In the days of old, when a person lost their way, the elders would say: "Go back to the forest. Walk with the medicines. Listen again."
WILD! Healing is a return to that ancient remembering. It is not simply a program. It is a journey — a walk across time and continents, guided by healers, farmers, herbalists, and wisdom keepers who still remember how to call the body back to life. Across two days of virtual immersion, you travel a living landscape of ancestral healing, culminating in a third day on the land: a glorious feast and festival in the woods, where the community celebrates the miracle of healing and honors those who heal the healers.
Why now
A refusal to surrender our bodies
We have all been witness — to the poisoning of our food and water, to the slow violence of a world that forgot how sacred the body is, to the diseases awakened inside us.
And still, you are here. Still breathing. Still searching for a path back to life. WILD! Healing gathers international healers, farmers, herbalists, and physicians not to dominate illness, but to outnumber it with wisdom. It is an infrastructure of survival — a living sanctuary where healing is communal, sacred, and possible.
Meet Our Past Luminaries
Honoring the supporters and partners of Restore Forward and The Reconciliation Center, whose extraordinary work and enduring legacies enrich our lives.
For the ones who know the language of symptoms, who have heard the word diagnosis spoken aloud, who live with the quiet vigilance of survival — this letter is for you.
Choose how you’ll join us — the two online days, the gathering on the land, or a patron seat that holds space for someone who couldn't otherwise be there.
Leave your email for occasional word on WILD! Healing — the program, the speakers, and the gathering on the land. No noise, only what matters.
The Invitation
A love letter to those who survived illness
Read it slowly. It was written for you.
Beloved,
This is a call to healing. Not the kind that comes only in sterile rooms or printed prescriptions. But the kind that rises from the earth itself. The kind that remembers what our ancestors knew before forgetting became policy. Before healing became industry. Before the language of medicine stopped listening to the wisdom of plants and soil and rivers.
There are ways we have forgotten.
Ways that knew how to cool inflammation with leaves.Ways that knew how to strengthen blood with roots.Ways that knew how to quiet the nervous system with the rhythm of drum and breath.Ways that taught the body how to return.
And now the whisper is rising again. From forests. From farms. From grandmothers who still remember the names of plants. From great-grandmothers whose prayers still hover over our bloodlines.
They whisper across time: You were never meant to heal alone.
This is an invitation. An invitation to step into an infrastructure of survival. A living sanctuary where we begin again. A place where healing is not rushed. Where bodies are listened to. Where symptoms are not dismissed but understood as messages.
A place where we walk with medicine. Where we learn the language of herbs again. Where food returns to its sacred role as nourishment, not harm. Where the soil teaches the body how to regenerate. Where international healers, farmers, herbalists, and physicians gather not to dominate illness, but to outnumber it with wisdom.
A place where we remember that healing is communal. And sacred. And possible.
We call it WILD! Healing.
Not wild in chaos. Wild in the way forests are wild — self-repairing, intelligent, abundant with remedies waiting to be discovered.
Here we resurrect knowledge buried beneath centuries of forgetting. Here we make room for miracles. Here we honor those who have survived illness and those who stand beside them. Here we sit at long tables beneath trees and eat foods that nourish the blood. Here drums echo through the woods and dancers carry the stories of resilience in their feet. Here the healers are honored. And the healers of healers are honored too.
And as the evening lanterns glow between the trees, something ancient happens again. A remembering. You begin to feel it in your chest. A softening. A breath that travels deeper than it has in years.
And perhaps, just perhaps, you hear them. The voices of your grandmothers. The voices of your great-grandmothers. Leaning close to your spirit. Whispering over your life the words that have always belonged to you:
Be well.
So we ask you now — gently, with reverence for everything you have endured:
Are you ready to be well?
If you are — come walk with us. Come walk with the medicines. Come walk toward the miracle of your own healing.
You enter through a virtual gateway — an opening ritual that calls the spirit of the ancestors and the land. A singing bowl rings. A drumbeat begins. The screen opens onto forests, gardens, and medicine fields from around the world. A voice says: "Welcome to the medicine walk."
Sep9
Day One · September 9 · Online · 10am–5pm ET
The Reckoning
— the body, birth, bloodline, trauma, and root causes
The day unfolds along the continuum of life — we revisit each stage to imagine what it looks like when we restore the wisdom of health we once knew.
Awaken
Health sovereignty begins at birth
African mystic, author, healer, and midwife, Dr. Motsei awakens us to the reality that health sovereignty begins at birth—a sacred act that restores our severed connections to ancestors and the earth, transforming the lives of generations past, present, and future.
Reflect
What our people once knew
Holistic health practitioner, Naimah Efia, guides us on our first reflection in self-determined healing, regulating our nervous systems as we reckon with what our people once knew about healing that the world taught us to forget.
