The steady rhythm of gourd rattles and the layered voices of men and boys will fill the gymnasium as women and girls move in unison during Singing the Birds, the bird song and dance festival hosted by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians on Jan. 24, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., at Palm Springs High School, 2401 E. Baristo Road, Palm Springs. The event also includes a Native American market with craft and food vendors. The event is open to everyone, and the public is encouraged to attend.
Bird singers and dancers from tribes across Southern California and the Southwest will perform throughout the day alongside a Native American Market and food vendors, welcoming the public to share in the tradition.
Bird singing is among the oldest Indigenous art forms in Southern California and the greater Southwest, with origins reaching back thousands of years. The songs recount the Cahuilla migration story and the lessons learned along the way. Songs reference wind and weather, animals encountered, and the endurance required to cross vast landscapes.
Cahuilla men and boys, with gourd rattles in hand, sing traditional bird songs at the Singing the Birds festival at the Palm Springs High School.
Cahuilla women and girls perform bird dances at the festival.
Traditionally, there are more than 300 songs. At Singing the Birds, audiences hear selections from that larger body of work, offering a glimpse into a living tradition now sung.
The format reflects how bird singing is taught and shared. Men and boys sing in a single line, shaking rattles made from gourds, cottonwood sticks, and seeds of the California fan palm. Women and girls dance as a unified group, emphasizing collective movement over individual expression. The experience is communal by design, with connection valued more than spectacle.
Passing the tradition from one generation to the next remains central to the festival’s purpose. “It is our generation’s responsibility to pass down the traditions, what we’ve learned, to the next generation to keep the culture living,” says Agua Caliente Tribal Chairman Reid D. Milanovich.
Singing the Birds also reflects a broader revival. Bird singing nearly disappeared in the mid-20th century, when many Native Americans were discouraged from practicing their traditions. Its resurgence in the 1980s, led by elders mentoring younger singers, made gatherings like Singing the Birds possible.
Today, the songs continue to carry stories of migration, resilience, and belonging — not as echoes of the past, but as living expressions, sung and danced together, again and again.
