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Our last few days together, can you believe it…. It seems like yesterday we just started unpacking but the truth is we ROCKED OUT yesterday at the pool PARTY and learned so much with Paul and The Grand Oak Tree, which was nothing that I had expected at all, it actually reminded me that in the midst of all the corrupted government and violence in today’s society there can be peace and we can stand firmly and be grow strong with others, and The Oak Tree reminds me how we can stand together as one and support each other. Also Adelina Cadilla shared her story with us this morning and i thank her for it, She is an amazing women and I respect her.

Yesterday was fun because we got to go travel to Pechanga and visit the great oak and learn about the trees history and the tribes history. Shout out to Paul Macarro for showing us around. Then, we drove to Dr. Rega’s house and had a pool party which was absolutely fun and i think we all had a great time cooling off. When we came back to Pitzer we had a class with Deron Marquez he taught us about tribal government which gave me a lot of information to learn from. Today, when everyone woke up and went to ceremony Adelina Padilla spoke to us and her story was really touching deep down because she went though so much but she is a strong women and i respect that because sometimes people think they have it bad when in reality someone else always has it worse. I’m excited for right now to see the cadavers

I loved going to Pechanga. It was great seeing the cove after the Pechanga youth program had ended. We did so much there, it was amazing to just look at the Kiisha’s and remember how much work had to be put in to make it. I almost couldn’t contain myself when Paul told the story of the Seven Sisters and I had already known it and, ironically told Kayleen a moment before at the cove.

Watching the films Alcatraz is Not An Island and Reel Injun were great, I will have to get those movies and watch them again once this program is over.

The elders we are meeting here are fantastic, it’s such an honor for them to share their time and stories with us.

A LOT has happened in the past few days, we had lots of fun. we went to the Pachanga Reservation and we had the honor of being able to see the Great Oak Tree and it was so inspiring to just be there, i definitely learned more the essence of miracles, Thank You Paul for showing us around and giving us that special honor 🙂 We were also visited by an elder named Adelina Padilla who was such an inspiration to me because of how she can share her story and still be so strong about life and never having expressing or even giving that thought of hopelessness. Love You Adelina!!

              On Tuesday, we watched Reel Injun, I really thought that the ideas and ways of the people back then were just a disgrace. On how they used to treat and describe the stereotypes of us. The part of the movie that got me mad was when they had all the kids in a camp wearing paint on there face. they called themselves the “Sioux” tribe which i think is not only disrespectful to to the tribe but also to all native americans. I just thank all the ancestors for let me be in this “free” world today and allowing me to have more opportunities.

Yesterday we went to Pechanga. I was super excited because I am part of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians. We had a tour guide named Paul Macarro. He showed us the Great Oak tree and it was beautiful. I had never seen it before so seeing it for the first time was amazing. After we went to Dr. Rega’s house for a pool party. It was really nice of her to open her house to us and cook us great food. I had fun swimming with my friends too. This morning we had a special ceremony. Adelina Cadilla came and spoke to us. She told us her story, it was kind of sad but yet very powerful. She spoke to us about the things she went through in her life. Yet she always had hope and never gave up. It inspired me to always appreciate the things in my life and my family. It also inspired me to have hope in everything no matter what.

Yesterday we went to the Pechanga cultural center, it was nice and very cool inside. our tour guide was Paul, he gave us a tour around the great oak, it seems that she was 900 to 1200 years old, the trunk is 10 ft below the surface, and small baby trees were growing around her. After experiencing a wonderful miracle, we drove to a summer campsite where we went into an actual sweat lodge, it was small on the outside but it was big in the inside and we were sweating a bit. After we were done we traveled to a friends house and went swimming and had BBQ. “IT WAS THE BEST DAY EVER”, but when we were about to head back I hit my head hard against the door of one the vans, I had a huge headache throughout the whole ride home But it was fun. XD XD XD XD XD XD