Native Singers Keep Bird Songs Alive (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

Native Singers Keep Bird Songs Alive

by Chris Clarke
on November 2, 2011 11:09 AM
USA

One of the worst habits of modern American writers is that of
referring to this continent's original inhabitants in the past tense.
This is as true of the desert as anywhere in the U.S. It's
understandable, in a way: Native people dominate the history, modern
and ancient, of the desert. Writing about the desert's past without
writing about Native people is just about impossible.

But there's more to the Native people of the desert than the seemingly
permanent ancient rockworks and petroglyphs. Native people are still
here, shaping the desert. A few, the Agua Caliente Cahuilla in my own
Palm Springs being an example, have attained a certain measure of
political and economic power. Others -- including some of the Agua
Caliente's close neighbors -- still struggle for self-determination
and respect. All of them work to defend and preserve their diverse
cultures. And some aspects of that cultural diversity are far harder
to preserve than a petroglyph or intaglio. Some are as ephemeral as a
soft voice spoken in the desert wind.

Access full article below:
http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/commentary/native-singers-keep-bird-songs-alive.html