This Friday, August 9th, marks the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, a day dedicated to honoring the rich cultures, traditions, and contributions of indigenous peoples around the globe. This day serves as an opportunity to recognize their resilience and the invaluable role they play in preserving the diversity and vitality of our world.
Proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1994, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples aims to promote and protect the rights of indigenous populations. It also seeks to raise awareness about the issues indigenous communities face, including social, economic, and political challenges.
Two highly respected thought leaders in psychedelics kicked off the 2023 reMind Psychedelics Business Forum with an in-depth fireside chat that explored the indigenous histories with psychedelic medicine, the current status of indigenous human rights, and what every psychedelic professional and entrepreneur needs to know about these sacred medicines to shape better business practices.
The session, titled “The Hopeful Convergence of Indigenous Rights and Modern Industry,” featured Ricardo Baca, Co-Founder of Grasslands: A Journalism-Minded Agency, and Julia Mande, Co-Founder of A2C / Common Field. The conversation explored everything from reciprocity and benefit-sharing, to the cultural differences between cannabis and psychedelics, to specific actions the business community can take to ensure an equitable industry.
“Reciprocity isn’t charity, reciprocity is relational, and conceptually it is a consensual and mutually beneficial. To have mutual benefit there needs to be agency between both parties and a balance of power. Right now where we are as a global society is there is an imbalance of power,” Mande said. “Indigenous wisdom keepers keep these medicines alive, and we are learning from Indigenous technologies like ceremonial practice. Reciprocity is honoring what has been shared.”
To close the conference, Veronica Lightning Horse Perez, a medicine woman and policy reformer, gave a stirring keynote about the healing power of plant medicines. Perez shared her experience building a successful business through clear vision, hard work, and a healing mindset — and why those who practice awareness and reciprocity with plant medicines, who are invested in a bigger vision, will not only be more successful in their work, but also as individuals in their communities and in the world.
To learn more about the roots of psychedelic medicine in indigenous culture — and to support the ongoing work these communities are doing — here are several nonprofits and initiatives worth exploring:
* The RiverStyx Foundation
* Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines
* Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund
* International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS)
* Urban Indigenous Collective
* Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative
* North Star Ethics Pledge
