So much gratitude for your efforts to support resources that are essential to the long-term survival of humanity and all beings on this planet.  In an age where our culture hardly thinks beyond the day after tomorrow and too often for personal gain at the expense of collective well-being, you offer hope for the future.  Thanks!!

Iya’s love and wisdom blesses all she touches. Sending prayers that she stays with us to inspire the healing of the heart of humanity. 

Native Americans have been marginalized for too long

KWO is one of my favourite organizations in the world. You know every donation goes directly to support women and their families in the refugee camps and conflict-affected communities in Karen State

Help environmental justice by supporting indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin to preserve the rainforest and their home.

Because I know Dr. Mark Plotkin, the enthobotanist and conservationist who co-founded this organization, and I've seen the impact of their work on the expansive nature and indigenous people of the Amazon. In a sense, much of our global well-being, and much of the future of medicine (and avoiding pandemics), depends on preserving "the lungs of the planet."

Talks with Indigenous and Maroon people and their supporters to challenge our conscious and unconscious colonized thinking.

Proven Sustainable Conversations are for those who want to take tangible actions to help our planet, engage in deep reflections, and discuss broader systems, histories and beliefs that influence our sustainability struggles and pursuits. 

It’s a virtual gathering ground for those who are worn out and weary from modern prioritizations of power, separation, control, and ceaseless doing.

We are here to acknowledge, honor, learn from, and support those who have survived the tests of climate changes and the attacks of settler colonialism and modernity for centuries. 

The conversations are an extension of [provensustainable.org](https://provensustainable.org/) where there are 200+ free education resources featuring Indigenous and Maroon-inspired advocates for ancestral wisdom and Earth harmony to support inquiry-driven learning and dialogue.

Our ancient ancestral beliefs about being human on a living earth have been carried forward by these communities of indomitable survivors whose lives as first Peoples have been grounded in unity, order, wisdom, skill and compassion. 

It is not enough to merely study them.

We must stand with them as they continue their ongoing efforts to survive systemic injustices and champion holistic environmental projects.  

This is an invitation to connect, to learn and to [take action](https://provensustainable.org/take-action) for, together, we may just be the saving remnants this time around.

---

*The Proven Sustainable*™ *Conversation Series is a fiscally sponsored project of the [Center for Transformative Action](http://www.centerfortransformativeaction.org/), a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Any funding directed towards the Conversation Series will go towards production efforts to ensure the the recorded discussions are diligently captured and meaningfully distributed. This Conversation Series and the affiliated website are not-for-profit and created with the intent of channeling support directly to the Peoples represented.*

Proven Sustainable Conversations

Supporting Iya Tahirah ensures her wisdom, resilience, and sacred legacy continue to uplift future generations.

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.](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24208-ischemic-stroke-clots) 

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. 

If you want to know more about Iya's current condition, you can [go here.](https://www.gofundme.com/f/supporting-iya-tahirahs-healing-journey)

Iya Tahirah Abubakr, Honor the Elders Exemplary Elder

A Native-led nonprofit dedicated to assisting Native nations in strengthening their governance and sovereignty.

Native Governance Center

 The oldest, largest nonprofit legal org asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations, and individuals.

Since 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) has provided legal assistance to Indian tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide who might otherwise have gone without adequate representation. NARF has successfully asserted and defended the most important rights of Indians and tribes in hundreds of major cases, and has achieved significant results in such critical areas as tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, natural resource protection, and Indian education. NARF is a non-profit 501c(3) organization that focuses on applying existing laws and treaties to guarantee that national and state governments live up to their legal obligations.

The Native American Rights Fund is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, with branch offices in Washington, DC, and Anchorage, AK.

NARF is governed by a volunteer board of directors composed of thirteen Native Americans from different tribes throughout the country with a variety of expertise in Indian matters. A staff of approximately 16 attorneys handles over 50 major cases at any given time, with most of the cases taking several years to resolve. Cases are accepted on the basis of their breadth and potential importance in setting precedents and establishing important principles of Indian law.

With credibility built over 50 years of service, NARF has become a respected consultant to policy makers and others engaged in drafting legislation. As a consensus builder, NARF works with religious, civil rights, and other Native American organizations to shape the laws that will help assure the civil and religious rights of all Native Americans. NARF attorneys, many of whom are tribal citizens, use their understanding of Indian legal issues to assist tribes in negotiating with individuals, companies, and governmental agencies.

Since NARF’s inception, Indian law has changed dramatically. It has become a recognized specialty with a well-documented body of statutes and case law. However, that has not made it a simpler field. In the 1970’s and the early 1980’s, courts were generally receptive to Indian rights cases. However, since the mid to late 1980’s, an increasingly conservative federal bench has made Indian rights cases more difficult to win. Combined with the huge cost of litigation—in time and in money—this means NARF and its Indian clients are always attuned to opportunities for negotiation, consensus, and settlement.

