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Come in a Good Way
I have often said that as a teacher and professor, I have learned far more from the people I have had the privilege to teach than I could ever have taught them. One of my core beliefs about teaching is that to be a great teacher, I need to be a great learner. When I was a PK-12 school leader, I would be invited to present throughout the country, and often, to work extensively over time with schools and school districts.
At one point, I was privileged to work with the Navajo Nation in the Four Corners region of the Southwest for an extended period. Unquestionably, my opportunity to learn, to receive the wisdom of the elders, was profound and life changing. This was, for me, the beginning of a journey to better understand and extend respect to the native peoples of this land.
When I was considering the opportunity to come to CSUCI, my research led naturally to our relationship with the Chumash. I could see from photographs that the sacred mountain, Sat’wiwa, rose above the west side of campus, and I read about the restoration projects in which the campus was engaged. I learned that President Richard Yao, CI’s fourth president, enjoyed a unique relationship with and respect for the Chumash. I knew this was a place I could call home.
On Thursday, August 17, 2023, President Yao delivered his speech at CSUCI 2023-2024 President’s Convocation. He concluded his remarks with this acknowledgement and story:
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And in this spirit [of care], I close this address with recognition and appreciation for the Chumash and their ancestral lands, which now nourish this university and its people. It’s important to me and I believe it’s important for everyone here to actively work at being good partners with Native American and indigenous communities in our region…
And my thoughts return often, in this context of trying to do better, to something that the Chair of the Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians, Matthew Vestuto, shared with members of the [CSUCI] Chumash Advisory Council.
Chair Vestuto shared that in earlier times, when the Chumash people would gather…a leader would hold a staff that signified great meaning. It moved me deeply to imagine all of us standing beside that Chumash leader, sharing in the knowledge that where the staff is touching the earth is the point of feeling for Hutash, or Mother Earth. And, sharing in the understanding that for that moment, it signifies the center of our world. And here we are on the very same land and it’s inspiring to consider us joined together at this point of feeling for Hutash.
I’m further inspired by the idea, that for the Chumash, this place of feeling has a correlative in our pash, that is in our individual hearts and minds…I believe most of us need to feel connected and that we want good things for each other, as well as for ourselves.
I want to quote Dr. Raudel Bañuelos [CSUCI’s Chumash Cultural Advisor], who says, “Come in a good way.” And I hope we’re all coming in a good way today. If you believe that, too, I ask you to hold precious in your mind the staff of Hutash and our individual attachment of hearts and minds to it, connecting us to one another, to this land, and to all the worlds.
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As we leave summer behind and enter the autumn season, I invite you to consider how your pash—your heart and mind—connects to Mother Earth and to those whose lives you touch. Let us come in a good way every time we meet.
Kaqinaš, thank you,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth C. Orozco Reilly
President Yao shared the Chumash story with Matthew Vestuto’s permission. Click here to learn more about the work of the CSUCI Chumash Advisory Council and its initiatives to create a Cultural Resources Management Team, to secure federal funding to be used toward developing a Native American and indigenous studies curriculum, and to form affinity groups for students, faculty, and staff.
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