Today I watched a movie called Spirit Games: Pride of a Nation. It was a movie about an Indigenous nation and it’s passion for the sport of Lacrosse. Although it was a movie about sports, it was way more than that. To me the movie meant community and love for one another. Throughout the movie the Indigenous nation maintained community and communication which helped the Lacrosse team win games. This movie really moved me because it showed how the nation is respected as a sovereign nation, which is something that many other nations struggle with.
Ansel’s back at pitzer
One of the best parts about being back at Pitzer has to be being able to shower. I was a little mad that we didn’t get to go shower as soon as we got back to Pitzer but I am still grateful for being able to wash the dirt 3 day old dirt off my body. When I woke up this morning I was extremely tired but indigenous games woke me right up as it always does. We received a great presentation from Pomona admissions office about the common app and becoming familiar with the different parts of the application. My favorite part about today was when Tata Vicente was telling us a story and about mid way through he stopped an called for the humming birds and about a minute later 3 humming birds appeared, this blew my mind. Then when we sang a Women honoring song I really put my heart into it and prayed for all my sisters, mothers and tias that our struggling. So I really felt that song was necessary.
WHEYAHH HUITZILIN
Today was a whoop of fun and randomness for some reason. This morning we started with Indigenous games and we played the flower wars and that was a lot of fun, the whole time I was laughing just because of how my peers were getting into the game so much and really participating. Then we had a woman’s drum circle which was an empowering, emotional, and the greatest moment of my day. We sang various traditional and sacred songs for example: the hummingbird song (which was everyone’s favorite), the bear song touched me to the heart and after leaving the circle I feel positive and ready to continue the program and end it in a good weyaa hay weyaah hay ho.
Diego’s back at Pitzer
Waking up back in a comfy bed raised up three feet from the ground feels a bit disconnected. Especially after waking up by crawling out of a sleeping bag, watching the sunset while standing around the siliyc and with the Wumalibu ocean view. However, there were moments that made it cheerful to be back at pitzer, such as indigenous games. Today we got to play flower wars against each other, testing our strategies and teamwork. Afterwards we got to speak with admissions about what they look for in an application. I feel more confident on how my application will be summited this Fall/Winter.
Johanna – Back to Reality
Arriving back from a place that I never wanted to leave was a downer, but I make the best out of everyday. We had a workshop with Ben Florio, who taught us the different ways composers edit music into movies, televisions shows, and video games. I was mostly excited to have the opportunity to play the game of Flower Wars, taught to us by Hector and John Pacheco. This game is very similar to capture the flag, the way we had to organize ourselves and strategize to win the game. In order to have a successful round of Flower Wars there has to be so much communication with each other and know how to play respectfully instead of just playing to win.
The most exciting portion of the day was when the youth of the Native Youth to College Program separate into two different circles; male and female. In our women circle we were introduced to Aunty Josie, you shared so many songs with us from the Chumash nation, Apachi nation, and Navajo nation. The way every single young lady, raised there voice and sang with so much pride was so powerful and inspiring. So powerful that we even came into one of our classrooms where all the men were and demonstrated how much powerful each one of us had inside of us. What was so amazing and meaningful to me was when I heard that Aunty Josie was from the Yaqui nation as I am. She taught what was so sacred to our people and their medicine, as for other nations it might be sage, but in my nation it is flowers, specifically roses. She shared with me that she was not fluent in our language, but did teach me how to say hello everyone and how I can search online or in books about my culture. I could not stop smiling after meeting this inspiring and beautiful human being.
always happy, Johanna Osuna
Average Day – Coyotl
Being back was a bit of a relief. My charger and phone were reunited and everything was good again. The next morning was Indigenous games with Hector and John. It was very fun playing the flower game and corroborating with my team. Then was writing a lot of boring stuff. Then we had aztec math with vicente outside. We had sleep time from 2:15 to 5:45 to catch up and rest from Wishtoyo. The talking circle was very interesting and then i am here blogging. Thats pretty much it.
Benjamin is back Pitzer!!
Being back at Pitzer is nice but I miss Wishtoyo. We started off the morning with Hector and John, we all played the best game in the world. The game was a good way to start off the morning. I had a good time with Shelva with writing. Aztec math was once again the best activity, Vincente has so much knowledge to teach us and we love to hear his words. I had such a great day back at Pitzer.
nativeyouth2college.org 