“It really starts from true events. You know, I’ve always loved learning about cultures and being surrounded by diversity. I studied Native American studies in college and always taught my children that Indigenous peoples were the first caretakers of this land and still are today. I add: Over time, many families have come with their own stories of heritage. I wanted my kids to understand that everyone has a story and that we all belong.

I never realized the impact of this until one day, when my eldest was five and we bumped into my coworker. My daughter asked where she was from and my coworker replied ‘Here!’ Without skipping a beat, my daughter said ‘Cool! You’re Native American.’ My coworker then told her family story coming from Germany to the east then west coast. She later came to tell me, ‘Jalpa, what a beautiful way to view our world—we ALL have a story.’

That’s where it began and since then that’s how I teach cultural curiosity in my classes, workshops and in Wizzy. “ -JALPA