I feel that knowing our language, ancestors, and songs are some of the important aspects of a culture. Rose, our theater teacher, told all of us that songs are powerful because it brings us together and makes us strong. A strong bond with each other makes us more durable with hardship that we may face. Our conscience is like the very rope we made at Wishtoyo. When we are bonded together, we are strong and almost unbreakable. If you are just a single strand, you can’t handle the wear and tear of outrageous events to come. Language is limited but helps us communicate. Without this communication, how would we manage as a full? We can play charades for a little while but there is a wide range of vocabulary that couldn’t be defined by body gestures. Without language, we couldn’t build villages and learn each other ways. Now ancestors tells us of our past and our people. We couldn’t manage without them. They are essential into becoming a better person. They teach us the language and set the rules. They keep us safe and steers us away from the wrongness of things. They help us without needing to be there.
Being able to learn Cultural Knowledge and attending to the ceremonies is an honor. Although it seems to only benefit being in any future ceremonies, they can help with strengthening your mentality. Once in college, you’d be stressed daily but when at a ceremony, you can calm down and relax yourself physically and mentally. When reaching further to quench your thirst of education, having a variety of Cultural knowledge helps find natural solutions into waking up in the morning or just even getting the best yet cheapest food.
Montie taught us that you have to give for whatever you take. If you don’t give back, then those plants may become even rarer or harder tpo find. Those plants help us through our daily lives and they helped our ancestors also. It’s best to have a natural knowledge to items to use in foods and medicines. You can’t trust what ingredients are actually inside organics.
nativeyouth2college.org 