Today was my fourth day of camp. In the morning, we did Aztec dances under the rising sun. The heat was very intense, but I believe it only amplified the experience, like the creator out of respect sent that blazing effulgence to make us truly perform these dances of the people of the sun. At midday we listened to an elder speak of the power of women and the importance of men to respect them. These teaching really removed from my western mindset and returned me too that of my people, pre-contact, a mindset I often stray from. I again encountered this elder from before at the dinner table, he was alone and the tables of people whom I would usually sit by were full, so I sat across from him. We discussed many topics, such as the preservation and necessity of culture, the Aztec creation story and ceremonies, and also the importance of listening to other people and differing views or beliefs; now this last piece of wisdom from him finally revealed to me the reason as to how he became so knowledgeable and sagacious; he took the truths from everything else and applied them to himself.
-Zaryn Prussia
nativeyouth2college.org 
Thanks for your lovely thoughts and remarks, Zaryn. Who is the elder you are writing about? You can tag them in this post so they can see that you’re writing about them. I’m glad that the elders and the dancing is bringing you back to the teachings from your culture and I hope you are able to connect in many more ways after this.
-Genna