Well, I’m back in Newark. For those of you who don’t know that’s up in Northern California (just below Fremont). I must say that I was very surprised when I came back up to high 60’s low 70’s weather, while it may not be great for swimming, it’s perfect for the running I have to do every morning for Cross Country Practice. I miss everyone from the program already, and many times I often recall the voices of laughter that we all once shared.
Universal Studios
Yesterday (8/2) was quite an adventure. We were able to go to Universal Studios with VIP passes. So we got to talk with NBC Execs, and it was pretty cool, to say the very least.
Well we’ve only got about 2 more days left here at the Pitzer Pipeline. I’ve been having nothing but fun here. Okay I lied about that, there’s a lot of serious stuff going on, with all of these people reaching out to us, just to tell us how important we are to the future. I’m definitely taking everything being said to me to heart, and I can’t wait to go home, so that I can start to live while keeping these important principles in mind. At this point there’s just been so much that’s happened, I can’t begin to start to try and describe it.
Cool Story Bro
It’s been a view days since my last blog, so please bare with me, this is probably going to be really long.
Well in the few days that I have not done any blogging, a lot has happened for me personally. On Friday (7/29) we all did some West African Tribal dancing, and it was a LOT of fun. During the dancing we got one of the exchange students to join us. Her name is Helen, and she is from Russia. Later that same night, there was a disco, with really loud, and repetitive and…well kinda lame music, but that’s just like, my own opinion man. But everyone else in our group seemed to enjoy it, except for me and our new Russian friend Helen. So during that time that we weren’t dancing with everyone else, me and Helen were talking, and it was just such a cool experience, getting a glimpse at another culture through the eyes of one of the locals.
It was pretty awesome to say the least.
The next day, Jessica and Jana’s mom and dad came in to talk to us about cultural protocol and our Kuleana to it. It was such a fascinating talk, and in that moment I finally started to understand a little of the Hawaiian that was being said. It was in that lecture that I realized how important it was for me to learn my own culture. I practically had an epiphany. So now it is my goal to eventually go back and relearn the Hawaiian language as well as learn more about the culture.
“In Whose Honor”
Today in class we watched a documentary called “In Whose Honor.” While watching I would say that there were some strong feelings brought up by the issues portrayed in the film. What I noticed about the people in favor of “The Chief” is that they were mostly ignorant of the topic at hand. There was a lack of understanding, but more than just lacking information, it was a lacking of empathy towards the people who are hurt by this showing of a fictitious Native Chief.
If ever I had to sum it up in a few words I’d say that racism through ignorance is still racism.
Now I have to ask, what did any of you feel about this movie? Did it bring up any anger, or perhaps any sadness? What do you feel about these people supporting “The Chief” and their arguments for keeping him?
There are no wrong answers, just how you feel.
Discussion piece
Today during class with Deron we discussed about Sovereignty and I brought up a certain point that I thought I’d share with everyone. I felt that part of the reason for Europeans having viewed Natives as being savage and sub human was due to the Native Perspective of being just as important as the animals and every living thing on the Earth. That Native people still maintained their connection with the Earth as stewards of the land rather than just takers of resources. Like in European culture and still to this day America and most of the world has viewed itself, and human beings as being a separate entity from Nature, rather than acknowledging that we came from the Earth, that it is our Mother, and not simply a resource to be taken and used as we please. This is what I feel to be true, if you have any questions regarding my perspective on this issue, or if I was not clear enough, then feel free to ask questions. And just be sure to tell me how you feel about this, what your point of view is, etc.
I want to see some comments or posts people GO GO GO.
Western
Today we took a look at Western University. It was pretty interesting, and very fun. So I am even more convinced that I want to work with brains and neuropsychology in the future. The Thing lab in the Veterinary section of the college was fun. We got to go into the Anatomy lab today, surprisingly the smell was not as bad as I was preparing my nostrils for. But I’m sure that was only because the actual Human Cadavers were covered. I just wish that we would get to work with the Cadavers themselves today, but today was fun nonetheless.
First Blog
It’s Day 3 here at the Pitzer Pipeline to College program. Thus far, I am greatly impressed at how much fun this is, and how much there is to do on campus. I’m becoming friends with everyone here in the program, including the mentors, I feel like I made a real connection with the mentor that I was driving with on the way to Agua Caliente, which was really funny and cool. From now on I’m driving with Rebecca because I know that I have someone to play car games and tell random stories with. Agua Caliente itself was alright, too much talking for me honestly. I had fun working on the Video Game group project, I didn’t win, but c’est la vie.
nativeyouth2college.org 