Refuse
Leaving the medical industrial complex
Integrative physician and OBGYN, Dr. Nathan Riley, guides us through his departure from the medical industrial complex, illustrating why holistic reproductive health and preconception care are essential to our survival—weaving together environmental exposure, nutrition, and epigenetics to reveal birth as a profound physiological, spiritual, and ecological experience.
Regulate
Guided practices of somatic synthesis
nervous system resetbreathworkmeditationsound healing
Reindigenize
From the body to the collective Earth
A Kanien’kehá:ka/Mohawk leader, Iakowi:he’ne’ Oakes, and Farah Tanis expand the continuum of healing from the individual body to the collective Earth, illuminating how the poisoning of our rivers, forests, and soil—alongside the disruption of traditional food systems—has fractured both Indigenous ecosystems and community health and well-being.
Integrate
A whole-person standard of care
Dr Neena Van Luven, an Internal Medicine Physician, specializing in Integrative Cancer Care, explores how environmental toxicity, nutrient depletion, and chronic stress disrupt our internal terrain, driving inflammation and chronic disease. By bridging internal medicine with root-cause inquiry, she exposes the limitations of conventional symptom-based care, urging a shift toward truly integrative health.
Map
A personal map of your own history
Guided by holistic health practitioner, Naimah Efia, we begin creating a personal map of our own history—tracing the threads of stress, environment, and relationships to understand exactly where our vitality is being nurtured and where it is being depleted.
Navigate
Root-cause medicine, made practical
Integrative physician Dr. Jean-Baptiste translates root-cause medicine into a practical framework for health sovereignty, equipping us with the questions to ask, patterns to track, supports to build, and informed choices to explore with our practitioners.
Sep10
Day Two · September 10 · Online · 10am–5pm ET
The Resurrection
— unearth the truth
The Resurrection unearths the truth: food is medicine, soil and body are one, and the apothecary was only waiting to be found. Join healers, farmers, and physicians to weave clinical wisdom back into our collective life. Rise carrying your first practices of reclamation—and a summons to the land itself.
Rebuild
The terrain where healing thrives
Be guided beyond the limitations of isolated diagnoses. By exploring the biological terrain where illness develops and healing thrives, understand the holistic conditions required to restore our vital health, moving from reactive management toward proactive well-being.
Witness
Our bodies are not failures
Farah Tanis reframes our bodies as witnesses to our lived experiences rather than as failures, highlighting how chronic stress impacts our physiological health. By acknowledging the pathways of stress-induced illness, she encourages us to interrupt these cycles without the burden of shame or blame. She will guide us through a practical protocol for regulation and recovery, empowering us to become active participants in our own healing journey.
Cultivate
Soil health and human vitality
A Kanien’kehá:ka/Mohawk leader, Katsitsienhawi Iakoskarewake (Tiffany Cook) and Alicia Luhrssen-Zombek reveal the living connection between soil health and human vitality. By exploring regenerative farming and the biodiversity of nutrient-rich food, they illuminate how ecological stewardship—from the rivers to the gut—serves as the ultimate preventive medicine for our community well-being.
Root
The apothecary in our own backyards
Kanien’kehá:ka/Mohawk leaders, Eddie Gray of Turtle Clan and Della Adams of Snipe Clan, invite us on a medicine walk across their land, re-introducing us to the ancient apothecary found in our own backyards.
Resonate
Listening to the plants
Karen Rose guides us through the sensory landscape of the apothecary. Using scent, touch, and the living folklore of herbs, she teaches us how to listen to the plants and incorporate their ancestral wisdom into our daily rituals of restoration, proving that the apothecary was never lost—only waiting to be remembered.
Converge
An infrastructure of healing
In a culminating roundtable, our faculty weaves together clinical wisdom, food sovereignty, and ancestral practice. Together, we explore what a true infrastructure of healing looks like when our community, culture, and care systems are designed to support the wholeness of our lives, closing with a call to bring this work onto the land.
Sep11
Day Three · September 11 · On the road
The Reclamation
— the day you set out for the land
Day three moves from embodiment to the road. This is the journey itself — you travel to the land, body settled for the trip, arriving where the gathering unfolds in person on September 12. Now you set out for the woods — settled, awake, and holding what you chose to bring.
A word for the road
Why the land is medicine
A truth carried down through Indigenous lineage, to hold as you travel: that the land is not a backdrop to healing, but the healer itself.
the land as ancestorthe spiritual side of healinggrief as medicinereciprocity with the earth
In the days of old, when a person lost their way, the elders would say: go back to the forest. Walk with the medicines. Listen again. Day three is the day you begin to walk.
You do not travel to the land to be healed by it. You travel to remember you were never separate from it.
