in the background, to write things up, fill out forms, and act as emotional support.  But what we have found is that for both of us, and for our extended family of relatives and close friends, this journey has been one of many surprises.

First, in choosing (“Uncle”) Wally Antone and Walter Holmes as his first interviews, Albert inadvertently set us on the road to a completely different project experience and film in general.  He travelled to meet with Uncle Wally at his home in Needles, CA, on February 4 of 2012, travelling with Sean Milanovich (Cahuilla) from Agua Caliente Reservation in Palm Springs, and Alvin Rosa (Maya), a college student from Moreno Valley College, who had begun interning as a cameraman and general filming assistant with Albert on a previous project in 2011.  Staying home to take care of the house and our pets, I had to be content to stay behind and let the boys go on their road trip!

As it happened, Uncle Wally really opened up in his interviews, and somehow, in that one short weekend, it seems that a mentoring relationship was born.  Uncle Wally took Albert, and this project, under his wing, and we have been so blessed to have had his wisdom, wit, and experience guiding us every step of the way ever since!

Since I did not get to actually go, it was with great interest that I listened to, and transcribed the interview that was filmed.   As an Anthropologist, I appreciate the time and effort that Uncle Wally puts in every day of his life to preserve his culture.  He is the ultimate “cultural consultant”!  He not only strives to preserve culture, but to also teach the young people that they can adapt to life’s challenges, utilizing their cultural traditions to find strength  and dignity through the toughest of times, but also using their creativity to adapt when needed. 

 

In the interview, Albert had specifically posed a question that essentially asked whether Uncle Wally had ever known anyone who had come from outside of the culture and had found their way back to the center and the arena of Birdsinging.  Although Uncle Wally did know of one person who had been away for a period of 10 years, going to Chicago for education and then coming back, but not anyone who had had Albert’s experience.   Most likely knowing why Albert would ask such a question, and, I think, trying to let him know that flexibility and a willingness to be adaptive could make such a thing possible, Uncle Wally shared a very personal story:

As myself, before there was casinos and jobs for Native Americans, and when I was living in Yuma, there was years back, in the late 60's, when my mom told me, "son, you know there's no jobs here that you can .... so I left, I went to Phoenix, started my family over there, and I've been gone from Yuma for 30 years after that.  And now, I've been gone for like 45 years from my family , but I don't forget my culture, my tradition, my religion, and the things that I have to do for my people.  So I advise all you birdsingers that are coming out to sing and those that are singing nowadays:  don't forget your culture, your tradition.  Those are yours; be proud to be Native American.  That's what I'm proud of.  I'm proud of being Native American because we are one of the quickest people that know how to adapt to living two lives, which I did.  I lived a different life when I lived in Phoenix.  I had to live a city life; it was way way far different than living on the reservation.  I had to have respect by non-Indians as I did our elders back home and that's the way you have to learn to adapt to these two worlds, that they're no more superior than we are.  We're just as equal, but then for some reason or another, we adapt a lot quicker, and you can do the same as I did.   

 

When Albert, Sean, and Alvin came back from the trip, I instantly knew that some kind of intangible change had occurred.  The “We Are Birds” project had truly been born.  I felt that with Uncle Wally’s guidance, I should not worry about what would be coming next.  And, as it turns out, that has turned out to be true.

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Please “stay tuned”, as they say, for another website update coming soon, to let you know about what happened next on this project.  Hint:  Albert, Alvin (and me, this time!), got to meet with Walter Holmes (Cahuilla, from Morongo Reservation in Banning, CA), and the “We Are Birds” project took flight!