Móomat Medicine

Móomat Medicine is a short film made by Payómkawichum film makers and their beloved kin on their Homelands and Homewaters.

This film stars Reg Macarro, a Payómkawish Surfer. He learns the ocean’s currents, while navigating being the only Payómkawish waterman in the line up. We follow his journey from the inland Reservations to coast to the heart of the ocean

To surf waves you need to know the ocean. The tides, winds, swells, and seasons all come into play. One must come to a deep relationship with the sand, the kelp, the reef and especially the rocks. Just like gathering acorns, weaving baskets, or learning to dance…

Hele Nālu -as the Hawaiians call it-wave riding is a cultural practice. Alóomaki Qálli immerses us in the smallness and immensity of life. It is medicine.

We are ocean people. We always have been. Our grandparents' enslavement in the mission system and displacement to the reservation system led to our people being cut off from their traditional mountain-to-river-to-ocean travel. This violence has led to many California Native people feeling uncomfortable or unsafe in the water. But Móomat (Ocean) has memory.

Our songs tell us that when we die, we go Mómyuk Po$úunuk or to the heart of the ocean. We surf to heal our own cultural trauma and our canoe culture as a people.

Móomat Medicine shows us that we can return to her. A shift in where we live doesn’t take away who we are. We know the water. She is big enough to hold us all.

Starring: Reg Macarro

Directed by: Alexis Munoa Dyer

Written by: Reg Macarro, Alexis Munoa Dyer

Produced by: Alexis Munoa Dyer, Andrew Dyer, Reg Macarro

Camera: Banna Bazzarie, Alexis Munoa Dyer, Andrew Dyer, Reg Macarro

Editing: Andrew Dyer

Coloring: Andrew Dyer, Banna Bazzarie

Post production: Andrew Dyer

Music: Andrew Dyer, Alexis Munoa Dyer

Sound Design: Andrew Dyer