Native American Rights Fund

KWO is an indigenous women’s organisation serving women and girls in our community in Burma and in refugee camps in Thailand.  

The Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO) currently has a membership of more than 70,000 women living in Karen State, Burma and in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. KWO is a leading indigenous women’s organisation working in protection and our programs directly serve women, girls, children, and the most vulnerable people in our community. We promote women’s leadership, gender equality and community ownership in all aspects of our work. KWO is active in four main sectors: Organising and Information Sharing Program, Education Program, Health Program and Social Welfare Program.  KWO is led and staffed entirely by women in our community. KWO participates in the struggle to stop all kinds of oppression of women and of children. We believe in a federal Burma, where all communities have gender equality, the protection and promotion of indigenous people’s rights, human rights, and justice. 


WHAT WE DO

Within our 4 program areas we provide: service delivery, advocacy, awareness raising, and capacity building threaded throughout our daily work and our funded projects. Our work varies from the delivery of hygiene kits for mothers with new-borns, conducting community health and nutrition education, to ensuring safe accommodation for women suffering violence, developing Women’s Protection Laws, to training young women from our Communities to become leaders. 

KWO believes that empowering women will help reduce human rights abuses and encourage an end to discrimination against women. We believe that women have a right to be properly represented in politics and society at large. And we believe that the whole community is better off when women play an equal role with men in decision-making. The 17 individually funded Projects which KWO currently implements in refugee camps and Karen State, run under our 4 programs, and have over 100,500 beneficiaries.

WHERE WE WORK
KWO lives and works in the 7 districts of Karen State, Burma which is in Southeastern Burma and in 7 refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border.

ORGANISING AND INFORMATION SHARING PROGRAM  - KWO’s Organising and Information Sharing Program provides services, advocacy and capacity building to support women’s empowerment, mobilize the community, and sustain the organisation. KWO believes that broad community and organisational education contributes to building a fair and tolerant civil society. We conduct training, events and activities around: women’s rights, indigenous rights, democracy, political awareness, a Federal system for Burma, child protection, human rights, project management, leadership skills, public speaking, financial policy and procedures, KWO policy, landmine awareness, etc.

The Organising and Information Sharing Program Co-ordinators are all Karen women who live in their communities. Work under this Program includes: to conduct community consultations to identify needs, share information in the community about the current situation, including through KWO publications, update KWO’s membership list, co-ordinate with the KWO Social Welfare Program to organize the distribution of humanitarian aid (food and materials) in emergency situations, oversee and monitor all funded KWO projects implemented in the area, arrange and attend meetings for KWO and our network, coordinate with other agencies on issues that affect the community, assist researchers and field trips for visiting individuals, advocate on behalf of vulnerable groups in the community, conduct individual and joint advocacy efforts on the local, national, regional, and international stage.  We currently implement 4 funded projects under this program.

EDUCATION PROGRAM 
KWO’s Education Program provides services, advocacy and capacity building to promote education in our community. We provide schooling where there are gaps in existing education mainstream services in the refugee camps, and in areas in Karen State. We particularly target girls in the community to ensure they have equal access to education, protection, development and care. We also place a significant emphasis on education that promotes and preserves Karen indigenous culture.

Our Education Program Co-ordinators are all Karen women and are part of the community. Every day they work to promote education, to identify children struggling at schools or at home and provide support to the family, and assist with school fees when possible. They monitor and support KWO’s funded education projects in their areas, visit all community schools and give encouragement to students and teachers. They conduct home visits and encourage parents to send children to school, and assist the poorest of the poor children to get into schools. They attend events organized by schools to share positive messages about the benefits of education for all. They meet with education leaders at all levels and advocate for inclusive education, improved child protection mechanisms, and the importance of girls education. We currently implement 7 funded education projects under this program.

SOCIAL WELFARE PROGRAM 
KWO Social Welfare Program provides services, advocacy and capacity building in all sectors of Karen society. We provide direct care and assistance to community members and we work to solve social problems in our community, particularly those that affect women. Due to the failure of Burma’s successive governments to provide care and security for the people, many ethnic groups, like the Karen, have established well-organised and high-functioning social systems. The KWO Social Welfare Program does a lot of the work that a free and democratic national government would normally be offering to the people.