An offering of your own
A way to honor someone
After all you have received across Day One and Day Two, the journey opens a ritual that is yours alone. A seed or a tree to plant, or a small thing you hold dear — brought to the land in honor of a name:
a seed, for someone who didn't make ita tree, for someone healing right nowa keepsake, in honor of yourself
name the one it is for, and why
keep it close as you travel
let what you feel travel alongside it
plant it, or leave it, on the land
What will you bring, and whose name will you speak into the soil?
Preparing the body for the journey
Keep your nervous system regulated
A pilgrimage is asked of the body as much as the spirit. We know there's a flight to catch, a ride to arrange, a train to board. Before you close the screen and set out, you tend the nervous system so you travel settled, open, and awake:
grounding & breathworkancestral prayer for the roadsetting an intention for arrival
This day is a pilgrimage, a medicine walk across time and continents; you travel regulated, holding what you chose to bring, ready to arrive not as a guest but as one coming home.
The journey to the land is just as sacred as the land itself.
Getting there
How to reach the land
The gathering is on the land at Restore Forward, Ava, New York. However you travel, here's how to arrive:
By air
From your destination city, the nearest airport to listed lodging and the event site is Syracuse Hancock International Airport. From the airport, it's about an hour's drive to Restore Forward.
As dusk settles over the forest, lanterns glow between the trees. Tables are set beneath the canopy. Wildflowers and branches decorate the space. The air fills with the sound of drums. This is not a gala — this is a ceremony of gratitude.
The dinner is prepared entirely with healing foods. Each dish tells a story of land and lineage. Food becomes prayer.
Regenerative vegetables from the land
Medicinal herbs introduced like elders
Ancestral grains that carry lineage
Fermented tonics for the microbiome
Restorative broths to nourish the blood
The Performance
The forest becomes a stage
Drummers begin. Dancers emerge from between the trees. Ancestral movement traditions unfold — African healing dances, Caribbean rhythm ceremonies, Indigenous drum invocations. The performance tells the story of humanity's relationship with the earth.
How we forgot. How we suffered. How we returned.
Honoring the Healers
At the height of the evening, the gathering pauses
Names are called. Those who heal the healers are honored — and each honoree receives a blessing. The crowd stands. Drums rise.
community herbalistsmidwivesfarmerscaregiversphysicianseldersactivists who refused to let their people disappear
Miracles are not accidents. They are what happens when we remember how to live.
The Closing Ritual
Around a communal fire
The lead elder speaks. The invitation is clear: this program is not the end of the journey — it is the beginning. A return to the sacred responsibility of healing ourselves, our communities, and the land.
"In the days of old, people could rise. Not because they were stronger, but because they remembered who they were."
On the land · self-guided
Walk the grounds at your own rhythm
Between the gatherings, the land holds quiet stations — practices to wander into whenever the spirit calls.
Forest bathing
Slow immersion among the trees — letting the woods reach the nervous system.
Fire & drum circle
Rhythm and flame after dark — the oldest medicine for the body and the chest.
Dedicate a tree
Plant and name a tree on the land — a living root left behind for those who come after.
The Mother Tree
Meditation and care at the oldest tree — supporting the one that supports the grove.
Self-guided harvesting
Planting, seeding, weeding — learning stations for hands in the soil.
Grounding station
Bare feet, breath, and earth — a place to remember the body belongs here.
Stargazing
As the lanterns dim, the sky opens — quiet wonder beneath the canopy's edge.
Breathwork & yoga
Self-guided movement and breath in the open air, at your own pace.
Learning stations
Short self-paced workshops scattered through the grounds — medicine walks and more.
Where we gather
Ava, New York
The Reconciliation Center 11518 Webster Hill Road Ava, NY (Boonville)
The in-person gathering on Day Three unfolds on the Restore Forward land — in the forests and fields of upstate New York.
Tickets are open. Choose how you'll walk with us — join the two online days, come to the gathering on the land, or fund a seat for someone who needs one.
Leave your email and we'll keep you posted on the gathering — and nothing else.
Bringing a group, an elder, a healer to honor, or hoping to partner with us? Get in touch or write to info@restoreny.org, and tell us who you'd walk in with.
Contact
Reach the circle
Questions about the gathering, bringing a group, partnering with us, or a healer you'd like to honor — write below, or email us directly. A real person reads every note.
Send a message
Write to us
Tell us a little about why you're reaching out — we'll write back.
Prefer email?
Write to us directly
Email the team anytime. A real person reads every message and will write back — usually within a few days, and sooner as the gathering nears.
Dr. Jesse A. Stoff is an integrative physician and clinical immunologist who has spent more than three decades focused on the immune system and its role in healing. He earned his BA in biology, cum laude, from Adelphi University, and his MD from New York Medical College in 1981 — followed by postgraduate training that included a family-practice residency year and a fellowship in emergency medicine, and postdoctoral study in clinical medicine and homeopathy at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital in London, England.
