Paxiiwovem Canoe Journey 2019-2020
Donation protected
Support Paxiiwovem (Redwinged Blackbird) Intertribal Canoe Family!
The Paxiiwovem Canoe Family is an intertribal collective made up of both the Tongva peoples of the Los Angeles Basin and Southern California Islands and Indigenous peoples from many nations, pulling together water, prayer, and art. We add to the re-membering of the Tongva peoples. Together we carry the canoe to the ocean. We are the Redwinged Blackbird Intertribal Canoe Family.
We are making preparations for Tribal Canoe Journey 2020 in Canada, an important annual spiritual journey and ceremony for all of us to re-member who we are, through prayer, song, language, and ceremony. 2020 will be our 5th year participating in the canoe journey. We have built two canoes and launched them in previous years with great success and crossed over to Canada B.C. waters from Washington State. We launched our `Iitar (Coyote) canoe in 2016, which was only the 2nd canoe in 200 years in a practice that has been sleeping and waiting for our people to awaken and return with her to our Ocean relatives. We do this to honor our ancestors, to recognize our continued presence as Indigenous peoples relating to our land and water in sacred ways through ceremony, and for our 7th generation to know who they are and where they come from so they can keep these ways alive and going strong in the future.
WHAT YOUR DONATIONS WILL SUPPORT
Our Paxiiwovem Intertribal Canoe Family has struggled in the past to participate as fully as we would like in the canoe journey because we haven't been able to secure a safety boat due to a lack of funding. This is always a priority every year including 2020. Safety boats are important because we are on the open ocean with much larger vessels, and sometimes strong winds or currents can pick up out of nowhere. The journey takes place in territories where water temperatures can be dangerously cold should the canoe flip and people have to tread water for even a few moments. There is a great risk of injury, dehydration, hypothermia and drowning on the open ocean, and every canoe typically has a safety boat in case of emergency. So our sailboat will travel alongside the canoe for the safety of our intertribal family that includes elders and children. The sailboat will require gas, so any donations toward this and the associated rental cost will be most welcomed. We are blessed to already have a highly experienced person to command the safety boat who will be on this journey with us. The safety boat will run about $3000 (gas, boat, transporting boat to water).
Every year our canoe family grows, and we welcome new relatives along the way. We know more folks will be attending this year, possibly more than 25 total, so we seek help with crowdfunding to make sure all can travel in a good way and feel supported and safe, including many people who could not afford to come otherwise. Your donations will be used to support feeding our people and travel costs so we can get them there and back. Our family journeys together, we move thru the waters as a people. We hope to provide $3000 in 2020 for food and travel to offset people’s personal costs.
All your financial donations will reach beyond into the future. These are investments in our communities and the revitalization of these traditional ways. Your donations will be used beyond this year’s immediate costs as well. Every year there are mechanical repairs that are an investment in the continuation of this important spiritual work. This year we anticipate a few repairs for our trailer. We also continue to vision the repairs and modifications for our travel bus that we’ll need down the road as well including possible conversions to more sustainable fuel source.
Our canoe `Iitar (Coyote) and canoe paddles must always be kept in good shape. This includes bumper seats and bumpers to bring the canoe about, sandbags, plus paddle making and repair costs- these all add up and we truly hope to help cut down costs for those who continue to donate their time and money to all aspects of what it takes each year to make the journey happen in a good way.
In all, we have focused our fundraising on about $20,000 for 2019-20. In 2018-19 we managed to raise a good part of what was needed, but our bigger vision of our $20,000 total will ensure that our organizers do not have to continue to contribute as much out of pocket.
Please help our Tongva people and Indigenous relatives on this journey towards cultural renewal and revitalization. If you live in Los Angeles and So Cal you may consider that Tongva people have been our hosts for hundreds of years and have asked very little. Now is the time for us to give back to our relatives, to help them and to help us all to return to the land and ocean in a sacred way in the `Iitar canoe. Support Paxiiwovem family and iitar journey today and honor the true landlords of Los Angeles. Please support, tell your friends about this opportunity to give back, and thank you in advance.
