It is four o’clock in the morning at Wayra Wasi, and the rich blackness of night still envelops the rainforest. Insects and frogs screech loudly, and birds call through the predawn air. Sleeping on the wooden floor under a roof of leaves, I am awakened by the sound of a cow’s horn and the steady […]
It is a place of incredible resilience amidst terrifying history. Established in 1889 by white colonialists as a Prisoner-of-War camp for Native Americans, South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation is now the second largest Native American Indian Reservation in the United States. Building a permaculture education centre and language school here, in one of the most […]
It has been six months since I left Peru and the lessons are still sinking in. I vividly remember the journey to Paititi Institute, an impact center where I took my Shamanic Permaculture Design Course. A spine-chilling yet breathtaking drive through serpentine mountain roads with peaks of almost 5,000 meters. Majestic valleys, mountain lakes, and […]
Near the Badlands of South Dakota, down a long dirt road and under the Great Plains sky, lies the residence of Bryan Deans. This is Pine Ridge Reservation, sovereign nation of the Oglala Lakota people. His residence stands out against the manufactured housing projects that dot the rolling plains with an unusual sight – a […]
Since the beginning of human history we have been gathering together as families, tribes and communities, to strengthen our relationship with each other, to council about important community matters, to exchange seeds, medicines, gifts and to simply celebrate life; to sit by the fire and hear the stories of our elders; to heal and honor […]