Spirit Root Medicine People
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Spirit Root Medicine People is a Healing Justice project based in both Mohegan & Ohlone Territories. We offer community healing circles for Indigenous Two Spirit & QTBIPOC relatives. Our circles are offered by 2SQTBIPOC Knowledge Keepers + Culture Bearers toward decolonization, healing and reclamation of our medicine & lifeways.
Above image: SRMP's Afro-Taino Canoe Blessing Ceremony held in Ohlone Territory (2022). |
Meet Our Core Team
Kuya'karanuta'ni Gonzalez - Project Director
Kuya'karanuta'ni Gonzalez (They/Naya) is a Biawaisa (2Spirit) Afro-Borikua Taino Ceremonialist, Sacred Artist, Culture Bearer & Cultural Organizer. Kuya is deeply committed to the work of healing our collective wounds of colonization, modernization & industrialization. They are passionate about creating sacred space & altars for the facilitation of ceremonies rooted in Indigenous wisdom. They are blessed to have been walking on the Red Road for three decades. In addition to being Project Director & core facilitator for Spirit Root Medicine People, Kuya teaches workshops focused on healing, plant medicine making, self care & Ancestral remembrance. They have also taught meditation in forests, prisons & for end of life services. As a caregiver, they have helped many in their journey to the other side. They have completed a year long Mindfulness Yoga & Meditation Training, a year long intensive in Commit to Dharma and a year long intensive in the North American Nonviolent Communication Leadership Program. Kuya has over 2 years of accumulated silent retreat practice, they have completed 4 traditional vision quests & three decades of Indigenous ceremonial practice & Vipassana practice. They are also a Master Gardener & Indigenous Permaculturist.
Ave Padilla - Project Manager
Ave Padilla (they/them) is a queer nonbinary Chicanx femme. They were born on Tiwa territory along the US/Mexico border and are a descendant of the Mexican regions of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and Durango. Ave is passionate about breaking intergenerational cycles of violence and the collective healing and liberation of all QT & BIPOC people. Ave is a Social Worker and spent the last decade supporting families living with cancer. They are a circle keeper for survivors of childhood sexual abuse through Hidden Water, a restorative justice organization. They study holistic healing with a queer, gender nonconforming Indigenous Peruvian teacher. Ave previously served on the board of Health Equity Alliance for LGBTQIA+ New Mexicans (HEAL+NM) and currently serves as the Project Manager for Spirit Root Medicine People.