Rudy Tookem Rodriguez
My name is Rudy Tookem Rodriguez, I have always felt a real connection to the Earth and the environment. My connection started very early in my life. My little brother Chostay and I were both born on the beautiful land called Muhu Tasen (Red Owl) where we perform our bear ceremonies. My parents always taught me to love and respect Mother Earth; this played a huge part on what kind of man I am today. Ever since I was five years old I have been performing these ceremonies in honor of the bear spirits and mother Earth. In this new age it is getting harder and harder to be environmentally thoughtful and take care of the Earth, but I hope that all of us can one day see the importance of the Earth and come together to take care of it. We must start thinking about what we can do to help in our own little way and I believe that I could do that by learning about the different organic foods and how they are used. It would be an honor to learn this and have the ability to pass it on to my family and friends and all the people who come to these ceremonies. Every Labor Day Weekend we have our main bear dance of the year which lasts 4 days and 4 nights. During this time we have ceremony, share our traditional ways, and meet all kinds of different people from all over the world. One of the things that brings the whole land and all the people together is the great feasts we have. I believe that we could teach everyone there about the importance of taking care of the environment and in doing this the people could pass it along to their family and friends. Ever since I can remember, Akahdahmah has been going up to my family’s land and bringing us all kinds of herbs and foods he has grown and made himself. My parents refer to him as our doctor. The knowledge he has about these things is awesome to me and I think he could teach me so much about these things. Thank you for your time and consideration. I am asking your organization to please consider making a donation of $250.00 to help us purchase organic food to help us provide healthy meals and recipes for the people who come to the ceremonies. I believe this would be a huge help in showing the people of Muhu Tasen how special and how beautiful it is to be able to make your own food from the Mother Earth. Once again I thank you for your time and consideration.
All My Relations,
Rudy Tookem Rodriguez