Honor the Elders recognizes Iya Tahirah Abubakr as an exemplary Elder and Wisdomkeeper and is pleased to be raising funds to provide a gift in recognition of her lifelong service to her community. We believe that when we provide needed support to Elders and wisdomkeepers, the whole community benefits.
Through the Grandmother Project and Honor the Elders, we provide services and gifts to exemplary Elders and wisdomkeepers whose work is aligned with the purpose of Nourishing Futures, who have lived a life of service to their communities, and whose life circumstances require financial resources to help cover the basic costs of food, shelter, health care, and medicine. All funds raised will be re-gifted to Iya Tahirah Abubakr, in honor of her life of service.
Who is Iya Tahirah?
Iya Tahirah AbuBakr, born River Lee Adams, was raised in Pocahontas, Mississippi as the eldest of seven children in a family of sharecroppers who turned hardship into strength and purpose. At seventeen, she left Mississippi for New Orleans, and in her early twenties moved to New York City, where her community activism within the Black Liberation Movement laid the foundation for a lifelong path of service as a social worker and community leader.
Her spiritual journey led to initiation into Ifa by Ifa Priestess Yemọja, grounding her in the ancestral Yoruba traditions of West Africa. A graduate of Social and Cultural Anthropology from IU Indianapolis, and trained in shamanism with Malidoma Somé, she emerged as Iya Tahirah AbuBakr—medicine woman, diviner, shamanic practitioner, and founder and co-founder of the St. Croix Council of Elders.
Iya Tahirah has dedicated her life to the service of humanity, with a deep commitment to nurturing youth and leaving the Earth better than she found it. Supporting Iya Tahirah ensures her wisdom, resilience, and sacred legacy continue to uplift future generations.
What is going on with her health?
On Wednesday, November 26, 2025, Iya Tahirah was found alone in her home and rushed to the hospital, having suffered physical injury from a fall that was a result of an ischemic stroke.
At first, the prognosis was dark (she only had days to live). We believe now that this was a combination of her condition (we estimate 36 hours between the stroke and when she was found), and the doctor’s inability to see beyond the facts (age, race) and into the truth. Iya Tahirah has shown that she is cogent, lucid, and generally aware of what is going on. She has begun the long walk to recovery and she needs our support, now. Learn more about her current condition through Caringbridge.
Donors
Shelley Cataldo