Bohio Cibanani

Over the course of several weeks in Winter 2023, we worked with volunteers to build our temazkal (kansi) and our batey – a ceremonial ground that originates with our Taino peoples. Sixteen of us, working together, built the kansi – digging the soil to set the poles, figuring out how to build, building the frame and then attaching all of the boards. Comprised of 80 ciba (stones/boulders), the batey is an important site for gathering with community.

On the weekend before the Spring Equinox, we gathered with friends to build our first fire and to celebrate the Taino New Year with storytelling and areyto. Our beloved Taino two-spirit elder, RaheNi, joined us and played mayohuacan with us. Kalapuya elder Don Day got to heck out our kansi where we had placed cedar from a 400+ year log from up on the hill that he had split several years before. We were so grateful for their presence, as well as the joy with which others danced and shared story.