Our Social Welfare Program Co-ordinators are all Karen women and live in their community. Their duties include: identifying and providing care to the most vulnerable members of the community including the elderly, people with disability or chronic illness, and families in trouble; providing assistance in emergencies; help to organize community events and ceremonies; home visits; build capacity and opportunity for women to earn income especially through traditional crafts; be advocates for the best interests of women in justice cases; fight for improvements in laws relating to women and child protection, justice system reform and better enforcement mechanisms both in the refugee camps and within Southeast Burma.

Overall our Program’s main area of focus is to prevent, and respond to Violence Against Women. Under the Social Welfare Program, and its funded project, we provide an enormous amount of training for women, for KWO leaders and staff, for local community leaders, and for the broader community. We currently implement 4 funded projects under this program.

HEALTH PROGRAM 
KWO’s Health Program provides services, advocacy and capacity building to promote better health in our community. Our Health Program activities address common community health issues, like nutrition and hygiene, and we focus on the health needs of women and of children. KWO collaborates with existing community health organisations to support local health workers, to care for patients and the community. We do not offer medical or clinic-based services ourselves.

Our Health Program Co-ordinators are Karen women who live in their communities. Their work includes: to advocate for better access to health services, accompany patients to hospitals or clinics, organise village and stream clean ups, identify health needs of the most vulnerable people and provide support in the home, conduct health education campaigns in the community, share information with families about good health practices, encourage communities to set up kitchen gardens, organise access to clean drinking water, improve village sanitation and the use of built toilets, promote KWO’s key health messages for women’s reproductive health, improve access to safe sanitary materials for all women and girls, monitor any funded KWO Health projects being implemented in their area, educate parents about good nutrition and childcare, advocate for recognition of skilled Traditional Birth Attendants, and for birth registration and birth certificates for all children. We currently implement 2 funded projects under this program.

Karen Women's Organization

Protecting the Amazon rainforest and our climate in solidarity with Indigenous peoples

Since 1996, Amazon Watch has defended the Amazon rainforest and our climate in solidarity with Indigenous peoples. Long-term, trusted partnerships with Indigenous peoples — the best stewards of the rainforest — are the foundation for Amazon Watch’s campaigns for climate justice, corporate accountability, and the permanent protection of the rainforest.

The Amazon is home to more than 511 distinct Indigenous peoples. As our planet’s largest tropical rainforest, it stabilizes our global climate and an immense amount of Earth’s biodiversity and flowing freshwater can be found there. This vital ecosystem and the Indigenous peoples who have stewarded it for centuries face grave threats from deforestation, resource extraction, land grabs, and destructive development projects. The Amazon is facing a tipping point and won't be able to sustain itself as a rainforest if we remain on our current path of destruction.

To move to a turning point, Amazon Watch is carrying out campaigns in partnership with Indigenous peoples to secure Indigenous rights to ancestral territories, halt oil drilling and mining in the biome, and mobilize solidarity funds directly to Amazonian peoples at their request. Their work combines on-the-ground legal, advocacy, and communications expertise and long-term trusted partnerships with Indigenous peoples and organizations.

🌳Amazon Watch’s Amazon Defenders Fund (ADF) provides direct solidarity funding to Amazonian peoples and organizations free of bureaucratic barriers. The ADF supports Indigenous-led initiatives including community organizing, women’s leadership, communal economies, protection of Earth Defenders at risk for resisting destructive development, and crisis response including to wildfires and oil spills. The ADF is built upon a multi-decade track record as a trusted partner among Indigenous nations. You can learn more at amazonwatch.org/get-involved/amazon-defenders-fund.

Amazon Watch

We develop community-led, circular solutions to end plastic pollution in remote coastal areas, grounded in local heritage.

We are an East African circular economy movement that in 2018 built the world’s first 100% recycled plastic sailing dhow.  Built from 10 tonnes of beach plastic, it was covered in 30,000 pieces of discarded flipflops collected from Kenyas beaches, hence its name 'The Flipflopi'. 

We employ a “full-systems” approach to beating plastic pollution through 

(1) education and awareness campaigns, 

(2) waste-plastic innovation rooted in heritage, and 

(3) influencing legislative change to ban single-use plastics. 

Over the course of three expeditions, the Flipflopi sailing boat has proved to be an exceptional campaign tool to catalyse engagement and action all three of the above focus areas. Watch our latest video, "[Stubborn Optimism - A Plastic Revolution" 
](https://youtu.be/RjVd7RR\_vPs?si=5XrC37OrODfvgnZJ)The 2019 Lamu to Zanzibar expedition, conducted in partnership with UN Environment, brought international media attention - 890 million people saw our message, we hosted the presidents and government ministers on the boat, and played a central role in national plastic bag bans that came into effect in both Kenya and Tanzania shortly after our campaign.

