San Manuel builds Serrano village

BIG BEAR: Dedication for recreated Serrano village setIt takes a village to build a village and after a full weekend of work that began Aug. 25, members of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians will join San Manuel Tribal Unity and Cultural Coordinator James Ramos and board members of the Big Bear Valley Historical Society to formally dedicate two new structures into a recreated Serrano Indian village set on the grounds of the Big Bear Museum in Big Bear.

The ramada, a cedar framed and willow thatched shade structure, and an acorn granary, weaved from the branches of the willow tree, join a previously constructed traditional Serrano Indian domed shaped home (kiiè) which has become an annual activity of the Yuhaaviatam Cultural Camp organized through the tribe’s Tribal Unity and Cultural Awareness Program.Comment:  For more on San Manuel, see San Manuel Partners with Local Ballclub and San Manuel Buys Sacred Spring.

Below:  "Members of the San Manuel, Santa Rosa and Pechanga reservations build a cedar ramada. A ramada and an acorn granary are set to be dedicated at the Big Bear Museum on Sept. 3, 2012."