johannawinss 2017, Chumash, Native Culture, Telling Your Story, Wishtoyo Village

Johanna – Adventure in Paradise

After hearing so many stories from my friends experiences at Wishtoyo in Malibu, I could not believe that I would finally step on Chumash Village reservation. July 16, 2017 to July 18, 2017 were days to meet new people and connect with them, but also have a deeper connection with people I met on July 11, 2017. Arriving to Wishtoyo, with the sun being at its highest point, the wind blowing our hair and hearing the rattles and voices singing made me feel so welcomed and made me run and automatically hug everyone, filling up my heart with complete love and happiness. Throughout the weekend, we had different activities such as; sacred geometry with Uncle Joe, traditional crafts with Uncle Ray, traditional archery with Mati Waiya, women’s circle with Luhui Isha, climate change with Nicole and Kote, and we even had time to get surfing lessons at Zuma Beach. It is so amazing how we did all these different activities, but still had time to learn from each other and to admire the nature around us because most of us do not have the opportunity to see natural beauty at its finest. 

So thank you, thank you Mati for sharing your songs and culture with me and showing me a way to hunt our sacred animals that sacrifice their lives to keep ours going. Thank you, Luhui for teaching about the moon cycle every woman has each month, reminding that it is such a powerful time for us and that we should not see it as a punishment as most of us do and for taking such good care of me. Thank you grandma Georgie for sharing the wisdom story, being so funny and energetic was extremely beautiful to see in an elder. Thank you Mena for sharing the story about your people, how they crossed the rainbow bridge and how they had to work together. Thank you Nena and Sergio for being such amazing cooks, making me feel at home with my family with the delicious traditional foods that was provided to me. Thank you Lia for been a great conversationalist and listener with our conversations early in the morning while everyone is sleeping, you will be such a great mother to Mateo. Thank you Sarah for being an inspirational person and always giving people positive energy Thank you, Uncle Joe for being a great teacher and teaching me about something that I have never heard about, sacred geometry. Thank you Uncle Ray for helping me created a necklace or choker from only black string and one bead. Thank you Kote for being such a cool person that I related to so much and very quickly, just shouting out our stories to each other and giving each other such a positive vibe that both of us blew us away.

I could not believe the experience I had with these amazing peers, mentors and staff at such a beautiful place. 

always happy, Johanna Osuna

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zionra7 2017, Chumash, Native Culture, Wishtoyo Village

Wishtoyo zion

wishtoyo was great. as we arrived the Chumash people welcomed us with open arms and i greatly appreciate that. all the knowledge they trusted us with was life changing such as inviting me into his Temescal and the sacred geometry with tata Joe Clues. I had a great time talking to tata Joe Clue at the beach about music his art and his participation in the native american movement. had a great time with Mati he invited me into his Temescal i will never forget that. tata Candonache shared very sacred and dear knowledge about or people and i want to thank hims do much. i am so thankful to be there to celebrate nana julians birthday with her.

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vichacon 2017, Chumash, Native Culture, Wishtoyo Village

Violet’s Wishtoyo experience

For my first day at Wishtoyo we were welcomed with a great song that made us feel like family. We got to do activities like secret geometry, beading, and learning about high tides. I thought the secret geometry was really interesting because Joe taught us how to use geometry with art which was really cool because I love art and to see how to incorporate math with art stuck out to me. The beading we did was awesome because, we got to actually make the whole necklaces from scratch and we got to learn about the traditions of the chumash people and how they made jewelry. When we learned about the high tides it really shocked me because i was unaware of how serious the high tides are in the Wishtoyo village. I thought it was helpful that the chumash people educated all of us about all the high tides so we can take that information and tell others about it so more people are aware of the situation and how serious it is. The best part of the whole Wishtoyo trip I thought was getting to go to the beach and swim and learn how to surf. The beach was just so amazing and beautiful and it was a great way to bong with everyone.Screen Shot 2017-07-19 at 9.27.22 PM.pngScreen Shot 2017-07-19 at 9.34.30 PM.png