Author: issanda909

AOLANI IS THE BEST

These past two weeks have been quite an experience. I would like to thank all of the elders and teachers who came out especsially hector and julia. They taught me so many different games and new understandings of cultures. Everyone tauught me so much and gave me an unforgettable experience. My biggest take away was probably the indigenous games because i got to let out all of my strengths and had a really good time. I will apply that at home by using self defense skills that the team taught me.

SHOUT OUT TO MY CHICKEN NUGGETS!!!!!!!

Doing photo shop was definitely a challenge yet I managed to get it done. In the beginning all we had to do was find pictures that we thought meant something to us. My two first instincts were a Tongva village and a soccer field. I thought of a Tongva village for obvious reasons one being that Tongva a part of who I am and villages are sacred to us. I thought of a soccer field too for obvious reasons one being that I grew up playing the sport, two being its something that brings my family together whether were yelling at the ref or hyping up our team. I chose to wear my chaw because its part of the traditional regalia that we wear. I also chose to have a raddle in my hand because it is a sacred instrument to my tribe and when I was younger I used it while dancing to traditional songs. I had switched up one of my background images to the Tongva park sign. I chose to change it because I felt that was a sacred area for my tribe. My images have lots of meaning to them from being barefoot to having my hair down. 

The past week and a half have taught me way beyond what I was expecting. Starting with basket weaving. I would like to Thank lorene for coming out and showing all of my peers how important baskets are to our culture, and how we had to pick the reed and then use our patience and skills to make the baskets. Next I am going to talk about the pitzer and pomona college tours. During the Pitzer tour it was very interesting to learn about different events that occur on campus. The Pomona tour was also very interesting because we got to learn more in depth about how everything works, what we can do on campus, and what requirements are needed to be considered. Moving on I am going to talk about mayan math. For me i feel like my strengths for mayan math were in the the adding part and my weaknesses were in the calander part. I learned how to snorkle and kayak while i was at limu as well. For me something that was powerful for me was the drum circle and the talking circle. The drum circle was powerful because i was able to express myself loudly by singing and following a stick to the skin of the drum with the beat. The talking circle was also powerful because I was able to share things that i have never shared with anyone because I knew I was in a safe enviorment.

Yesterday was when we started out photoshop first time experience. I chose to have a background of the beach because the water is very sacred to me and I love the feeling of the sand on my feet. I also chose to wear my regalia and hold my rattle because i felt it was powerful.

Wishtoyo to me was a very powerful place to surround yourself with positive energy. We were greeted with powerful songs and powerful energy. We then introduced ourselves to to Mati and his tribe. Over the days I felt like I bonded with more people and I felt like family to the Chumash. We had crazy adventures of going snorkeling and kayaking with people on the Channel Islands. Our boat ride back was also an adventure because we saw dolphins and whales. I was kind of upset because we were leaving soon and I did not want it to end. All the nights we laughed around the fire, looked at the stars, cried, sang, danced was like a dream. We all woke up and soaked in as much as we could as we all said our goodbyes sadly.

Today was a fun and easy light day. We started the day off by eating a healthy breakfast. We then split up in two groups for writing ( 11th and 12th went with Shelva and 10th and below went with Rickie.) While writing we had finished up last sentences for our free write then did peer editing. Peer editing helped me make my story better than it was before.  We then had Mayan math. In Mayan math we split up into four groups and we each had a challenge/ game that we had to complete. My group had four energy cards with the energy name on it. We had to place the name on a wooden block and use letters that he gave us the spell it out. After Math we had game design with carlin wing. That was interesting because we got to use mental strength to figure out some new good games. To sum up the day it was very interesting and I learned a lot

Hey everyone! Today was a very interesting day with all of our classes and lectures. the day started off with a writing class with Ricky. In the class we shared some environmental issues we were concerned about and what steps we can take to make our concerns disappear. We also talked about some laws that we’ve had problems with and would like to change due to the effect it had on us. Later on we picked topics to research and present on. After that we did indigenous games with hector where we were taught communication and many other skills such as learning from your mistakes and coming back from failure. these two classes related to each other because they both teach us the same concepts in the end.

Yesterday was a very important day for my family. It was a day where one is coming of age. In other words it was my brothers naming ceremony and all the students were invited and got to go. My brother Is a very important figure to me because he is my oldest sibling and inspires me to be the best I can be although we may be very competitive with eachother. My brothers old name had been little dragon fly and recieved the new name of spirit eagle. These ceremonies are important to my tribe and to the families who are having a child being named. I hope that the experience of the students going to the ceremony gave them an understanding of what different tribes do to celebrate coming of age.

Hey everyone my name is Marissa and I am Gablieno Tongva from the LA Basin. I am from San Bernardino and can speak a bit of my language. Today was a great way to start off this experience. All the students and their parents were gathered and checking into their rooms and settling in while I was meeting new people and getting to know my piers. Around 10:30 we all met up for the opening ceremony and introduced our selfs as we embraced each others presence. Two common tribes that were there were the Navajo and the Gablieno Tongvas. We had wrapped up the ceremony and everyone said all of their fare wells to their families. About an hour later we had Val as a speaker, and she talked about her back round and i was really touched by how she was able to speak about all the trauma that had happened in her life. Soon after we all gathered to make dream pillows which was ran by my great grandmother, Julia Bogany. Noon came by and we all gathered in the cafeteria to eat lunch, which is where I met my roomie and my friends from last year. We all laughed and had a good time. With our filled stomachs we headed back to the room above the cafeteria which is where we did Indigenous games. As we did the Indigenous games I learned many things. One being that having the ability to do self defense and use it in emergencies is a huge benefit. Before blogging time we did the circle with my great grandmother, Julia Bogany. As we were speaking in the circle it felt very powerful because I got to listen to who was important in everyones life and even got to listen to some back round stories of my piers. I was touched because there had been so many different age groups that were important to people whether they were younger siblings or great great grandparents. Over all I would like to thank everyone who did workshops today and took the time to teach us all and show us their ways.

Today was the last day of Aztec math and Shelva’s academic writing class. I had fun in shelvas class, because i got to finish my essay, and get it corrected. I feel like i did a good job, and i wanna thank Tekpatl for helping me make my essay stronger with better vocabulary. I enjoyed Aztec math aswell, it may have been difficult here and there but Vicente is a good teacher and makes me understand it even in the hardest times.

today i was effected by Katherine and the writing excises that we did. She had made us listen to a song and write what we feel or write what we think the story behind the song is. In the first song i wasn’t that much effected i just wrote a story about a mysterious man stealing and getting caught, because the music was almost like a pink panther song. The next song we did had effected me more than the first because, i wrote about a man and a women dancing at their wedding and all the feelings they had going on inside of them. The second one had more emotional feeling and had more metaphors to it that makes the story better and more interesting. The third one effected me the most because, i wrote about a band that was homeless and supported each other and worked together to make a better life for themselves. The part that effected me the most was that there was a part in the song that sounded depressing and thats when i wrote about a member of the band dyeing and the band is effected. Afterwards the band worked together to complete a promise that they made to the dead member which was, all of them will have a home, food, and will continue to perform on the streets. Thats what i felt like the song vibe was. Overall i just wish we had more time to express the story more with better detail, so that i can show the true meaning instead of rushing.

~ Marissa Aranda ( Dancing Butterfly)