Multicultural Manners : On a Smaller Point of Cultural Friction . . .

One early afternoon in October, Peter Trevino, a Comanche, and five other Native Americans practice for a powwow scheduled for that same day in Ridgecrest. They take their drums outside Peter’s rural Tehachapi home to check the amplifiers that had given them problems at a prior performance. While they are singing and drumming, a police officer arrives and issues Peter two citations.

What went wrong?

A relatively new neighbor had complained about the “noise” and called the police. But contrary to what the neighbor thought, the men were chanting prayers, not partying. The Native Americans were expressing their heritage that considers the drum as the heartbeat of their people. Nonetheless, Peter was cited for disturbing the peace and producing amplified sounds without a permit.

When Peter first appeared in court, the court encouraged him to plead guilty, accept two years’ probation and pay a $405 fine. Instead, Peter decided to contest it. “Singing and drumming are part of the last things we have left. Everything else has been taken away--our language, our land,” he declared. According to Peter, had the neighbor complained directly to him, he could have invited her to sit around the drums. He could have tried to teach her about Native American traditions and the sacredness of the drum. He could have explained that they were simply practicing a good life as taught to them by their ancestors. On Jan. 25, the Mojave County Court will rule on the issue.