So-Cal's Earliest Inhabitants

This week we visit Lake Arrowhead, take a boat ride, and consider the way history is passed down.

First and foremost I’d like to thank you all for your kindness and words of encouragement from last week’s email. The concept of a newsletter has been on my mind for some time and, like most things in life, it’s the ‘doing’ and not the ‘thinking’ that moves us forward. If you’re receiving this email it’s because you’re someone I care about and I want to play some small role in getting you to think about the people in your life that you care about.

My objective for this newsletter is to share uplifting, positive, family-oriented content, and to spark conversations amongst our family and closest friends about legacy, family history preservation, and what we leave behind. 

One thing you missed this weekend

It’s easy to forget that everywhere we go, there were people already there many years before us. Ironically, upon pulling into Lake Arrowhead Village over the weekend, one of the first buildings we saw was a McDonalds. Albeit, the view overlooking the lake from this particular location easily makes it a Top 10 McDonalds destination, we couldn’t help but think about the McFlurry-deprived, original inhabitants of the land.

For over 2000 years the Serrano people occupied what is now the San Bernardino National Forest. They sought out acorns, beans, berries, deer, birds, and fish with instinctual precision that had been honed over generations. Their lives, rooted in a deep understanding of nature, relied heavily on the oral traditions passed down from their ancestors.

Today, I seldom look to my elders for guidance on the practicalities of daily life such as how to get food or how to do my job, but instead it’s the wisdom of a life well lived that I seek. The Serrano people, like most indigenous populations, told stories over and over again to ensure their descendents would be able to pass down what was once passed on to them. While there is power in the game of ‘telephone’, too often words and motives get lost over time.

My encouragement to everyone is to sit down and record the stories of those you love. Protect their legacy, capture their wisdom, and pay it forward to those who come after you. Short trips outside of our bubble always spark new perspectives and I am thankful to Lake Arrowhead for reminding me of my own brief window of existence; long after the Serranos & long before what lies ahead.

One thing to think about this week

How do you think you would have fared as a Native American?

If you watch enough YouTube you’ll convince yourself you could easily live off the land or start a homestead, but what do you think life would really have been like as a Native American? Would a nature-centric lifestyle have yielded less stress and anxiety, or would the demands of work and culture today simply be replaced by cold, hunger, and grizzly predators?

Lifestory’s mission is to document the stories and preserve the legacies of family’s like yours. Reply to this email to ask Bryce about the Lifestory Video process.