Today was pretty set back and chill . I didn’t do the aztec dance in the morning because i was still tired from the night before. I went to breakfast and then after we had our last writing workshop and common app with Shelva . I didn’t finish my writing peace but i’m very confident in what i did do. I can say my writing has improved over the course of these two weeks. I didn’t really like it at first and know that i have been doing it a lot i kinda like it. It makes me feel like expressing my feelings is fun. hahaha. We also had our last math session of the aztec math with vesenthe and it was really smooth, i kinda got the hang of it know, if we had more time in this program, i’m pretty sure i would have mastered it. Even though i struggled a lot in it, i’m going to miss it.After dinner we had a elder come in and talk to us about that movie we watched and then told us about her career and how she wanted to correct history by telling the truth. Right know i’m feeling calm and like i want to see my family. I miss them and love them, but theres only today and tommorrow so i’m trying to make the most of it. I have made so much friendships here and it almost makes me feel like there my family too. My mentor louda , i am truly grateful for, she makes time for my huetziline and Marrissa . I love my mentor!!! Louda if you read this i am thankful for you!!! And i’m going to miss you a lot!! Thanks for putting up with me and the others!!! You are such a strong , amazing, beautiful person inside and out!!! Hopefully i run into you in hawthorne hahah. Im going to miss you, you should come back . I am.
the last days- aleyah
today was pretty chill we didnt have indigenous games so we got to sleep in. We started with some bomb breakfast and we did some writing with shelva and also the common app. Then it was lunch and after lunch we did math and then had a lecture by a rude person. We had free time then it was dinner and then another lecture and now im blogging
Western University – Aleyah
Today was a pretty chill day for me , i woke up kinda late but had a great start still. We had breakfast hen headed over to western university to the cadaver lab. I didn’t get to go because i wasn’t old enouGH, BUT thats ok because physically and mentally i don’t think i was ready. I did get to do the virtual reality one though. Technology is so beneficial know. My mom would have never had the luxurious content things that we have today , that is why i am so grateful. After we came back we had sack lunches but that wasn’t so bad then we had some free time and even though i’m really shy i sang for some people here at the program. After i kind of felt unshy, then we got on the computer and i was even confident enough to show them some talent shows i’ve been in before. Then we started watching funny auditions on x factor and stuff and then we were watching wild’n out and those were funny. After we worked on some math with veesenthay and then it was free time so i headed to the gym with a few of my friends from here and we were putting in some work and then it was time for dinner. I kind of regret eating right after exercising because i just burned off a lot of calories and then gained them al right back, but thats ok.After dinner we had a lecture about our future kind of, its hard to say because we were on a lot of topics. Over all it was a blessed day.
Aleyah’s Legacy
Im going to leave a legacy simply because i am me. I have dreams and hopes to go far in life, but sometimes you get what you get. Even if I’m not gonna have the future i had in mind, i will always be grateful for the risks and opportunities i have took so far and that i will take in the future. Leaving a legacy is a privilege, and I’m willing to take that step, do whatever it takes to go far and soar to success!!!My legacy is gonna be icy best believe ;)When i grow i already know what I’m going to be, a criminal prosecutor. I want to be a lawyer because I’m good at starting arguments and winning them, being loud, being debateful and always stand up for what i believe in and i always stay my grounds. Lawyers are always successful , and thats what I’m going to be. Once you set your mind to something , you can never stop. You are unstoppable and powerful. One person i look up to in this program is my close friend who is actually in this program, Alyssa Flores. She always has a positive mindset and is involved with her culture so much. She is never afraid to speak up or embrace her culture, At such a young age , she’s president of a student council, has a job, spends her summers going to extra curricular activities and joining programs very much like this. I am honored just to be able to know her an socialize with her. Growing up her dad was always in and out of jail, her mom was never home and she was the oldest of her sisters. So with her parents never not really there , she had to step up. She was still a child herself, but had to look out for her sisters. She woke up almost all the time to make them breakfast nourish them and get them ready for school, she would make them dinner, and just be there for them when her mom or dad couldn’t. This taught her a lot about leadership . Learning all these leadership skills she decided to be useful with them and started getting more involved with her community. More and more people started to recognize her for all her actions. Too this day, she is still involved with her community and sets examples for younger kids, like me i guess you would say.
