The Cura Council Ceremony in August 2023
Building the Medicine Wheel

A Message from MUSEA Curate Shiloh Sophia

There are many stories to tell about how this legend began. We came to be the guardian of 2 acres of Graham Creek on Sonoma Mountain. The stories will come in time and be told on The Cura Council blog. For the time being, if you wish to visit 2 Raven or ask a question, please send us an email at 2raven@musea.org

I grew up in Sonoma from birth to the age of 6 and then moved back and forth for many years until finally fully landed back home here in 2016. Sonoma Mountain has always been a special and sacred place to me and my family. When I learned of the legends from Greg Sarris that Sonoma Mountain was considered the birthplace of Creation to the Coast Miwok people, my curiosity and care increased, and I began to explore more.

For now, let us say this - for one year, we sat with the waters and trees, plants and creatures, mostly listening. We agreed with ourselves and our teachers that this was not a time for action. We eventually found a level place big enough for a circle and a place to sit, cleared poison oak, and moved a few stones.

As time went on, we cleaned because this place has been both a ceremonial place and a dumping ground. Each week when we go, we find more and more to clean, and more and more people leave garbage, steal stones, trespass, block wildlife cameras and steal the bones of animals.

On the one-year anniversary of this place coming into our care, I walked up the creek and walked for a time with a fish...a tribal trust species - more on this as we go along.

We started calling the creek "Wild Water Creek" because that is what Jack London called it. In the image of him writing on a rock - that is Wild Water Creek he is sitting at! After a year, we realized it was so much more than the creek; it is the land around the creek and the canyon it rests in. Two Raven is in connection with the legends of Sonoma Mountain, woven with the legends of our own community, and two magical sisters which find their way throughout these mythologies.

I look forward to sharing more with you. Thank you for your care.

"This is the story of Sonoma Mountain. It isn’t one story; it is many stories that make up the one story. The stories go on and on because the Mountain itself has so many things—rocks and animals; birds and grasses, fish, frogs, springs and creek, trees—and each thing has a story. Many of the stories connect with other stories. This makes sense, because the animals and plants and all other things on Sonoma Mountain connect with one another.

The Mountain has always been a special place for Coast Miwok people. The stories from the Mountain teach important lessons, and many of the songs that Coast Miwok people have sung since the beginning of time are gifts from the Mountain and come from the stories. It is said that Coyote was sitting atop Sonoma Mountain when he decided to create the world and people—but that is part of the big story of the Mountain and we are getting ahead of ourselves.

The best way to hear the stories is to listen to Coyote’s twin daughters, Answer Woman and Question Woman."  ~ Greg Sarris, from How a Mountain Was Made