Blog

1. I made two of the crafts. I made a necklace made out of the bark off of a branch called dogbane. That was the chain part of the necklace and for the jewel part i created  a shape with a colorful shell and i sanded it and i made it look shiny with water sand paper. Another thing I made was a clapper out of a piece of wood.  I enjoyed making those traditional things. Learning how to make a piece of art from another culture i guess you could say was an amazing experience. I hope to have many more experiences with different tribes.

2. The teachings i related to most would be the way they enter there sacred land you have to honor you tribe when you walk on it. I related to that most because in every sacred land you kind of have to honor your land it a thing that doesn’t have to be spoken i think.

3. My favorite cultural experience the entire trip was when we were telling stories around the camp fire.

At last, yesterday morning we arrived at Wishtoyo. We were greeted with a small ceremony which led to a big one, and every person involved was excited and somewhat anxious for the day. After the ceremony, we all got right to the crafts. Mati hyped me up by showing me the staff he created with burned on prints via magnifying glass. I immediately knew what I was going to spend time on that day. I chose a dog bane stick and proceeded to splitting/shaving. Once sanded down, I asked Mati for his magnifying kit and sat in the blistering sun for a solid hour. I felt the beauty of taking time on an object that contains meaning. This clapper stick will be the entity in which thousands of memories and prayers will be brought with me back home. When people ask me about the stick’s story, I will share with them the process of creation through the reality of transformation. The dog bane stick, like all other life forms, contains a spirit which I believe can be morphed. I didn’t make the stick, I simply shaped it. Now, the stick will shape my life. Simply by taking time on it, wielding it, and loving it, the path of my life has been altered.

Aho

On the day we left campus, I woke up at 4 in the morning to get ready.  I was excited and cranky at the same time.  I was worried about not using any of my electronic devices for the two days but once I got there, it felt as though I was at home in a different environment.  Although it doesn’t make sense in what my emotions attachment to that place was, it was an incredible experience.  When I heard we are doing some abalone pendants, it reminded me of my great uncle.  He does those pendents so impeccably that if attempted to duplicate, it will come out differently than the actual product.  I don’t know how many times he’s done those magnificent pieces of tapestry but he seems as though he’s done it thousands after thousands of times.  There are no words to describe my attempt into doing those pendent except terrible.  My piece seem as though they were scribbled on there by my baby brother.  Maybe Joel could even do better than me.  I don’t mean to criticize myself but Id rather be honest to myself.  I tip my off to you Uncle Ervin. (If that is, you’re reading this)

During a ceremony, Montie made an eloquent speech of this world’s turn to becoming more modern.  There are barely any people that actually respect the environment and habitats of animals.  Sure there are people that make some sort of an effort into making the world healthier and a better place to live in but our airs are still polluted and animals’ habitats being destroyed by lack of water and fires and demolition for commands of more housing and so on.  There are various of things people can change to make things slow down but the damage has been done and the Earth has been affected devastatingly enough.  That little inspirational speech made me realize the reality of this sort of thing but that doesn’t mean our culture can die along with this event.  We can still keep out Native culture alive and stop dwelling on the past.

I love last night’s story telling because no matter how much Montie tried to make his story seem scary and true, most  of us were laughing…. especially me.  I didn’t find any of those stories scary except Pedro’s if he actually told the scary version.  He thought the details of contents were too “scary” for all of us.  Oh well.

1. At Wishtoyo I was making a bracelet with an abalone bead and dog bane? but I didn’t finish it because it took too long. The experience was fun but it took too much patience to finish so I stopped making it.
2. The thing I really paid attention to last night was when the elders were saying that they are expecting us to help our communities when we’re older and we need to keep our traditions going in our tribes. That made me realize that it is going to be up to us to learn our traditions and teach it when we are older.
3. My favorite cultural experience was last night when we were in the arbor talking or morning ceremony this morning and all the hugs. The flood song still needs improvement, yesterday it was too slow, we’ll get it right haha. This morning I almost cried when we left because I won’t be coming back next year, I’m happy to say I didn’t, but I probably will before we leave to the airport.
4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mediacommunity/19743033128/

Me in a dress:0 never again just kidding but I probably won’t wear one again anytime soon. I look kinda mad but it was just bright.

When I was at Wishtoyo I made a anklet bracelet and a necklace but sadly I left it there. I really enjoy making the necklace even though it was hard and long process. The teaching or lessons that relate more to me was learning about someone else culture and the respect for someone else.My favorite cultural experience was the entire trip over there learning new songs.

1) At Wishtoyo I made an abalone necklace. It took almost 3 hours to finally get it finished, but it was totally worth it because its beautiful and it will be a souvenir of the village forever. I loved the time making it, from peeling the bark from the branch, to sanding down the abalone shell. I’m looking forward to keeping it for a very long time and remembering the Chumash People and the time I spent at the village. ❤

2) What stuck with me the most is when all of the elders had referred us to the future generation, the future leaders. Its true, it made me think of how much we can change the future. With our youth and determination, we can change how things are today, for the better. Like bringing the artifacts in the museums home to where they belong. We will grow up to make a difference because we are the future generation and the future leaders of the Indigenous People.