today- aleyah
today was a pretty chill day i no i woke up late but it was all really worth it. My road to recovery from wishtoya wil be so heartbreaking, i miss it already. Today we did more of that kung fu stuff we ben doing and we did like a game today. After we had breakfast then we had some nipple math with veesenthay. Then we had some downtime and i did laundrey then we had dinner. Then we had the talking circle then we came into the computer lab and started going over our introductions that techbot recorded us doing. And now im blogging
Wishtoya- aleyah
I had a really bless time at wishtoyo. I met new people and i will forever be grateful for the up close and personal experience i got to have on the chumash grounds . When we first arrived, they were singing the welcoming song. As we all unloaded from the cars we greeted them with hugs and words of wisdom. Then we settled into our tents and ate lunch, Nena was a bomb chief. Tbh. While we were there it was kinda feeling like Pitzer weather once the sun started glaring hard later in the day some of us got burned. Sleeping in the tents was really fun, to be paired up with people was interesting. My tent had the girl mentors and it was me destiney and Marissa, me and Destiney had some good times tho, lots of laughs. The next day i was super exhausted but i took a nap while some people learned sacred geomatry . We also went down to the beach, it was real rocky tho so as a result i got some scratches from the rocks, again the food was really good. They separated us into groups that had to do the dishes. I was in group 3. In the morning after we got there they opened us with the sunrise ceremony in the saleek. That day we also learned about climate change and ow if we dont hear about it now we will not be prepared for the future. Us as growing and maturing women learned about the moon cycle and how it was a blessing and we should not feel that its a punishment, We were told that this is the time were were most powerful and sacred and we were just so valuble. That meant that the girls that were on there moontime couldnt go in the kitchen or hug other men or even go in the saleek. but the rest of the time was realy enjoyable
july 15th my birthday baskets-aleyah
Today was a chill day for me, i woke up and got dressed really comfortable cuz it was my birthday, we started off the day with our morning exercise with john and and that other guy. It felt really good to be able to wake up and exercise in peace. Then after we had breakfast then did some math with Veecenthe and it was really hard and difficult for me, but i pushed through it. Then we had free time and some people went swimming but i went to take a birthday nap cause im still trying to catch up on my sleep. After that we made baskets, since i have made baskets before in the past it was kind of more easy for me this time. When i was little i use to make baskets all the time .
The talking circle, aleyah
Yesterday was a very memorable day for me, it was very inspiring day. I would never have guessed people that came to this program would have been through such trauma. I think the exercise really brought us closer, and it was a good ice breaker!To hear everyone be so open and emotional really hit home for me.
At dinner me and belmont had a very brief conversation. I told him were im from , but on a deeper note i told him more on my perspectives on my culture & traditions as a cherokee. Growing up i was raised as a jingle dress dancer in the arena along side with my younger brother daniel who danced as a fancy dancer. Looking upon my yunger self it was a clear fact that i was an indigenous 7 year old, who danced my heart out every single time i was in the urina. As me and my brother grew , so did our knowing on our culture. Around age 10 my mom began to question herself on a religious note if worshiping the creater and other spiritual symbols was the write thing to do, as a christian.
I remember my mom filling black bags with our regailia. She didnt fold it or nothing she just threw it in the bag. She took off the dream catchers from the walls because they were still hanging. She got all the jewelry that she ever made. Because she used to bead so all of her little tuppleware were filled with beads. She shoved them in the bags on top of the regailias and the dream catchers. She tied the bags in a knot and me and my brother were right there. We walked down to the car like we didn’t want to go but we had to. My mom opened the trunk. I think there were two bags. One at a time with doubt in her eyes, she was really hesitant. Then we drove to food-for-less quietly. We pulled up by the trash can. She got out of the car, while me and my brother were still sitting in the backseats. And I still remember when she was walking to the trunk she gave me a glance before she opened it. She got out one bag and she was looking at it while she was walking to the trash like her mind was filling up with all these memories. Everything was coming back to her, i mean it never really left, but you could just see the hurt. She knew that she put a lot of time, energy and faith in it. Because every time before we danced we prayed. In our regailias we danced for god. When she threw the first bag you could tell she was in that mood of okay there is no going back now. And she was really sorry for us because she knew that we didnt want to get rid of them. By that time we were already crying. She got out the second bag. Frustrated really because she didnt want to do it anymore. She got the bag and was dragging herself there. She looked slumped like a mother. All of our dancing, everything we have ever ever done, every single bead, every single cut, every single feather, everysingle tare, every single design was in that bag. All of our memories all of our faith and all of our dignity was in there. Because that made us who we were. She was basically throwing us away. You could tell that it hurt her as a mother. Because we were dancing in that bag and she was just throwing us away.
She got back to the car and we drove away from our culture and who we were.
spirit movie -aleyah
The movie was truly inspiring and motivating. I liked it because it was something different for me, specifically I enjoy sports like cheer, softball and volleyball, so watching this movie definitely opened my eyes to something different. This movie was also touching because there was a situation that involved the pope and a indigenous leader. They would not let the leader in with his headgear witch is sacred to him. It is a sign of responsibility and strength, although security did not see it that way. They saw his headgear as a sign of danger because it had horns on the top. This conflict was not worth it because at the end they left it at the table alone and unsupervised. That was a sign of disrespect. One thing that caught my eye and will stay with me is that not all people value the same things, some people truly do not recognize how cherished and honorable native culture truly is.
1st dayy, Aleyah
today was fun cause we did different activities and met new people. My favorite activity was the clapper . I am very thankful to have the opportunity to be here and attend this hand selected program. The best part of being here at Pitzer is how open hearted the people are and how welcoming they are. I am definitely going to miss my family, but its all worth the while.
nativeyouth2college.org 