Instructions for Our Love

The creosote is the most abundant plant in the Mojave Desert. It is one of the oldest living organisms on Earth. Instructions for Our Love is a performance spoken in both English by Amber Stucke and Cahuilla by John Preckwinkle III, a traditional Cahuilla Bird Singer and Agua Caliente Cahuilla tribal member, as an honoring to the creosote. With the Cahuilla language critically endangered, the instructions reconnect the sound of the language back to the land.

Atukul metawet pe tamiŋa. Atukal temalpak hespen a’avuwet. Chem’u’uniwen chemayawwen men chemsun amiyaxqal melkiš hawawa Amber Stucke čepe’pe ivilʸu’at hawawa John Preckwinkle III. John wikikmal taxmuqa pen amivakviš Sexiŋax. Amber pen John Atukul’i pemtaviqa’i. Ivilʸu’at neŋaqa pen ivilʸu’at hem’u’uniqa pisŋa isa temalpak. (Translation by John Preckwinkle III)

This event is part of our Free Thursday Nights program.

Image credit: Courtesy Amber Stucke, photo by Julia Robertson