In 2020 Flipflopi Co-founder was awarded Kenya’s highest civilian honour for his contribution to preserving Kenya's Swahili culture and his environmental campaigning.  

In 2022, Flipflopi was awarded the FCDO’s prestigious SMEP Grant to tackle marine ecosystem health challenges which led to the creation of an innovative community-centered programme that is ‘closing the loop’ on waste plastic in the Lamu Archipelago (on the coast of northern Kenya) by combining indigenous knowledge of boatbuilding with modern innovation.  In a 24 month perirod we have collected 288 tonnes of plastic from the enviroment within the Lamu region. 

In 2022 we set up a Heritage Boat Building centre that runs pioneering classes teaching Dhow building and traditional craftsmanship to mixed gender classes of young people from Lamu County.  Students on these 12 week courses have built everything from ornately carved traditional Lamu chairs to Swahili Dhows – all from recycled plastic lumber instead of wood.  

In 2023, The Flipflopi team met UK Monarch King Charles whilst on a visit to Kenya, presenting him with an elegant traditional Swahili throne made entirely from recycled beach plastic.  It made headlines around the world. 

To date Flipflopi activity has principally taken place within Kenya, and to a lesser extent, in neighbouring countries Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.  In 2025 we are turning our attention to globally scaling the many valuable lessons we have learned about how to create a circular economy for plastic waste.

In 2025 we begin our most ambitious campaign yet – first we will construct a 120 tonne, 24 metre long traditional Lamu Dhow (again, built entirely from recycled plastic) and then we embark on a global expedition that will convene the action we need globally to see a WORLD WITHOUT SINGLE USE PLASTIC. 

The Flipflopi Project

Our mission is to facilitate land return to the Indigenous peoples of SW Oregon and to promote our cultural lifeways on the land.

Founded in 2023 by four Siletz Tribal members, Nvn-nes-'a Land Trust is working to facilitate land return to our SW Oregon tribal people and encourage our communities to (re)connect with place through cultural land management practices like traditional food harvest and cultural burning. As a young organization, we are currently growing our staff and programming while we scale up our efforts. Your donations will be used to help us grow our land purchase fund, community programming efforts, and to expand our staff.

Nvn-nes-'a Land Trust

The Fountain aims to envision, create and restore a global economy of reciprocity, inspired by nature and the sacred.

Mission, Vision, and Values

Our Vision
We envision a restored global economy of reciprocity inspired by Nature and the Sacred in which all beings thrive.

Mission 
Our mission is to enable collaborative action that bridges the original principles of ancient cultures into a new vision for sacred economics in service to sacred territories.

Our Values
The Fountain’s work is inspired and guided by the original principles including: Reciprocity | Respect | Responsibility | Relationship

What Is The Fountain ?

Imagine a global economic system truly aligned with care for the earth and the whole of life for the benefit of current and future generations, guided by the ancestral wisdom and technologies of cultures that have lived this way for the larger course of human history. This is the work of The Fountain.

There is growing awareness of the extraordinary wisdom originally developed and perennially sustained by the world’s ancestral indigenous peoples – peoples whose cultural genesis can be traced back to the original times. 

It is in the return to the sacred origins and principles of this ancestral wisdom – calling for the unification of all peoples with the earth – that a return to balance and sustainability is to be found. The vision of The Fountain, and the extraordinary sacredness of its origin and seed, is of partnership between sharing original teachings, conscious collaboration, and being in action to activate sacred economics and sacred territories.

Through the deep understanding, experience and relationships contained in its ecosystem, The Fountain exists to catalyse this journey to reconnection and ultimately to unification through its vision, mission, and values. 

The path forward is to restore a global economy of reciprocity inspired by nature and the sacred – bringing together conscious investors, philanthropists, whole system entrepreneurs, leaders on transformational economics and finance and holders of indigenous ecological knowledge. A multi-disciplinary, intercultural exchange united in service to the earth and future generations.

Our current programs
Mother Earth Delegation of United Original Nations 
Gathering of elders from around the globe working in unity and in service to Mother Earth

Sacred Land Trusts for Sacred Territories 
Protection of sacred sites of key importance for Earth’s preservation

Houses of Original Thought
Restoring esoteric knowledge of Mother Earth

Pagamentos
Ancient forms of ritual and specially prepared offerings that restore and harmonize Earth’s energies

Original Principles Alignment Protocol
Educating business leaders on original wisdom and ways of being

The Fountain Flow Fund 
Flexibly flowing resources to where they are urgently needed especially to original nations and their associated programs

*\~ \~ \~ \~ \~*

*PS - We look forward to sharing our continuing work with you! To be sure to stay up to date, please check the box for email collection to give us permission to add you to our mailing list!*

The Fountain For The Natural Order Of Our Existence

Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke was founded in 2000 to empower Hāna youth to learn in a way that makes sense to them through hands-on skills




At Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke ("In working or doing, one learns"), our mission is to provide Hāna's youth with a way to learn that makes sense to them, builds their self-esteem, and shows them they have the power to change their future. 

