Blog

Andrew H.

7/17/18

I picked the photo with Jacob and his shredded friends, my first thought was to take Jacob out of the pic and put a chubby native in there which is me. I picked it because its funny and It shows stereotypical Native Americans, I put myself in there to show what a real Native American looks like, not all Natives are shredded and photoshopped.

When I was making my photo thingy I was just messing and was making it look very weird. I didn’t really care about it I just some random stuff that made no sense. It was fun making it because I got to do this type of stuff for the first time. It was cool learning how to do it and I just did whatever i wanted to do. I kind of learned fast and was able to make it look cool and funny.

I made this photo shot to represent that me and my friends no matter who will always think of each other as equals. Another thing is that no matter how far we are from each other we will always be connected in our hearts and memories.

The one thing that really stuck to me today was having a tour of pomona college the whole experience was hot but i liked the introduction of a different college. The tour of Pitzer and Pomona made me realize that there are a bunch of options of college’s i might want to go to. The tour guide really made me realize that even if you don’t come from a wealthy like mine if you work had and look for different scholarships you can do whatever you want.

When Auntie Sisquoc came to show us how to make A basket from deer grass, she made me feel more comfortable because i knew her from sherman and would go work with her in Clarke center, but i had never learned to make a basket. At first my basket was turning into a cup shape; so i restarted about three times when i realized that i just had to use my hands to try to mold the basket in to a flatter then round it.                                                                                 

soooooo thinking about going home pains me but i’m glad to get away from all these chilren….. just kidding. I met so many positive people and i’ve seen my peers open up to one another and that brings joy to me. just thinking about how two weeks ago we had no idea who each other was and now we are all joking together and feel comfortable to express themselves. This program gave us the opportunity to learn how to live our life with passion and how to navigate college as an indigenous student. I also learned things about my self here and i believe that i’m leaving her with a better understanding of my path and how i want to walk down that road. I was grateful to have been able to get in touch with my musical side which I think has been oppressed for a while now. Meeting people who bring out the things you truly want to do is what i found in those i met. when we visited the chumash village the most beautiful moments was sitting the siliq for until the sun went down singing song and feeling the energy of the fire with people I had such a good time with. this program has been a very deep experience for me and i’m glad my last summer in high school was so fun

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.

Andrew H.

7/17/18

Free Write

When I first came to NY2C, I was kinda shy, and didn’t really want to meet anyone. I felt lost, because I was in a new area, and didn’t know anyone. I also didn’t want to meet my roommate,Because It would be weird, getting to know him., Few days past and I was really hanging with my brother, the whole time until I got used to everyone. Then a couple days past I find out my roommate Is really smart and a cool guy.

Staying at Pitzer in a dorm, is really cool, It prepares me, when I actually go to college. When I’m there the college treats you with a lot of freedom, and pretty much they treat you like a adult. what I have learned over the past few days is being  responsible, and acting mature Like im responsible to get to my next class on time. washing my own cloths, And I have to act mature Because i’m already a young adult, Im not going to go climb or be loud around other dorms. That what I learned over the past few days.

Coming into the last week it’s been a tough transition in terms of resting and engaging myself. Being a part of this program for the past three years has brought me to the conclusion of appreciating my family heritage and traditions, from these three years it has been very repetitive and continuing to reassure myself. During this summer I have been academically challenged in a college classroom setting so coming into this program it has introduced me relief, calmness, and excitement. Since I missed most of the activities one thing that I have enjoyed is Mayan math, shout out to Santos for having an amazing energy it low key reminds me of my father’s energy. He’s taught me the traditional ceremonies that takes place and the roles that take part in conducting the ceremony, as well as going briefly about the Mayan calendar and how to calculate it. Thank you to everyone that has made this program positive!!.

The last few days we have been doing a lot of activities. One Of my favorite activities was the “native portrait photoshop project.” I liked how we all took turns taking the photos, directing, and being the “documentarian.” I also really liked the basket weaving because it’s always a good skill to know how to do, so I have a little bowl to hold change or any other small objects. My most favorite was going to limuw Island. It was very beautiful, I really liked snorkeling, and being in the beach, it was a good way to bond with everyone that went, and I seen some animals up close that I have never seen before. (Dolphins, a blue whale, and a bunch of different fish)

The past few days have been completely jam-packed with discussions and activities. Ever since we came back from Wishtoyo, we have been exposed to many things to keep us on our feet. Because of that I am a couple of blog posts behind from being so busy but I’ll update that soon. I personally love when we join together in our talking circles. It allows for all of us to open up to each other and gain new understandings. In a discussion we had with Auntie Julia yesterday, we discussed what are ancestors left to us and what we can leave for future generations. My ancestors left for me my culture which makes me. They left me their wisdom and strength to carry his power I possess and grow to spread my knowledge. For future generations I hope to leave my knowledge and past experiences. I hope to grow wise and fufill my duty on this earth. I hope to always be remembered and leave a lasting impact on many. We also were able to connect through basket weaving and a drum circle with Auntie Josie. Basket weaving brought back good memories of the past. It was so interesting seeing how all of our baskets turned out so unique like each one of us. The drum circle was one of my favorite activities throughout the program. We were able to unite through songs and the energy throughout that night was special. Throughout these past couple of days we also toured both the pitzer and pomona campuses. I’ve toured both before however this time I gained more information which eased my nerves regarding the transition from high school to college since I will be starting my senior year this fall.