Our favorite local observatory, Sky’s The Limit, kicks off their Cultural Astronomy Series this weekend with a focus on the Southern Paiute tribe. Reporter Heather Clisby has details…
On Saturday, January 19, Sky’s The Limit Observatory and Nature Center will begin their Cultural Astronomy Series with “Salt Songs & Sky Stories of the Nuwuvi (Southern Piute) People.” Matt Leivas, director of the Chemehuevi Cultural Center, and one of the leading Salt Song Singers among the Southern Paiute people, will lead the program and, along with his sisters, will honor the landscape and sky of Twentynine Palms with traditional songs. The Observatory is on Utah Trail in Twentynine Palms, just outside the north entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. Attendees should wear warm layers and bring camp chairs and water. The campus will open at 4 p.m. and the event begins at 5 p.m., weather permitting. Parking is limited, so carpooling is encouraged. A donation of $10 per vehicle is requested. For more info, check skysthelimit29.org.
The following day, Sunday, January 20, Matt Leivas and Clifford Trafzer will sign copies of their book, Where Puha Sits; Salt Songs, Power, and the Oasis of Mara, at the 29 Palms Inn from 1 to 3 p.m. The book describes the Gathering of Tribes in November 2016 and the Intertribal Sing Blessing of the three new Desert National Monuments in May 2017. Trafzer is a Distinguished Professor of History and Rupert Costo Chair in American Indian Affairs at the University of California, Riverside, where he has taught since 1991.
