Took advantage of the more seasonally-appropriate weather we're experiencing here in SoCal by going on a hike. Encountered these beauties on the trail. I gotta say, it's so neat seeing mule deer on the traditional lands of the Maarrênga'yam. 🧵
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Dorothy Ramon, the last primary speaker of the Serrano language, provided linguist Eric Elliott the following narrative regarding creation of the mule deer:
"Long ago, when the world began, there were many peoples here on earth. Their Lord was living here, with them, he was alive, not dead."
"(The tribes) apparently used to live somewhere else. They were living on some planet similar to this one. The Serrano came to a new world. There were apparently too many people on the old planet (not the planet Earth). They were killing each other (due to overpopulation). They did not get along."
"This is why he brought them here, to settle here for good. This was to become the new planet. It was a very beautiful world. So, many of them left (with their leader)."
"Back in the beginning of time, the Lord was living here with all the people. He was the one who asked the people whether they would turn into deer. He wanted to transform them. And they obeyed Him and were transformed."
"And so the deer would sing. And then the people would dance the deer dance. They would sing the deer songs. It (the song) tells about what they did, about how they were transformed. Some of them cried."
"Their bodies were already completely transformed. But they still felt at home here. They were still behaving like human beings. But they had already been transformed into deer. And so they cried. They wanted to live in their homes, like human beings."
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"Long ago, when the world began, there were many peoples here on earth. Their Lord was living here, with them, he was alive, not dead."
"Their bodies were already completely transformed. But they still felt at home here. They were still behaving like human beings. But they had already been transformed into deer. And so they cried. They wanted to live in their homes, like human beings."