Ofrenda a Nuestro Océano Creador/Offering to Our Ocean Creator
Izel T.
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This summer I spent two weeks traveling the West Coast and camping in Kent, Washington as a student of the MLK Jr. Freedom Center on the To Us You Matter Civic Engagement Tour. After experiencing deep internal learning there, my mom and brother picked me up to go into Tacoma. One day we spent Tribal Canoe Journeys on the Muckleshoot reservation with my cousin. As she walking us to our car, she mentioned camping the next night in Oregon for a ceremony and invited me. Saying yes was one of the best spontaneous decisions I've made. On this trip, I was privileged with the opportunity to experience my Indigenous and Chicana culture meaningfully and how it’s sustained through Aztec dance and Chicana scholars like my cousin, Mayelli. The early morning drive from Tacoma to Cape Lookout directly on the Oregon Coast served as a meaningful, bonding moment for Mayelli and I as we discussed the past two weeks, her life as an Indigenous STEM student in Seattle, and social issues we've analyzed in the world we navigate. At the beach, I felt the community of Danza Azteca and that part of her community. After a night of special moments and sleeping with the Pacific Ocean, I captured this intergenerational moment of Mayelli being cleansed with copal by an Indigenous healer. I’m grateful to have had this opportunity to embrace family and culture profoundly and freshly. This moment captures the lifetime of dedication Mayelli has put to dancing and cultural survival.
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To e, creativity is honesty. In our society, we're taught to put up facades and engage in dishonest, soulless practices like materialism and consumerism. True creativity to me, is returning to what is honest and human, whatever that means for the artist. Creativity is emotional.