He is founder and Medical Director of Integrative Medicine of New York (formerly Linchitz Medical Wellness) on Long Island, where the work centers on immunotherapy for autoimmune disease, onco-immunology for cancer, and preventative medicine. His approach draws on clinical immunology and the principle of biochemical individuality, integrating conventional and holistic modalities to help restore immune function and the body’s own capacity to heal. He has taught integrative immunology within Dr. Andrew Weil’s Integrative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Arizona and consulted for Cancer Treatment Centers of America.
Beyond his practice, Dr. Stoff founded the Stoff Institute for Medical Research, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit devoted to public education, patient advocacy, and consultation on immune-system disorders and immune reconstitution. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a Fellow of the American College of Longevity Medicine, an elected member of the Male Breast Cancer Coalition’s Clinical Advisory Board, and serves on the executive board of the New York Cancer Resource Alliance.
A prolific author, he is best known for the bestselling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Hidden Epidemic and The Prostate Miracle, and more recently the medical text Clinical Immunology, Volume 1: Integrative Onco-Immunology — reflecting a career-long emphasis on integrative, immune-centered care.
MD, New York Medical College (1981); BA in biology, Adelphi University
Postdoctoral study in homeopathy, Royal London Homeopathic Hospital
Fellow, American Academy of Family Physicians (FAAFP)
Fellow, American College of Longevity Medicine
Founder & Medical Director, Integrative Medicine of New York
Founder, Stoff Institute for Medical Research (501c3)
Focus: clinical immunology, integrative onco-immunology, autoimmune & preventative medicine
Selected booksChronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Hidden Epidemic · The Prostate Miracle · Clinical Immunology, Vol. 1: Integrative Onco-Immunology
Tickets are open. Join the speakers at WILD! Healing — September 9–12, 2026.
Dr. Dieudonné Jean-Baptiste is a Haitian physician and the founder and lead physician of La Clinique PHI — a functional, integrative and longevity medicine practice in Pétion-Ville, in metropolitan Port-au-Prince. He holds a Doctor of Medicine and a Master of Science in Public Health from the Université de Montréal, and is a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner (CFMP).
His clinical philosophy is rooted in what he calls la médecine des causes — the medicine of root causes. Rather than treating disease by name, PHI seeks to understand why the body has lost its capacity to repair itself, and to help it recover that capacity. Conventional medicine, as he frames it, excels at managing crises and relieving symptoms; but for chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and persistent fatigue, his work asks why the problem appeared in the first place — with an emphasis on the foundations of health: sleep, stress, movement and nutrition.
At La Clinique PHI, care follows a structured method of evaluation, treatment, reassessment and follow-up, guided by three stated values: scientific excellence, transparency and education, and integrity and empathy. The clinic frames its mission as transforming health through the medicine of causes, under the tagline “La médecine, autrement !” — “Medicine, differently.”
Dr. Jean-Baptiste is an active public voice for functional medicine in Haiti, featured by the Haitian outlet Juno7 and interviewed on LE POINT, the current-affairs program of Métropole Télé, on his root-cause approach to chronic disease and healthy longevity. He also writes for the clinic’s blog, teaching on topics from detoxification to metabolic health.
Founder & lead physician, La Clinique PHI, Pétion-Ville, Haiti
MD · MSc, Public Health, Université de Montréal
Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner (CFMP)
Practices functional / integrative / longevity (“root-cause”) medicine
Public advocate for functional medicine in Haitian media (Juno7; LE POINT / Métropole Télé)
Tickets are open. Join the speakers at WILD! Healing — September 9–12, 2026.
MD · Dual board-certified in OB/GYN and Hospice & Palliative Medicine
Dr. Nathan Riley is a dual board-certified obstetrician–gynecologist and hospice & palliative medicine physician who practices holistic women’s health in Louisville, Kentucky. He earned his MD from Temple University, completed his OB/GYN residency at Kaiser in Los Angeles, and his fellowship in Hospice & Palliative Medicine at UC San Diego — a rare pairing that lets him care for people across the full arc of life.
Through his practice, Beloved Holistics, he serves women and families looking for more than the conventional model. His care runs from pre-conception and fertility through home birth and the whole of reproductive life, working with the body’s own intelligence rather than against it. He also offers a comprehensive online support program to support families who wish to have autonomy from conception through postpartum called Born Free Method, which was co-created with midwife Sara Rosser, CPM.
Having accompanied families through both birth and loss, Dr. Riley brings uncommon depth to fertility, perinatal care, and health optimization at every stage. A vocal advocate for physiologic birth, midwifery collaboration, and personal agency in health, he shares this work widely as host of Born Free Method, the podcast.
