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Ceremonial SongsThe official Cahuilla ceremonial singer was called a hawaynik. Some of the song cycles lasted as long as twelve hours, and the hawaynik had to perform flawlessly. He trained hard, studied long, and underwent dietary and other religious restrictions before a performance. Each hawaynik had under him a company of dancers and assistant singers, as well as several apprentices who were learning the song cycles. The Cahuilla treated the hawaynik with lifelong honor, even veneration; for within his songs he sacred knowledge of the people was preserved. One of the songs was a creation epic; others told the stories of the people and were the formal cultural education for the youth and elders. This description has come from The Way We Lived, California Indian Stories, Songs and reminiscences. You can find the creation story in the camp's Coyote's Storytelling Place. |