Come share this Sacred Space with us ~ Be Part of the Story!

Remember how to live as one, close to the earth with

reverence for all life during this five-day ceremonial council.

" It is important to close the gap between humans by gathering the elders and youth in council. When we join the wisdom that the elders carry with the yearning that the youth are experiencing, both are fed, and the circle rejoices through this sacred connection."

~ Tata OmeAkaEhekatl Erick Gonzalez

Spiritual Leader of Earth Peoples United

Secure your space by registering below!

Youth- be sure to take advantage of our special youth price, we need your presence!

The 6th Annual Wisdom Keeper & Youth Council includes Ceremonies and Teachings from Wisdom Keepers from all over of the world. We're grateful to welcome the following spiritual leaders to Deer Mountain this year:

Tata Apolinario Chile Pixtun-

Head of the Mayan Confederation

Head of the Mayan Confederation of Council of Elders
Achi Ijatz, Apolinario Chile Pixtun, is Kaqchikel Maya from Guatemala. He is the Head Coordinator of the Great Confederation of Councils of Principal Mayan Ajq'ijib' (Spiritual Leaders) of the Original Mayan Peoples of Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico, coordinating over ninety Councils. He is an elder Carrier of the Staff of the Mayan Prophesies and Minister of the Staffs of the Sacred Mayan Circle, through the Staff in Washington D.C., United States.

Bobby Lake-Thom -

Medicine Grizzly Bear

Traditional Native Healer

Bobby Lake-Thom Medicine Grizzly Bear is a traditional Native Healer from northwestern California, half Karuk, part Seneca, Cherokee, and (part Anglo) and is an author and was a professor of Native American Studies for over 20 years. He was taught and trained by numerous Native medicine men/women, Native ceremonial leaders, and Tribal Religious leaders.

Hua Anwa-

Metis Elder

Clan Mother Hua Anwa is a Metis Elder and teacher of mixed Mayan and Cherokee descent. She is an adopted Chumash who has been leading ceremony on the Central Coast of California for nearly thirty years. She is the Spiritual Leader of Circles of Empowerment, a Native American inspired Medicine Way.

debassa2

Abba Liban Debassah Guyo -

Oromo Elder

Keeper of the oral histories of the Oromo/Borana people of East Africa. A highly respected seer and mystic and inheritor of a family lineage that preserves the Oromo's knowledge. Originally from Ethiopia, Dabassah established a school in Kenya to preserve Oromo wisdom and tradition.

Nana Amalia

Nana Amalia Tun Chinico -

Mayan Priestess

Nana Amalia is a Mayan Spiritual Guide from

Guatemala who works with the Ancestral Medicines.

She also teaches about the environment and

works to preserve Sacred Sites.

Kawennakon Bonnie Whitlow -

Mohawk Bear Clan Language Keeper

Kawennakon Bonnie Whitlow, Mohawk Bear Clan from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territories, is a Mohawk Language Instructor at Onkwawenna Kentyohkwa, the Adult Mohawk Immersion program at the Six Nations reservation, and she recently developed a Mohawk language nest for young children. She has also worked with Cayuga elders in her community dedicated to sharing Haudenosaunee cultural ways and teachings with all people to reconnect with their cultural identity.

Rod McAfee-

Akimel O'odham (Pima) elder

Raised "by the desert" on his Arizona reservation, Rod McAfee witnessed the assimilation of most of his family by Western religions, education, and culture, and still retained his native language and beliefs. He is intimately connected to the original medicine of water. A former drug and alcohol counselor for the Native American Rehabilitation Association, Rod is a pipe carrier and active in ceremonies throughout the United States.

Patrick Scott

Traditional Navajo Artist

Born in Tuba City, AZ and raised at White Mesa, Patrick Scott is of the Bitterwater Clan. Raised very traditionally, Patrick did not speak any English until he was introduced to the boarding school system at age seven. His creations can be found in permanent collections of major museums as well as galleries and private collections that span the globe. His ceremonial prayer fans, gourd rattles, staff sets and drumsticks are valued by the Native American community for use in their own tribal ceremonies, healing rituals and other religious purposes.

Juan Rafael Arteaga Salazar

Spiritual name Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl-

Mexica Elder

Juan Rafael Arteaga Salazar has been a Conchero Dancer (Traditional Aztec Dance) since 1989 and member of the Council of Elders of Tenochtitlan (2004) whose mission is to restore and preserve the ancient Aztec knowledge. He was responsible for lighting the sacred fire in Tenochtitlan in 2004, and in Tlatelolco in 2005.

He was a collaborator for the spiritual unification between México and Spain (1991), and he promoted the gathering between groups that have kept the ancient knowledge between Mexico and Spain.

His paternal ancestors are the Basque people, and his maternal ancestors are the Aztec and Purepechas indigenous people from Mexico.

Sweet Medicine Sweet Medicine Nation-

Delegate for the Indigenous Congress of the Americas

Sweet Medicine Nation is a gifted healer, artist, educator, singer, author and storyteller who shares her lessons with passion, kindness, eloquence, wisdom, and humor, awakening us to the sacred realities present everywhere. She lectures and conducts workshops worldwide on cultural anthropology and comparative religions symbology. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Four Winds Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and sustainability of Native Ways within our world family. Of Chickasaw/Choctaw descent, Sweet Medicine is honored as a Delegate for the Indigenous Congress of the Americas.

Whitewolf Switzer

Welsh-American Healer

Whitewolf is a spiritual healer, singing doctor and herb gatherer, and practices polarity therapy and therapeutic massage in cooperation with medical professionals and American Indian tribal health programs. He has worked throughout California and traveled abroad to England, Ireland and Wales to teach Polarity healing. Whitewolf co-taught Spiritual Healing with the Rev. Marion Butler of Ystradgynlais, Wales. Through long association with various Native American Medicine people, Whitewolf is a Ritual Elder with great knowledge and understanding in the ways of the sweat lodge ceremony. Whitewolf resides near Clearlake, California.

Tahnagha Tahnahga Myers Mohawk & Adopted Anishinabe Medicine Woman

Tahnahga Myers is a Taino, Mohawk woman who was adopted into the Anishinabe way by a medicine woman of the Midwest. For 23 years, Tahnahga was an apprentice with this teacher Grandmother Keewaydinoquay, an Anishinaabeg Elder of the Crane Clan and a scholar, ethno-botanist, herbalist, medicine woman, teacher, and author. Tahnahga also earned a degree in Rehabilitation Counseling with an emphasis on chemical dependency and traditional healing methods for Native people. Tahnahga's work comes from her deep sense of her identity as a Native woman. She uses her ancestral teachings to work for peace, comfort, growth, and healing.

Others that will be joining us include:

Washoe Wisdom Keeper - Renee Smokey