Cherokees Journey to the Yawanawa Tribe AMAZON

ʔéx kʷ n̓ (Hello) !

My name is Cherokee Bent, my native name is ʔísweł (Yeeshwolth) “Loon, Guardian of the Lake” , I am of the Nłeʔkepmxcín peoples of the Nicola Valley, and today I am here to fundraise money for my Journey to the Amazon Rainforest to the Yawanawa Tribe.

The purpose of this journey is to meet and establish a relationship with the Yawanawá Tribe and the Nłeʔkepmxcín peoples. So that we can later unite, share, and exchange our culture, traditions, teachings, spirituality, earth medicines, and indigenous ways of life.

In doing this I hope create a foundation on which we can build a sustaining, everlasting relationship to with each other. A Relationship that benefits and uplifts our peoples, and our communities culturally, economically, and spiritually.

On this journey, I will be travelling deep into the Amazon Rainforest, to the village of Yawanawa tribe. For six days, I will be introduced and immersed into their rich cultural and spiritual ways of life.

We will have many ceremonies and share many songs, and the teachings of their people. We will paint our bodies in the traditional kenes (sacred designs), receive Nipei medicinal healing leaf bath treatments, and Shenipahu,

(Ancient Yawanawá stories that teach profound lessons on life and spirituality with deep nuggets of wisdom), and we will have the ancestral medicine ceremonies of the people and the forest, and so much more.

It will be such a life changing healing and honouring experience. And in the future, the hope to come from this, is to be able to unite the people .“The Union of the Yawanawa and the Nłeʔkepmxcín peoples”.

This all couldn’t have been done without “The fulfilment of the prophecy, of the Condor of Central America, and the Eagle of North America, coming together in unity, peace and dignity.” A Prophecy my late father Whea-hey-uct-chuk was working towards, alongside many other Indigenous Leaders who worked hard, on a hope and a prayer to be able to pave us a path for an opportunity like this. All the things that had to line up for a moment like this, it is so sacred.

So I am eternally grateful and I would like to thank the ones that came before us to make this happen.

My prayer is to be able to make this happen, and to carry forth this message, and this prophecy, and to one day deliver it together. In Unity, walk alongside each other towards something very beautiful that we’ve co-created together.

So we can leave a legacy for our children, and our land.

I am eternally grateful for this opportunity, and with all my heart, I hope to carry this message to the Amazon and to bring back a blessing to bestow upon my people.

Please help me bring this mission to life in any way that you can! Donate in anyway that you can. Or sharing even just sharing my story!

It would mean the world to me to be able to make this a reality.

kʷukʷscémxʷ (Thank you) so so much.

-Cherokee, ʔísweł ( “Loon, Guardian of the Lake” )