Dual board-certified: Obstetrics & Gynecology; Hospice & Palliative Medicine
MD, Temple University
OB/GYN residency, Kaiser (Los Angeles)
Fellowship, Hospice & Palliative Medicine, UC San Diego
Founder, Beloved Holistics — holistic women’s health, Louisville, KY
Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk), Bear Clan · Food as Medicine
Katsitsienhawi Iakoskarewake (Tiffany Cook) is a grandmother and mother of three. She runs a successful juicing and nutritional support initiative that brings healing through food to the tribe. She also has a farm and indoor facility where she grows all of her own microgreens for her business, helping people get off their diabetes pills, heal and detox from the poisonous environment surrounding them.
Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk), Bear Clan
Juicing & nutritional support initiative serving the tribe
Farms her own microgreens for the business
Focus: food as medicine, metabolic health, detoxification
Tickets are open. Join the speakers at WILD! Healing — September 9–12, 2026.
Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk), Turtle Clan · Traditional Medicine
Eddie Gray is a medicine man, cultural knowledge holder, and community educator. He is a lifelong resident of Akwesasne, born and raised on his homelands with the language and culture as part of his upbringing. Eddie has been in many leadership positions throughout the years. He recently retired from the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne as a knowledge holder for the Traditional Medicine Program.
He also has served on the traditional council of chiefs within the Iroquois Confederacy representing the Turtle Clan since the mid 80’s, notably negotiating and working alongside other tribes, on treaties, policies, and at the United Nations. Currently, Eddie, alongside Della Adams, has started the Haudenosaunee Everlasting Academy of Learnings (HEAL). This new healing lodge teaches cultural approaches and ancestral medicine for holistic healing for members of the Akwesasne community.
Medicine man, cultural knowledge holder and community educator
Lifelong resident of Akwesasne
Retired knowledge holder, Traditional Medicine Program, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne
Traditional council of chiefs, Iroquois Confederacy — Turtle Clan, since the mid 1980s
Co-founder, Haudenosaunee Everlasting Academy of Learnings (HEAL)
Tickets are open. Join the speakers at WILD! Healing — September 9–12, 2026.
Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk), Snipe Clan · Traditional Medicine
Della Adams is a traditional medicine holder and wholistic health educator that is based in Akwesasne. Della has been deeply embedded in serving her community through education and community organizing. In 2021, Della retired from the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne as a wholistic health and wellness worker for the Traditional Medicine Program after 22 years.
In 2022 Della, alongside Eddie Gray, launched the Haudenosaunee Everlasting Academy of Learnings (HEAL), a traditional holistic healing lodge that serves the community of Akwesasne with teachings of medicines, ceremonies, workshops, teaching seminars, treatment rooms, and healing sessions.
Traditional medicine holder and wholistic health educator
Based in Akwesasne
22 years with the Traditional Medicine Program, Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (retired 2021)
Co-founder, Haudenosaunee Everlasting Academy of Learnings (HEAL), 2022
Tickets are open. Join the speakers at WILD! Healing — September 9–12, 2026.
Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) · Founder & Director, North American Indigenous Center of New York
Iakowi:he’ne’ Oakes is a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) multidisciplinary artist, leader, and advocate dedicated to advancing Indigenous sovereignty and land stewardship. Born and raised in Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, she has spent her career focused on nation-building and cultural revitalization through a diverse range of artistic and athletic endeavors. An inaugural Lortel Indigenous Theatermaker awardee in 2023, Oakes integrates performance, design, and advocacy to strengthen Indigenous presence and social justice across bicultural landscapes.
As the founder and director of the North American Indigenous Center of New York (NAIC-NY), Oakes has established a vital community hub in downtown Manhattan. Her leadership has spearheaded numerous initiatives, including the Northeastern Native Arts Festival, Native Census NYC, and Indigenous language forums, alongside wellness programming like the FIT Native workout series. Through traditional gatherings, empowerment workshops, and contemporary arts seminars, she continues to foster cultural advocacy and provide essential platforms for Indigenous programming and community connection.
Tickets are open. Join the speakers at WILD! Healing — September 9–12, 2026.
Birth worker · Founder, Sanctuary for Integrative Medicine
Sevonna Brown is a maternal health visionary, birth worker, and founder of Sanctuary for Integrative Medicine, a community-rooted model of maternal wellness integrating clinical care, ancestral wisdom, childbirth education, birth support, and holistic healing. For more than 15 years, Sevonna has worked at the intersection of maternal health, reproductive justice, and systems transformation. Her work centers on health sovereignty and the belief that every person deserves to experience pregnancy, birth, and parenthood with dignity, safety, cultural connection, and care.