The Paxiiwovem Canoe Family is an intertribal collective made up of both the Tongva peoples of the Los Angeles Basin and Southern California Islands and Indigenous peoples from many nations, pulling together water, prayer, and art. We add to the re-membering of the Tongva peoples. Together we carry the canoe to the ocean. We are the Redwinged Blackbird Intertribal Canoe Family.
We are making preparations for Tribal Canoe Journey 2020 in Canada, an important annual spiritual journey and ceremony for all of us to re-member who we are, through prayer, song, language, and ceremony. 2020 will be our 5th year participating in the canoe journey. We have built two canoes and launched them in previous years with great success and crossed over to Canada B.C. waters from Washington State. We launched our `Iitar (Coyote) canoe in 2016, which was only the 2nd canoe in 200 years in a practice that has been sleeping and waiting for our people to awaken and return with her to our Ocean relatives. We do this to honor our ancestors, to recognize our continued presence as Indigenous peoples relating to our land and water in sacred ways through ceremony, and for our 7th generation to know who they are and where they come from so they can keep these ways alive and going strong in the future.
WHAT YOUR DONATIONS WILL SUPPORT
Our Paxiiwovem Intertribal Canoe Family has struggled in the past to participate as fully as we would like in the canoe journey because we haven't been able to secure a safety boat due to a lack of funding. This is always a priority every year including 2020. Safety boats are important because we are on the open ocean with much larger vessels, and sometimes strong winds or currents can pick up out of nowhere. The journey takes place in territories where water temperatures can be dangerously cold should the canoe flip and people have to tread water for even a few moments. There is a great risk of injury, dehydration, hypothermia and drowning on the open ocean, and every canoe typically has a safety boat in case of emergency. So our sailboat will travel alongside the canoe for the safety of our intertribal family that includes elders and children. The sailboat will require gas, so any donations toward this and the associated rental cost will be most welcomed. We are blessed to already have a highly experienced person to command the safety boat who will be on this journey with us. The safety boat will run about $3000 (gas, boat, transporting boat to water).
Every year our canoe family grows, and we welcome new relatives along the way. We know more folks will be attending this year, possibly more than 25 total, so we seek help with crowdfunding to make sure all can travel in a good way and feel supported and safe, including many people who could not afford to come otherwise. Your donations will be used to support feeding our people and travel costs so we can get them there and back. Our family journeys together, we move thru the waters as a people. We hope to provide $3000 in 2020 for food and travel to offset people’s personal costs.
All your financial donations will reach beyond into the future. These are investments in our communities and the revitalization of these traditional ways. Your donations will be used beyond this year’s immediate costs as well. Every year there are mechanical repairs that are an investment in the continuation of this important spiritual work. This year we anticipate a few repairs for our trailer. We also continue to vision the repairs and modifications for our travel bus that we’ll need down the road as well including possible conversions to more sustainable fuel source.
Our canoe `Iitar (Coyote) and canoe paddles must always be kept in good shape. This includes bumper seats and bumpers to bring the canoe about, sandbags, plus paddle making and repair costs- these all add up and we truly hope to help cut down costs for those who continue to donate their time and money to all aspects of what it takes each year to make the journey happen in a good way.
In all, we have focused our fundraising on about $20,000 for 2019-20. In 2018-19 we managed to raise a good part of what was needed, but our bigger vision of our $20,000 total will ensure that our organizers do not have to continue to contribute as much out of pocket.
Please help our Tongva people and Indigenous relatives on this journey towards cultural renewal and revitalization. If you live in Los Angeles and So Cal you may consider that Tongva people have been our hosts for hundreds of years and have asked very little. Now is the time for us to give back to our relatives, to help them and to help us all to return to the land and ocean in a sacred way in the `Iitar canoe. Support Paxiiwovem family and iitar journey today and honor the true landlords of Los Angeles. Please support, tell your friends about this opportunity to give back, and thank you in advance.
Organizer
MZamora Zamora
Organizer
Oakland, CA
