SAN ANTONIO — When Love and DeAndra Sanchez visit the beach in Corpus Christi, it’s therapy — they can release whatever thoughts they have into the ocean. 

“Letting go and moving forward, so it’s really cleansing,” DeAndra Sanchez said while facing the ocean. 

Her tia [aunt] agreed. 

“It’s like a worry-free zone,” Love Sanchez said. 

They are Karankawa and Lipan Apache, and say there’s a lot for them to think about — the pollution of their land, the preservation of artifacts and their history being erased. 

“Our Chicano history, Native history, Indigenous history, Black history already is out of our history books for the kids,” Love Sanchez said. 

DeAndra Sanchez said Thanksgiving Day is a prime example of sanitized history. 

“Like Love said, it’s to remember those that were genocide, a part of that, and also what I try to do is educate my nieces and nephews,” DeAndra Sanchez said. 

They are also educating their community through their group, The Indigenous Peoples of the Costal Bend.

“This is my calling and that goes back to my spiritual connections and spiritual awakenings,” DeAndra Sanchez said. 

They recently spoke to the students at Delmar College to share their experiences and the experiences of their ancestors. 

“Our native language was stripped and then you were assimilated because we are Mexican, too. We are mixed, so you have Spanish and we couldn’t ever speak that,” Love Sanchez said. 

Love Sanchez said the group's efforts are starting to be recognized in Corpus and across Texas. 

“It’s a good feeling to have that reciprocal of like ‘I get what you are going through and you know what, I got you. What do we do’?'” Love Sanchez said.

They say that sense of community makes life a little bit easier when they are fighting to preserve, to educate. 

“We need that. It’s medicine. Medicine is healing for all of us,” DeAndra Sanchez said.