Sevonna also serves as Treasurer of Restore Forward, where she supports the organization’s financial stewardship and long-term sustainability as it advances racial, reproductive, and health justice through community-rooted wellness and systems change. A Gates Millennium Scholar and NGen Fellow, Sevonna has contributed to maternal health research, policy, and community-based initiatives nationally and internationally. Her work has been featured in Aftershock and The Business of Birth Control. Through Sanctuary for Integrative Medicine, she continues to build a more sacred, integrative, and equitable future for birthing people, families, and communities.
Tickets are open. Join the speakers at WILD! Healing — September 9–12, 2026.
Educator, restorative grower & community program developer
Alicia Zombek is an educator, restorative grower, and community-based program developer whose work connects plant and soil science, food systems, community engagement, and social justice.
With more than twenty years of experience in community-based program development, agricultural education, and food systems, Alicia draws on her background in sustainability and soil science to inform her teaching and practice. Her work explores soil health, biodiversity, regenerative agriculture, food justice, food sovereignty, and the connections among diet, human health, agriculture, and environmental sustainability. Her experience includes Cornell University, Restore Forward, Hamilton College, Northeast Organic Farming Association, Mohawk Valley Community College, and community-led agricultural initiatives throughout New York and Massachusetts.
Alicia brings principles of restorative justice into her relationship with land and growing systems, exploring what repair, fairness, participation, and care can mean when the environment is understood as part of the community. Her approach makes space for soil, plants, water, people, and the living systems that sustain us. It also recognizes that whether someone is encountering the land for the first time or carrying knowledge passed through generations, everyone has a place to learn, contribute, and belong.
Her work centers restorative, land-based practices that strengthen biodiversity, climate resilience, food sovereignty, and our relationships with the living world.
Tickets are open. Join the speakers at WILD! Healing — September 9–12, 2026.
Dr. Mmatshilo Motsei is a South African healer, guide, Indigenous midwife, scholar and cultural expert. She is the founder of Afrika Ikalafe, an organization that specialises in personal and societal transformation based on African spiritual principles. Her overall aim is to uncover the truth that Africa is great and powerful and that, because of the poisoning of our mind, our soul is afflicted. Consequently, Africa’s traumatic past has led to a condition which calls for multigenerational healing, hence the name Afrika Ikalafe, which means “Afrika Heal Thyself.”
She holds a Doctorate in Sociology from University of Pretoria. In her quest to decolonise childbirth practices in post-apartheid South Africa, her research focus is on the role of indigenous midwifery in countering obstetric violence. She is a recipient of two Honorary Doctorates: one in Community Psychology from the University of Zululand for her integrative healing work with women and men, and another in Social Professions from the Faculty of Health at Nelson Mandela University for her work in using the indigenous healing justice framework to respond to sexual violence in South Africa.
Dr. Motsei started her career as a nurse, midwife, nursing lecturer, social science researcher and community development facilitator. She is the author of six books. In honor of her work, she received numerous awards, including the UN Scroll of Honour Award for her efforts in involving men as part of the solution to violence against women.
Founder, Afrika Ikalafe, South Africa
BA Hons in Psychology; MA in Creative Writing; PhD in Sociology (University of Pretoria)
Honorary Doctorate, Social Science Professions, Nelson Mandela University
Honorary Doctorate, Community Psychology, University of Zululand
Leading Feminist Voice in Africa Fellowship, King’s College London, 2022
Advisory Committee, Urgent Action Fund Africa, 2021–2023
Recipient of the UN Scroll of Honour Award
Selected booksKanga and the Kangaroo Court · Hearing Visions · Reweaving the Soul of the Nation
Tickets are open. Join the speakers at WILD! Healing — September 9–12, 2026.
The WILD! Healing gathers on the land at Restore Forward, Ava, New York. However you travel, here's how to arrive.
By air
From your destination city, the nearest airport to listed lodging and the event site is Syracuse Hancock International Airport. From the airport, it's about an hour's drive to Restore Forward.
The nearest Amtrak station is Utica — about a 35-minute drive from the land at Restore Forward.
43.4136° N · 75.3993° W
WILD! Stays
Lodges, hotels, treehouses, and grottos
Located in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, the location boasts more than 2,000 miles of hiking trails, over 3,000 lakes and ponds and 1,200 miles of rivers. Restore Forward's land features pavilions and hammocks, meditation yurts, an open meadow, and a 12,000 square foot event space. If you walk to the edge of the forest you will find a peaceful point. We are a preservation space for the natural world, including wetlands and Monarch butterflies. The land lends guests to hours of sun and forest bathing. The Gala will take place in the Woods at Restore Forward.
Nearby hotels & lodging — approximate drive times from the land
Join us for an unforgettable evening in the woods, and help us make WILD! Healing, a Harvest of Medicine, a success! This unique Feast and Festival will feature a Dinner and Theater performance by our artists and youth in residence.