3) I loved the whole entire time at WIshtoyo. I loved making the necklace, seeing the beautiful view from the beach, swimming, sitting around the fire and telling stories, singing, dancing, bonding, and even though the aps had a lot of ants, its still cool and a great experience sleeping in them. My absolutely favorite cultural experience of the trip would have to be making the necklace. Learning the new skill and how their people strip bark compared to how we do up north was amazing. ❤ ❤

1) I made a clapper? I don’t think that is what they’re called. I also made an abalone necklace. The dogbane rope I made I used it to make an anklet. The experience was great because I was doing very well at the start. I’m able to learn quickly. Bingo also told us how he used the clapper sticks in Canada, about how important events like a wedding day or big events. 

2) The teaching I have learned is mostly from the elders how they told their creation story different from other tribes. I also learned how important ceremony is that we don’t always need a phone. 

3) The entire trip I liked how I learned more about how long it took to create Wishtoyo Village. My favorite experience was being around other people learning how to make crafts everyone seemed to have a great time. \

I am looking forward to the rest of the week. I’m waiting on the return of our college essay class papers to be returned. I didn’t try my hardest on the assignment but it was an important story to me. I am also looking forward to graduation I bought a white dress(probably going to get dirty). The only thing I’m not looking forward to is saying goodbye but goodbyes are never ment to say goodbye forever more like see you in the future. I am excited to see what the future brings to me because I want to be in business and maybe one day own my own business here in California.

Picture by me :]

Another great experience in the books! From Pitzer College to Wishtoyo, Malibu. I feel so grateful for the elders who shared their wisdom, the teachers who encouraged me to further my education to college, and the people who provided for me. I got to create my own clapper which i burned and painted myself. That were used for ceremonial songs and dances. I was able to go and enjoy the beach and touch the cold water. Got hit with a couple waves. At the end of the day we sat by a fire with elders and shared each others voices, songs, dances, stories & together we shared memories. By the end of midnight we slept in aps and feel asleep to the warmth of the fire. The next morning we woke up to the sunrise and had their traditional ceremony. I loved it. I felt so much love from the Chumash people. Being able to enjoy our day with them, opened my eyes to be grateful and love each other and take risks. Wish I could’ve stayed longer. Represented my tribe Standing Rock Sioux and also my school Sherman Indian as Royalty. Hopefully next year I’ll recruit others to attend! I know I had a great memories in such short time. But we had to say our “Seen you Soon” because we never say goodbye. Thank You.

1) At Wishtoyo, I made a clapper stick, It was fun stripping the bark off of the stick and hollowing the stick out. I also enjoyed getting to know some of the mentors and students.

2) Some teachings that I related to the most was serving you elders first, or serving your elders, also before you enter the floor of a longhouse, or a dance floor, you would take your ancestors with you. It is shown that you are doing this when you lift your hand and turning in a circle before entering.

3) My favorite cultural experience was seeing how Mati gave tobacco to the four directions as an offering. I liked this experience because it really related to how when our tribe catches a salmon. After we would catch and eat the salmon, we would place the bones in the water, because that fish gave itself to us for nourishment so we place it back in the water, so the fish will keep coming back, or so I heard from a family member.

4) This is a really self explanatory picture of myself lol I had a really great time at the beach and I hope I get accepted back next year 🙂

1) I did my best to make the dog bane rope, but I just don’t have the patience for it. It was too little and too fragile for me. Instead I made a hummingbird pendant out of abalone. It was hard because I didn’t know what to make before I made it into a hummingbird. That was pretty fun because the abalone has to speak to you with what it wants to become. In my case, a hummingbird. I also made a wansak which is a clapper stick made of elderberry. I thoroughly enjoy making those because because they’re not fragile and they’re quite simple to make. The only hard part about making them is what designs you want to put on it.
2) Everything resonated with me because they’re the teachings of my people. I love my uncles, aunties, and elders that are able to teach me these things. I’m very grateful these traditions are able to be passed down. So very grateful. I was home where I can learn everything best.

3) My favorite cultural experience was seeing my culture flourishing within other natives. I’m ecstatic and so grateful that we’re able to share these traditions. There aren’t words in the entire dictionary that could describe how grateful and happy I am about Humliwu (Hoo-mali-woo). The village of Malibu. I was able to spend time with my mom and my sister which I haven’t been able to do for more than a week. It was a most excellent and bodacious time. I love Wishtoyo, my family, my culture, Uncle Mati, Auntie Luhui, and all the elders. Thank you so much for all you’ve done.