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It feels like I haven’t blogged in a while. And just to catch you up we all went to Wishtoyo which is a Chumash village in Malibu, California. I have been there before for previous ceremonies. Each time I visit I feel so welcomed and loved. This time wasn’t different, as soon as we arrived we were welcomed with elders singing a song. This filled my heart. I began to bottle up mounts of excitement. As soon as we stepped out of the car we were given hugs left and right and meeting new faces and reconnecting with the news we knew. Then we went into the round house and Mati gave a really powerful and encouraging talk to us, youth. He discussed that life has challenges, lessons and blessings. All of this really stood out to me and made me feel powerful. We all sang a song and gave hugs to each other. Then we had a little lesson with Ray and Sue which was over ocean life and issues. Afterwards we went down to the water which was so refreshing and so surreal. At that moment I knew I was in the right place with the right people. Everything just felt balances. As the day went on at Wistoyo it kept building up happiness. Later that night I went down to the round house just to settle my sleeping bag down and I saw some girls in a circle singing each and every voice was so unique and different from the next. I followed my heart and jumped in. Which is something I would never do, and something I would never feel comfortable doing. But this was just living in the moment.

Overall I feel incredible honored to be at Wishtoyo.

Thank you.

I enjoyed my stay at Wishtoyo. I loved being around such wise and experienced and understanding elders. The highlight of my stay at Wishtoyo was having a men’s circle. I am going to be very honest and say that I thought that it was going to be very boring and uninteresting. But when it all finished I walked out of the circle a new person and many of my perspectives were changed about a variety of different things. It brought a lot of joy to stay at Wishtoyo and I hope to visit again soon.

I really enjoyed the trip to Wishtoyo, it made a really big impact on my emotions and my perspectives. I felt like I was in a really bad mood before I came but as soon as I got there, it felt okay to be want to be alone, and it also felt okay to be with other people which made my mood improved so much. I feel like I learned a lot about myself on the trip. I really loved the way that we grew closer as a group and I loved the comfort I felt there. The hike that we took was amazing, even though it was really hot; the trees were different than home and that was something that I loved to observe. It was my first time experiencing the woman’s ceremony, and I took a lot from it. Hearing everyone’s words and prayers were so empowering and inspiring and it was just an amazing experience.

My biggest take-away from the experience was that I need to find strength, passion, love, and myself to be a better person and that’s something I will constantly work on for as long as I need to. I felt a lot better on Limuw Island than anywhere else because there I wasn’t worried about my phone, I wasn’t worried about my personal  issues…. I wasn’t worried about anything other than the moment I was in. I felt so amazing. I learned a lot but I can’t put it into words, sorry. bye.

It was the best feeling to be back at home. It was so hard to leave my favorite place in the world. However it was nice to be able to take a shower and get really clean after a nice long week away from everything. It was wonderful to see my Tia and Tio after not seeing them for like six months. Everything we did was so much fun and had sacredness at the same time. It helped me get a lot closer with some of the students, I’d never imagine being that close with. I am at loss for words when it comes to try to explain the wonderful experience with all the people. All in all I don’t think it could’ve been any better than it was.

It was my first time going to the island, and I was unbelievably excited. The Chumash village and the island felt like home because I also come from the coast but up north. So going on the boat to get there and camping on the island came natural to me. I am so grateful for Luhui, Ray, Uncle Johnny, and Nana. Im also so thankful that Mati, Auntie Sue, Auntie Georgie, Babe, and the rest of my Chumash family shared their culture and showed me so much love. Making a gord and a necklace to keep, was so fun. I’m going to take the love and the memory of how homie I felt at Wishtoyo. Im also gonna take the prayers and the words from the women ceremony and keep them in my heart. From Limuw, I’m going to take the image of all the ancestral sites and the image of the sun shining behind the hills and mountains. When I ran on the island with Edgar, I felt like my spirit was free and I’m going to hold that with me forever also. Wishtoyo is my second home, and the Chumash people are my family.

Well, i’ve been to Wishtoyo and Limuw and to be completely honest, i feel more at peace with myself. i don’t feel trapped in society anymore even though that’s exactly what i am. society. i feel less stressed and more powerful. it was amazing to see my aunts uncles, grandparents, cousins and mom welcoming us into the village. i say that if you forget what day it is, you’re spending your time perfectly. And that’s what happened. every day i’d hear “WHAT DAY IS IT?! SATURDAY??” i felt love and happiness and i’m so grateful to have spent it with these amazing people. we’ve honestly connected in a way that i can’t describe without crying. We’ve all been through a lot together, as one, that’s what makes us special. So at Wishtoyo, my take-away would be seeing the world with a third eye. A way of learning and living that no one else would understand. i still feel like i’m there.for Limuw, probably how it’s not bad to show your culture. NEVER! because “From the moment we are born and out of the womb, we scream and cry. and that is the sound of freedom.” Matt has a beautiful way with words. my god…sometimes it shocks me to know that i can call him family. I’m grateful… so with that, good night. and remember, i will always pledge allegiance to my culture!

My third and last time at Wishtoyo was very different this year than the last two years. I learned more stuff and their culture. I’m gonna miss all the people because they treated me like their own family. Something that I liked was the women ceremony it really open my heart to the people. It was my first time experience something like this and I really liked it. I’m gonna everyone over there and going to the island. That was the highlight of my trip because I celebrated my birthday which made 10x better. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to come back and visit everyone!

-jess

Something that I took from our trip to the island of Limu was how deep of a connection I realized I have with people I would of considered strangers a couple days before. Something about the Island just brought us all much closer and really started up the fun for the rest of our time in this program. My biggest take away from our stay at Wishtoyo was something that uncle Johnny shared with me while we were in our mens ceremony. My biggest take away from being at the island of Limu was being able to discuss really important issues and being able to work on the youth declaration. Learning from both places felt very similar because everywhere that we stayed whether it was Wishtoyo or Limu I felt open to express myself and discussing issues one a very critical level with like minded individuals that I don’t think I would be able to do anywhere else.

I was so happy and excited to go to Wishtoyo and Limu, my homes away from home. I was ecstatic to see Mati, Luhui, my elders, and one of my favorite cousins, Sarah. They mean so much to me and I would do anything for them. My biggest “take away” from Wishtoyo is that I’m always loved and that I will return that love in whatever way I can. The amount of respect I have for them is endless. My “take away” from Limuw isn’t really a take away. It’s what I left. I left all of my prayers for my family and my ancestors on the island. Being able to see areas of the island I thought I’d never see was more than an honor. The things I learned from the island and Wishtoyo is that we all got to connect on a deeper level. They allowed us to form deeper bonds.