Our methodology consists of a service-oriented education continuum, which provides meaningful work-based learning opportunities through a tiered apprenticeship to strengthen environmental stewardship, intergenerational relationships, and technical skills while creating a pathway for our youth to learn, grow, teach, and inspire the next generation. Through building, culinary, agricultural, and Hawaiian cultural training, we empower our next-generation leaders. 

Ma Ka Hana Ka ʻIke

Restoring sacred lands to the stewardship of the Kaggaba and Lakota Sioux Nations, preserving biodiversity and ancient wisdom.

This initiative aims to restore sacred lands to their rightful guardians, the Kaggaba and Lakota Sioux Nations. Together, with your donation, we can preserve ancient wisdom, protect biodiversity, and empower indigenous communities.

**Significance of the Land**

For centuries, the Original People have served as stewards of the Earth, nurturing the delicate balance of ecosystems and maintaining the spiritual energy that flows through the land. However, in recent times, these sacred territories have been sold, disrupting the harmonious relationship between the land and its ancestral guardians.Now, we have the opportunity to make a difference by helping the Original Nations reclaim their ancestral lands. By purchasing these territories and entrusting them to the Kaggaba and Lakota Sioux Nations, we ensure that the life-giving systems of the planet are protected and cherished for generations to come.

**Spiritual Importance**

Your contribution to this project will not only help secure the land but also support the Kaggaba in performing their sacred rituals, which are vital for the spiritual balance of our planet. The Kaggaba recognize these lands as being connected to the acupuncture points of the Earth, and by safeguarding these sites, we help maintain the well-being of our world.

**Deeper Insights**

This multi-faceted initiative involves securing six land trusts in Colombia, along with one land trust in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, and designating three additional ceremonial pillars globally. These crucial steps will facilitate the support and healing process of Mother Earth, guided by the wisdom of the Original Nations.The Fountain, an organization with a long-standing collaboration with the ancestral community, is spearheading this initiative with sensitivity and respect for the indigenous way of life. The Fountain’s role is to ensure a smooth transition of land ownership, foster a respectful partnership between the indigenous communities and supporters, and provide the necessary resources to protect and maintain these sacred territories.Together, we can ensure that these lands remain a source of spiritual energy, ecological abundance, and cultural heritage, empowering the Original Nation to continue their ancestral role as stewards of Mother Earth.

*PS - We look forward to sharing our continuing work with you! To be sure to stay up to date, please check the box for email collection to give us permission to add you to our mailing list!*

Return of Sacred Land and Native Led Earth Initiatives

Indigenous & non-Indigenous collaboration promoting practice of Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) language & lifeways in ancestral homelands

The Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ Learning Project is a collaboration of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people working to promote awareness and practice of Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) language and lifeways in their ancestral homelands and beyond. We hope to carry the idea of sgę́:nǫˀ gó:wah, the Great Peace, into our work, cultivating peace and cooperation through education and community outreach. Our partnership is based on a vision in which Indigenous and non-Indigenous people travel separate but parallel paths to engage in peaceful coexistence. 

The Gayogohó:nǫˀ Learning Project is a fiscally sponsored project of the Center for Transformative Action (CTA). CTA, an educational 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is legally and financially responsible for all our project activities.

**The Problem**

Gayogohó:nǫˀ people were largely displaced from their ancestral homeland (around Cayuga Lake) in the late 1700’s, when George Washington sent a military contingent to destroy crops and villages of the Gayogohó:nǫˀ and other members of the Hodinohsó:nih.  Residents were scattered to Ohio, Canada, and Buffalo Creek, and later to Oklahoma and Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Canada. Only a few remained in their ancestral lands. 
  
Land fraud by white settlers and the State of New York further exacerbated the separation of the Gayogohó:nǫˀ people from their land, which is an integral part of their language and identity. Many Gayogohó:nǫˀ people were forced into residential schools and Indian Day Schools. Non-indigenous governmental structures hindered the passing-on of traditional culture and language. 
  
Barely 250 years later, the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language is considered critically endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.  As of December 2021, there are less than a dozen first-language speakers remaining – one of whom is a member of our group. Most live on the Six Nations reserve in Canada. A few hundred people have learned or are learning Gayogohó:nǫˀ as a second language, but with efforts, such as those of our group, that number continues to grow.
  
