Chia Cafe Collective at Idyllwild Arts

Once again, Craig Torres, Barbara Drake, Abe Sanchez, and Leslie Mouriquand will be teaching their wonderful week-end workshop on Native Plants at IdyllwildARTS, July 5 & 6 2014. The poster above and bios below are from the IdyllwildARTS website.

CRAIG TORRES (Tongva) is a member of the Traditional Council of Pimu and involved with Ti’at Society, an organization focused on the revival of the traditional maritime culture of the Southern California coastal region and Southern Channel Islands. He is an artist, as well as cultural educator, presenter and consultant to schools, culture and nature centers, museums, and city, state and government agencies acting as a consultant on the Tongva.

Craig has also been involved with the organization Preserving Our Heritage and Chia Café, which provide cooking demos and classes with California native plants. These activities also provide education on the importance of preserv- ing native plants, habitats and landscapes for future generations.

BARBARA DRAKE (Tongva) is a tribal elder and culture keeper. Her program, Preserving Our Heritage, is a food bank of native foods collected, preserved and processed for tribal elders. She is a member of the Mother Earth Clan, a group of three Southern California Native American women educators who have taught extensively in muse- ums, schools and tribal institutions.

ABE SANCHEZ has been actively involved in the revival and preservation of Indigenous arts and foods. Two of his specialties are Southern California Native American Basketry and California and Southwest Native foods. He has had the opportunity to work closely with traditional Native American gatherers to learn the methods and practices of these cultural specialists.

His interest in traditional foods is that many of these local ingredients are sustainable products that are readily available yet underutilized. He believes that by having the opportunity to teach about these ancient natural foods and helping people learn ways to prepare and eat them again can make a difference in both their health and our environment.

DANIEL MCCARTHY received his BS and MS in anthropology from the University of California, Riverside. For the past 40 years, he has worked at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Joshua Tree National Park and throughout Southern California compiling photographic inventories of rock art sites in these areas and throughout the western region.

He has worked with Elders and Traditional Practitioners for over 35 years and served as the Tribal Relations Program Manager for the San Bernardino National Forest for 17 years. He is currently Director, CRM Department, at San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.