a Liberatory Love letter from Trelasa Baratta, Redbud Resource Group
Dear Cohort,
Thank you for holding space for my becoming... for your witnessing, your stillness, your laughter, and the wisdom that echoes through your voices. In our time together, I’ve felt the quiet power of collective presence and the fire of ancestral remembrance.
I am celebrating the clarity I’ve gained in reconnecting with my own sacred rhythm. I now honor rest without guilt, speak to my body with care, and breathe deeper into the Earth when the inner fire burns. I am learning that my rage is sacred, not shameful. It is the heat of justice in motion.
I’ve lovingly witnessed the resilience of our people, especially of my Maidu neighbors, of the Feather River Watershed. I’ve seen how cultural memory moves through land, language, and water, and how even in dispossession, we keep tending the fire. I’ve also witnessed how others in the cohort carry dignity like sunlight, reminding me that our healing is not theoretical, it is embodied.
I’ve intentionally cultivated and practiced grounding, somatic listening, altar-building, and breathwork that connects me to my ancestors. I’ve brought reverence into my work with each inhale and softened my expectations with each exhale. These practices have helped me show up more whole in both Indigenous movement work, and motherhood.
I’ve shed the illusion that I have to be everything for everyone. I’ve released the pressure to earn worthiness through productivity or self-sacrifice. I’ve let go of the stories that rest is weakness, that boundaries deter connection, and that I must hold it all alone.
I’ve grown because I allowed myself to slow down and feel. I’ve invited grief and rage to speak. I’ve seen how deep ancestral memory lives in my spine, in my crown, in the dark places I was taught to avoid. I’ve also grown because I’ve chosen to trust that what is meant for me will arrive, and what is not will pass without needing to be chased or controlled.
What feels more possible now is a way of living that is rooted in purpose, not performance. A life where I can be an empathic queen. Where I can lead without burning out. Where my child sees me resting, and knows it as a revolutionary act.
I am more Free because I no longer confuse survival with success. I am more Free because I have made space for my sacred rage and righteous rest. I am more Free because I believe in a future shaped by ancestral dreams... and I trust myself to be one of the dreamers.
With Liberatory Love,
Trelasa
Trelasa Baratta
Program Manager/ Education Specialist, Redbud Resource Group
Trelasa Baratta is a proud member of the Middletown Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians and currently serves as Program Manager at Redbud Resource Group, where she leads initiatives that strengthen Tribal capacity and build bridges between Native and non-Native communities. With a BA in Sociology from Chico State and an MA.Ed. from Sonoma State University, her work is grounded in both educational theory and community-based practice.
Trelasa’s global experiences, from anthropological research in Uppsala, Sweden, to teaching English in rural Spain, inform her commitment to culturally sustaining education. At Redbud, she has authored two comprehensive curricular units: Native Perspectives, Everyday Lessons, a 4th-grade curriculum that Indigenizes elementary instruction, and Weaving the Future, Confronting the Past, a high school unit addressing the California Indian Genocide through a lens of cultural healing and resilience.
As Program Manager, Trelasa supports multi-partner projects that center Tribal leadership, environmental justice, and community storytelling, always guided by relationships, reciprocity, and a deep love for her homeland.
Redbud helps organizations, institutions, and employers become valued partners with Native peoples and their communities. Our programs combine public health and education research with tribal capacity building to strengthen Native-led initiatives, fill knowledge gaps, and create meaningful, lasting change. By supporting both Native communities and their allies, we help drive solutions that improve outcomes and reduce chronic disparities—ensuring that tribes have the tools, resources, and partnerships needed to thrive.