The impacts to mental and physical health of separating indigenous peoples from their language, culture, and land are well-documented. Language and culture revitalization efforts provide paths by which to address the health, socio-economic, and ecological impacts of colonization.
 
**Our Approach**

Our project seeks to complement and amplify existing Gayogohó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) language revitalization efforts from within Gayogohó:nǫˀ ancestral lands by supporting educational programs and access to language resources, and increasing opportunities to hear and see the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language in public spaces. Through this work of tangibly teaching and using the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language in the place it developed, and by creating opportunities for dialogue around difficult topics such as colonization, we hope to increase understanding of the history and current status of Gayogohó:nǫˀ people, language, and culture. A key part of our work lies in providing support for Gayogohó:nǫˀ people and others working to revitalize the Gayogohó:nǫˀ language. Through our work, we hope to both explore and spread awareness of ways in which Gayogohó:nǫˀ and other Hodinohsó:nih languages and cultures are connected to the land of the Finger Lakes and explore ways in which all people might cultivate healthy relationships with the land.
 
**Our Team**

**Stephen Henhawk** – Gayogohó:nǫˀ, otahyǫ́:ni: (Wolf clan) Historian and first-language speaker. Stephen grew up in a traditional Gayogohó:nǫˀ household at Ohswé:gęˀ (Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Canada). Stephen is our language teacher, historian and conveyer of the inspiration behind the Gayogohó:nǫˀ Language Project. The inspiration itself comes from the wisdom and strength of all Gayogohó:nǫˀ people who came before who maintained language and culture and ties to the land against much adversity.
  
**Michelle Seneca**, project leader – Gayogohó:nǫˀ, genyahdę: (Turtle clan). Grew up on the Seneca Cattaraugus reservation in Western New York and lived for a number of years in the Gayogohó:nǫˀ community at the north end of Cayuga Lake. She currently resides in Ithaca. Michelle holds our whole project together.
  
**Jim Wikel,** advisory board member - Jim Wikel ni gya:soh (I am called). From Onǫdowáˀga:ˀ Gayogo̲hó:nǫˀ neh:ni Gahnawiyóˀgeh (Seneca-Cayuga Nation of Oklahoma). Currently resides in Salem, OR. Began learning the language in 2015 in Oklahoma. Worked in the behavioral health/addiction field since 2008. Worked with Native clients, encouraged them to learn their own languages. Recovery means getting back something you thought was lost. Ogwa:węh means "It belongs to us." I am reclaiming what belongs to us. 
  
**Noah Mark**, advisory board member – has been a student of Gayogo̱hó:nǫʼ nigawęnó:dę’ since June, 2021. The mission of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫʼ Learning Project resonates with him as someone who was born and raised on traditionally held Hodihnohso:nih lands and as a descendent of Japanese immigrants who underwent intergenerational loss of language and culture. His past work experience includes grassroots organizing and fundraising on environmental issues and sexual assault prevention, vegetable farming, and research on emerging contaminants. Currently, he serves as technical director of a citizen science-based nonprofit called the Community Science Institute. 
  
**Josephine Martell**, advisory board member –  has lived on Gayogohó:nǫˀ lands for the past ten years and is of French, Scottish, and German heritage. Josephine is a social scientist who studies how message framing and language affects decision making and behavior, and leads the Office of Research Development at Cornell University in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She has over 20 years of experience in policy, research, advocacy, and grant writing. Josephine is a passionate mother of three children and an avid trail runner.
  
**Karen Melamed Smith**, advisory board member – has lived on Gayogohó:nǫˀ land for forty years. With a background in music, philosophy and education, she served as the education director of the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) from 1998-2018 and continues to teach piano and to perform with Music’s Recreation. Of Eastern European Jewish heritage, she has always wondered about the interrelationships of heredity, culture and place and feels honored to learn and support the language that is rooted here.

**Shirley Brown,** advisory board member
  
 
**Contact information** 

[gayogohono.learning.project@gmail.com](mailto:gayogohono.learning.project@gmail.com) 
   

Gayogohó:no’ Learning Project

To flow reciprocity to help protect and regenerate the essential bio-cultural ways of Original Nations and Sacred Territories

Your donation to the Fountain's Flow Fund help us to support our ongoing activities and initiatives. 

*We look forward to sharing our continuing work with you! To be sure to stay up to date, please check the box for email collection to give us permission to add you to our mailing list!*

Flow Funds

We are women from around the planet, dedicated to spreading truth of our divine kinship to our Divine Mother. 

