Jaybyrd Castro 0:04

Welcome to , people of the ocean . Breathe the air , feel the motion . We made it through the storm , our wa'a canoe , each of us , all of you . My storm was about feelings brewing , then releasing them like lava spewing . Feeling mad , bad, and finally accepting that I'm just hella sad . I got real with myself and my family . So just know that you're not alone . Whatever the storm was , is or maybe, someone's out there to guide you like a Pwo master navigator at sea . Welcome to Taotao Tåsi, si Yu'us ma'åse .

Sabyu 1:09

H afa adai ! This is Sabyu . This is a track called Flametree Skyland off of my 2016 project Navigator EP .

Jaybyrd Castro 2:01

And like any good Netflix show , you want to start from the beginning . So if you're new to Taot ao Tàsi series , thank you , I appreciate you being here , but go start back at part 1 , on the beach . This is part 6 in the deep .

Palu Larry Raigetal 2:33

I had moments today where I had talked with Mario , spent some time with him .

Jaybyrd Castro 2:35

Who you're hearing is our Pwo Master Navigator Palu Larry Raigatel , from the traditional Carolinian school of navigation called Weriyang . He was referring to a conversation he had with a Chamorro carver and navigator named Señot Mario Borja , who built and sailed the Sakman named Che'lu , currently in Saipan .

Palu Larry Raigetal 2:54

A lot of what we were conversing on was always affirmation of the fact that perhaps , despite differences in languages and appearance of our canoe's style and applications , we have the same fundamental principles of seafaring . That we may be different branches of the same tree, with the same root . The same tree talks to us . In that sense we are the same .

Jaybyrd Castro 3:24

I agree with Larry , we are the same . His message reminds us that his people from Lamotrek and Mario's people from Guam come from the deepest part of the world , the same part of the world, the Marianas Trench . That's some deep roots . Those are the same roots that are shared underneath every island across the Pacific Ocean .

Palu Larry Raigetal 3:43

I mean , if you put 4,000 years of history of the Chamorro and 2,000 year history of the Carolinians , the Chamorro came in much earlier than we did . In that case , you came before me , your ancestors came before me . And it continues into our cultures of respecting the elders , those who came before us . That's the key thing here is that , you know , we've always had part of our culture has always been that of recognizing those who came before .

Jaybyrd Castro 4:28

It doesn't matter if we're Micronesian , Polynesian , Melanesian, we're one Pacific , we're Pacific Islanders . And we're also like our relatives across the thousands of tribes on Turtle Island . Our deep roots share way more commonalities than they do differences .

Jaybyrd Castro 4:47

When I started this Taotao Tåsi journey , I was expecting it to be about me; my learning journey of reconnecting to my navigating ancestry . But it hasn't . What I recently learned from my trip to Phoenix , Arizona last month , to celebrate Indigenous People Day 2024 is that this journey has connected me to the land and the original caretakers of it . It's helped me connect to people all over the world: other Indigenous podcasters and storytellers and people with mixed heritage identity issues , just like me .

Jaybyrd Castro 5:19

While at that event , I met a group of dope and very talented Native artists , and one of them came up to me and told me that this series inspired her to pick up the paintbrush and create again . Say what ? I was speechless ! .

Jaybyrd Castro 5:33

And then there's the posse of the inspired youngsters who live on Navajo reservation . Their unwavering tenacity to life is what inspires me ! Especially young Jared Tso from the Navajo Nation . Thank you for reminding me of my purpose of doing this .

Jaybyrd Castro 5:51

So I dedicate this journey to you: the next generation of change makers , the first to reclaim our right as the first , the first engineers , the first designers , the first mathematicians , the first doctors , the first everything . The first to graduate college , the first to live their dream , the first to choose life over death . Choose life . And all those people that told you you were meant to be here for a reason . They're right .

Jaybyrd Castro 6:15

You know , I lost my Grandma at a young age , so I turned on my community and the internet to help educate me and inspire me , like a Grandma or a Nåna would . This is Rita Pangelinan Nauta from Guampedia . com . I call them my digital Nåna .

Rita Pangelinan Nauta 6:29

It's so important , it's how we do . And for all of you to be alive today . You have 150 generations of shoulders that you're standing on and that you actually have about 4,000 ancestors . You start with your grandma , your grandpa, grandpa and their àour grandmas , and your grandpas grandpa . There's there's ancestral mathematics , there's about 4,900 people that came before that you . . Isn't that amazing ? So with that , let us start .

Jaybyrd Castro 7:00

standing on the shoulders of 4,000 ancestors . ? They lift us higher . So when it hurts , remember that you have 150 generations of healers to watch over you . And when your shit hits the fans , don't forget forget, you have 150 generations of collective wisdom to tap into . And when you think you've given it your all all and you're at the end of the road , consider that you have 150 generations of wounded warrior blood to keep on fighting . Don't give up , . thank

Jaybyrd Castro 8:37

you for listening to the Red Rice and Infinity Fina'denn'e Podcast . It's produced by me , j Jaybyrd Castro , filming familian in Jeju Jeje yan Piyu This was Tao Taot ao Tasi Tàsi part 6 , in the Deep . and And

Jaybyrd Castro 8:51

now peeping out from the horizon is a flame tree skyline . We're close . Our navigator has led us to Guajan Guahån I can see her smiling , . And canoe we sailed on on, something I have tons of pride in . But I'll catch you next time on Tau Taotao , Tåsi part 7 , on the Island . Si

Jaybyrd Castro 9:13

Si Yu'us ma'åse .