Overview

Each of us descends from people who once knew how to belong to a place. Somewhere in our lineage were ancestors who spoke to the rivers, honored the seasons, and knew themselves as kin to the land. For many people of European descent living on Turtle Island (aka the Americas), that memory has been buried under centuries of displacement, empire, and forgetting. What's left is often a quiet disconnection, and for many, a heavy sense of shame about the harm done by those who came before us. This two-session interactive introductory course offers an invitation to begin again. 

A bird needs two wings to fly. In this course, we offer tools for 1) Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples of the lands we live in and 2) Metabolizing both the beautiful and the broken timelines of our own lineages into strong paths forward. In addition to solidarity tools straight from Indigenous instructors, we will also honor the lineage wing by reconnecting with our European Indigenous roots–ancestral stories and land-based cultural practices–so we can stand in right relationship on the land we now call home.

Dr. Lyla June Johnston, Hilary Giovale, Maija Danilova West, and Adrian Seneca Bello will guide the sessions, together with a circle of guest facilitators. This is a space for beginners, and no prior experience with ancestral work is needed. We will move slowly, making space to feel,  integrate, and connect. We will hold both the grief of what was lost and the beauty and hope of what can be re-membered. Through teaching, reflection, and small-group breakout conversations, we'll explore how letting go of shame opens the way to becoming agents of love, life, and healing, in service to the land and all who live here.

We will also provide paths forward for those who want to continue deepening their understanding and expanding their toolkit.

In this course, you will:

• Learn healthy practices and worldviews of our ancient European ancestors and the land-based ways of knowing that live in your European lineage

• Explore the "two wings" framework, and see how responsibility to our lineage and solidarity with Indigenous communities work together

• Loosen the grip of shame toward agency, grounded action, and self-love

• Hold the polarity of grief and hope: remember the past while looking toward the future we want to help create

• Create an ancestor altar, a living practice of remembrance you can come back to after the course

• Connect in small-group breakouts with others on this path, so you don't have to do this work alone

Course Logistics

• White and European-descended identifying folks are welcome to register.

• This course takes place online on two Sundays, Dec. 6 & 13 

  • Sessions are from 9-11am Pacific Time (time zone converter) 

  • Resources, and access to our international Community Forum are available after registration 

Pay what you can

This conference is available on a sliding scale basis from $1 - ∞. No one is turned away for lack of funds.

100% net of proceeds from ReHuman tuition is invested in Indigenous-led ecological restoration projects with over $37,000 given to date.