We members of the Founding Circle welcome You to our Global Movement: Divine Mothers Love, Unifying Humanity. This movement is very swiftly and emergently arising from our loving and wisely deepening hearts/souls in response to the desperate need for a new direction and leadership for our human family. It is our intention that loving compassion, kindness, and generosity of spirit envelope our Earth, all Beings, and our Human Family so that Healing and Awakening can spontaneously and easily take place more and more and more. . .

Please read our Mission, Vision & Purpose again to fully immerse yourself and join us:

MISSION

Divine Mothers Love in all its magnificence, power, beauty, and glory is moving us, compelling women to lead now. Our voices and actions burst forth in an Ocean of Great Compassion such that nothing can resist this unfettered and infinite Love. From the Womb of Creation, we are here to inspire!  We are here to lead! We are here to guide our human family into unity, respect, healing, and love! We are birthing the creation of our new civilization. Love in action, everywhere, all at once…

VISION

Women everywhere envision a flourishing Planet where Love’s joy, beauty, peace, harmony and celebration abound.  We cherish and treasure our Mother Earth in all her majesty.  We cherish and treasure humanity in the truth of our divinity: ancient and sovereign - imperishable and everlasting.  We thrive in enlightening partnership with all of creation and the expanding cosmos.

PURPOSE

Women are taking our riteful place bringing love into action to birth a world where violence and war no longer exist.  To the drumbeat of all our loving hearts, we take the helm of transcendent leadership – cultivating integrity and trust to restore balance in our families, our communities, and with Mother Earth.  In responsibility to our human evolution and devotion to the generations ahead of us and behind us, we establish sovereign peace beginning now.

Divine Mothers Love

Providing strategic legal response to protect human rights and defend freedoms

Chapter Four Uganda is an independent a non-profit organisation working to defend civil liberties and promote human rights for all. 

Established in 2013, the organisation works in the courts, legislature and communities to provide bold and innovative legal response through strategic and public interest litigation, first line legal representation, human rights research and documentation, legislative and strategic advocacy, and general counsel support. We work with human rights defenders, pro-democracy actors and civil society organisations - with keen focus on the most vulnerable, underrepresented, and discriminated sections of the society. 

Over the past decade, Chapter Four has grown into a dependable source of integrity, purposeful public interest, and an impartial advocate for justice for all no matter their world view, social, political leaning, or sexual orientation/gender identity. 

Chapter Four Uganda

Treesistance supports groups of Indigenous forest guardians protect their territories,  old growth rainforest and all life within.

Treesistance is a dynamic movement and impact blueprint dedicated to safeguarding the Amazon and forests worldwide. Their approach merges Indigenous knowledge with cutting-edge science to create disruptive models that deliver tangible environmental impact. By forming groups of Indigenous Forest `Guardians, using GPS technology and implementing strategies to halt deforestation , they pioneer forest crime prevention. Empowering Indigenous communities to protect their lands safely and effectively.

The Treesistance Forest Guardian Fund

Providing transformative education to strengthen the movement for Palestinian rights
 

Makan was founded in 2015 by Tamara Ben-Halim and Dr. Tareq Baconi to nurture and amplify the voices of human rights advocates, drive a rights-based narrative forward and ultimately help change the mainstream discussion on Palestine/Israel to one that upholds freedom, justice, and dignity. Today, Makan equips students, grassroots leaders, and organisations within the ecosystem of Palestinian rights and social justice with the tools, knowledge and confidence they need to transform the existing narrative on Palestine/Israel in Britain and beyond, and to advocate for human rights. We connect people to one another, facilitate spaces for learning and exchange, and build community in order to strengthen the ecosystem around us. To date, Makan has: - Supported over 10,000 people globally through our online talks and events  - Directly built the capacities of over 2,900 human rights supporters in Britain & Ireland, Palestine, Europe and the US through our intensive educational training programme - Reached hundreds of thousands of people through our educational content on social media - Become a critical educational resource at the forefront of the ecosystem on Palestine/Israel, and built an excellent reputation for our credibility, our rigorous content & workshops, and our collaborative nature as an organisation.

Makan Rights 

NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power.

DEFEND
We must continue to defend our people, communities, and nations against negative resource extraction that poisons our people, pollutes our water, destroys our land, contributes to climate change and violates our human rights. Doing this through organizing our communities, making our voice heard, and utilizing a wide variety of tactics is imperative in shifting the political and financial systems that are impacting our communities.

DEVELOP
We must continue to develop Indigenous communities in a regenerative and sustainable manner based on our values and connection to land, culture and identity. We need to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. We are doing this through regenerative community development, renewable energy investments and social enterprise development.

DECOLONIZE
We must continue to decolonize our minds, communities, and sovereign nations. The decolonization of our communities and people is directly related to our ability to prosper. Through the revitalization of our Indigenous ceremonies, culture, languages and life ways we will continue to strengthen our identity, and break free from the oppressive systems that disconnect us from achieving the healing growth and connection to spirit that is integral for us as Indigenous people.