Volunteer Opportunities: We are looking for 100 WILD! Volunteers to help with various tasks to ensure the event runs smoothly on-site.
Roles include
Event Setup and Breakdown
Registration and Guest Services
Food and Beverage Service
Parking and Transportation Assistance
Performance Support
General Support
Logistics Coordinators
Technical Support
Hospitality Hosts
Environmental Stewards
Medical and Safety Support
Runners
Social Media and Photography
Why volunteer?
Be part of a meaningful initiative that promotes mental health through arts and nature.
Gain experience in event management and hospitality.
Network with professionals and community leaders.
Enjoy the beautiful setting of The Clearing at Restore Forward.
Honoring the supporters and partners of Restore Forward and The Reconciliation Center, whose extraordinary work and enduring legacies enrich our lives.
Minnie GarrowThe Minnie Garrow Forest of Herbs and Botanicals
Abigail DisneyLegacy Theater
Tarana BurkeCenters for Recy Taylor
Ariel JacobsonChildren's Natural Playscape
Dara CooperFood Sovereignty Farm
Robert Burgdorf, Esq.The Robert Burgdorf Legacy Library
Iakowi:he'ne' OakesPeople of the Flint / Kanienʼkehá꞉ka
Lisa LatochaPeople of the Standing Stone / Onyota'a:ka
Stephen Fantuzzo, Esq.The Stephen Fantuzzo Fountain of Equality
Nan StolzenburgThe Nan Stolzenburg Peaceful Edge
Rebecca A. MinasThe Rebecca A. Minas Universal Design Lab
Cheyenna WeberThe Cheyenna Weber and Jim Johnson Cooperative Trails
Jim JohnsonThe Cheyenna Weber and Jim Johnson Cooperative Trails
Greg LesniakThe Greg Lesniak Guardians of Hidden Waters
Robinson LynnThe Robinson Lynn Clearing of Infinite Pathways
Christina L. JausThe Christina L. Jaus First Seeds Meadow
LR
Lynn RosenthalThe Lynn Rosenthal Sanctuary of Safe Passage
Quentin WalcottThe Quentin Walcott Grove of Gentle Strength
RH
Rosie HidalgoThe Rosie Hidalgo Hearth of Belonging
Dr. Indira HenardThe Dr. Indira Henard Legacy Grove & Leadership Sanctuary
Amita SwadhinThe Amita Swadhin Mirror Pool
Teresa C. YoungerThe Teresa C. Younger Springs of Abundance
Women/Femmes of the National Black Food and Justice AllianceThe Seed and Food Ceremonial Space
KalliopeiaThe Kalliopeia Foundation Pond
H.O.L.L.AThe Radical Healing and Resistance Camp
Restore ForwardFounding Cooperative Board
Restore Forward Board
Sponsorship
Become a Founding Steward of WILD! Healing
By sponsoring WILD! Healing, you are not simply supporting an event — you are helping launch a new movement at the intersection of Healing Justice, Integrative Medicine, regenerative agriculture, Indigenous knowledge, Food as Medicine, and community well-being. Your investment helps cultivate a future in which health is rooted in prevention, environmental stewardship, cultural wisdom, and collective care.
Rather than metals — gold, silver, bronze — our levels reflect growth, stewardship, and healing. Every level carries meaningful recognition and benefits.
Seed Sponsor
$2,500
2 Gala tickets
Name listed on the website and event program
Recognition on event signage
Social-media thank-you
One promotional item in attendee gift bags
Harvest Sponsor
$10,000
6 Gala tickets
Recognition during one program session
Logo on the website, program, and signage
Quarter-page program ad
Recognition in event emails and social media
Exhibit table at the Gala
Medicine Sponsor
$25,000
10 Gala tickets
Half-page program ad
Premium exhibit space
Recognition from the stage during the Gala
Featured logo on the website and promotional materials
Sponsor a medicine walk, healing circle, or Food as Medicine experience
Invitation to the VIP reception
Healing Justice Sponsor
$50,000
VIP table for 10
Full-page program ad
Featured recognition throughout the virtual summit and Gala
Sponsor a keynote session, wellness pavilion, or Harvest Feast
Speaking acknowledgment during the Gala
Dedicated social-media spotlight and newsletter feature
Logo on the event backdrop and livestream graphics
Legacy Sponsor
$100,000
Presenting recognition as a principal sponsor of WILD! Healing
Two VIP tables (20 guests)
Prominent logo across all event materials, website, livestream, and signage
Recognition in all press materials (where appropriate)
Welcome attendees at the Gala, or introduce a keynote speaker
Private reception with faculty, honorees, and invited guests
Recognition on a permanent donor installation or legacy wall at Restore Forward (subject to mutual agreement)
A customized stewardship package tailored to your interests
Underwrite an experience
Sponsor a moment on the land
You can also underwrite a specific experience — giving it your name and helping bring it to life.