NDN Collective 

Flower Hill Institute is a Native-owned, community-directed nonprofit. 

Flower Hill Institute is a Native-owned, community-directed nonprofit. Our objectives include preserving and enhancing cultural resources, preparing youth to inherit leadership, improving economic self-sufficiency, agriculture, food sovereignty and security, and improving outcomes to climate change.

Flower Hill Institute

CHILA provides access to healthcare for the Q’eqchi community in Chisec, Guatemala provided in their native Q'eqchi language.

What are you supporting when you support CHILA’s mission?

When you support CHILA’s mission, you are saving lives
When you support CHILA’s mission, you are alleviating suffering
When you support CHILA’s mission, you are making magic happen…

There is a magic in seeing someone smile because they finally found someone who is listening.  There is magic in the relief that is felt when you help someone feel better.  There is magic when you connect and engage and show someone that you understand.

CHILA is a non-profit health clinic in Chisec Guatemala and access to complex and chronic healthcare services are offered free of charge.  We rely on supporters like you to help us provide access to the highest quality of care for the residents of Chisec and its surrounding mountain villages.  We strive to connect our patients to having and living healthier lives.

Your gift provides:
\~Access to the highest quality of primary medical care
\~Medication and treatment for acute and chronic medical conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, etc.
\~Diagnostic Tests such as blood tests, ultrasound, radiological exams, biopsies etc.
\~Specialty Consults such as orthopedic, pediatric, oncology, surgical etc.
\~Transportation to hospital and clinic visits in Coban (2 hours), Guatemala City (6-8 hours) and other locations
\~Translator services in their Q'eqchi language
\~Monthly Diabetes Clinic

And so much more….

Access to healthcare is so much more than an open clinic door.  It is access to clean water, access to education, women’s rights and gender equity, food security, addressing domestic violence, access to functioning roads, transportation systems.  The health of a person is reliant on so many factors that are happening in a culture and in a community.  Your support is helping CHILA address the many issues that continue to affect health outcomes and access to healthcare in the Chisec community.

CHILA’s Mission:

\~Provide access to high-quality healthcare for the communities in and surrounding the town of Chisec Guatemala.
\~Strengthen and work with the existing community healthcare system.
\~Respect Q'eqchi Maya traditions while incorporating evidence based Western medicine
\~Provide all healthcare in the native Q’eqchi Maya language

\~Provide patient accompaniment to medical and diagnostic appointments. 
\~Deliver excellence in healthcare no matter the ability to pay

Our History and Our Present:

CHILA was started by Brian Smith, MD in the town of Chisec, Guatemala.  Brian served as a member of the Peace Corps in the region and witnessed firsthand the lack of access to healthcare for the population in the area.  Once he returned to the United States, he changed his vocation from engineering to medicine.  He entered medical school and became a physician while concurrently traveling back and forth to Chisec to build and open a medical clinic.  CHILA has grown with the belief that no person should die or be denied healthcare because of where you were born.  After years of providing care to many people in the region, CHILA was recognized as a nonprofit organization in 2019.

Currently, CHILA funds a small group of local medical professionals in Chisec who we pay to provide ongoing  and prescribed care for chronic and complex medical conditions.  Dr. Smith and a contingency of volunteer medical providers from the United States travels to Chisec annually to hold clinics in our Chisec location as well as a variety of villages in the region.  During these clinic days, we see cases of varying levels of complexity.  We are able to treat common ailments during these clinic days as well as establish longer term care plans for more complex and chronic issues.  We provide all these services with translators who can speak in the native Q’eqchi language.

Chila Inc

Partnering with indigenous and other local communities to protect tropical forests and strengthen traditional culture.

We see a future where healthy tropical forests and thriving local communities exist in harmonious relationship with each other, contributing to the well-being of the planet. We believe that our collective future depends on protecting these forests. Our work is focused on stopping threats to the forest and its people, or on mitigating those threats.

Amazon Conservation Team

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We are a nonprofit helping organizations raise more for their missions, so we rely on the generosity of donors like you.

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We are a nonprofit, so instead of charging fees we rely on the generosity of donors like you.

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I believe in gratitude+action and that together we can build a better world. Cofounder at Every.org :)

Let's change the way we eat, let's change the way we live, and let's change the way we treat each other.

founder @ camp.org, expa.com, uber.com & mix.com

Author of 5 #1 NYT/WSJ bestsellers, investor (FB, Uber, Twitter, 50+ more), host of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast (500M+ downloads)