Medicine Walk$15,000
Harvest Feast$25,000
Theater in the Woods$25,000
Healing Sanctuary$20,000
Food as Medicine Pavilion$20,000
Virtual Summit$15,000
Youth & Student Scholarship$10,000
Community Access — free registrations$5,000+
Become a Founding Steward
Partner with us in a lasting movement.
Tell us which level or experience speaks to you and we’ll send the full sponsorship packet. We’re glad to tailor a package to your interests.
One pass ($159) covers all four days. You can attend just one, a few, or all of them — you’re one of the Founding 100 either way.
The virtual sessions
Two days of online immersion — September 9 and 10, from wherever you are.
A day on the land
One day in person at The Reconciliation Center in Ava, New York.
The Gala
The feast and festival in the woods — lanterns, long tables, drums.
The full immersion
All four days, online and on the land, from the first ritual to the closing fire.
Claim your place
Join the Founding 100
One pass covers all four days — September 9–12, online and on the land. Attend just one day, a few, or all of them; either way you are one of the Founding 100.
For more than thirty years, I've worked at the intersection of healing justice, trauma recovery, and community transformation.
After my own journey with breast cancer, one question became impossible to ignore:
What would happen if we brought together physicians, Indigenous knowledge keepers, herbalists, farmers, nutrition leaders, trauma experts, and communities — not to debate healing, but to experience it together?
That question became WILD! Healing: A Harvest of Medicine.
This September, we gather on regenerative land in Upstate New York — and online — to explore food as medicine, integrative health, environmental wellbeing, trauma recovery, and our relationship with the Earth and one another.
Today, I'm looking for the Founding 100. Not simply attendees — one hundred people willing to be part of the very first WILD! Healing gathering, and to help shape what this community becomes.
Farah Tanis · Founder, Restore Forward
What it means
The first circle
The Founding 100 are the ones who arrive while a thing is still becoming. Your presence helps set the tone, the culture, and the spirit of every gathering that follows.
Your name among the very first
A hand in shaping what this community becomes
A standing welcome at the gatherings to come
Wednesday, August 12 · 7–8pm ET
The Life I Have Been Given
The Founding 100 begins on Farah's birthday. Join her live for one hour as she shares the next chapter of her life and her work — on Instagram and Facebook Live. This year she isn't asking for gifts; her birthday wish is these first hundred people.
Stand at the beginning. One hundred people, September 9–12, 2026 — online & on the land.
Retired sections, kept here for reference. This page isn't linked publicly.
Archived · Past Luminaries — pre-2024 version (2026-07-13)
Meet Our Past Luminaries
Honoring the supporters and partners of Restore Forward and The Reconciliation Center, whose extraordinary work and enduring legacies enrich our lives.
Robert BurgdorfLegacy Library
Carolyn NussbaumWomen’s Freedom Lounge
Stephen FantuzzoFountain of Equality
Nan StolzenburgPeaceful Edge
Minnie GarrowForest of Herbs and Botanicals
Rebecca MinasUniversal Design Lab
Cheyenna WeberCooperative Trails
Jim JohnsonCooperative Trails
Greg LesniakGuardians of Hidden Waters
Robinson LynnClearing of Infinite Pathways
Women of the NBFJASeed and Food Ceremonial Space
KalliopeiaThe Kalliopeia Foundation Pond
H.O.L.L.ARadical Healing and Resistance Camp
Restore ForwardFounding Cooperative Board
Restore Forward Board
Archived · The Invitation — hand-in-water photo, dark type (2026-07-11)
The Invitation
A love letter to those who survived illness
Read it slowly. It was written for you.
Archived · Info hero — plain light intro, no bg (2026-07-10)
Plan your visit · Sept 12 · On the land
Info
Everything you need for your visit — how to reach the land, and where to stay.
The old “Come walk with us” attend page — ticket tiers plus the email-capture “Join the circle” form. Retired once the footer newsletter took over email capture and ticketing moved to the external page. Its markup is still in this source file for reference, but the page is now fully locked: it is unreachable from any URL and excluded from search.
Archived · Home hero — white, no desktop bg (2026-07-08 snapshot)
In the days of old, when a person lost their way, the elders would say: "Go back to the forest. Walk with the medicines. Listen again."
WILD! Healing is a return to that ancient remembering. It is not simply a program. It is a pilgrimage — a medicine walk across time and continents, guided by healers, farmers, herbalists, and wisdom keepers who still remember how to call the body back to life. Across two days of virtual immersion, you travel a living landscape of ancestral healing, culminating in a third day on the land: a glorious feast and festival in the woods, where the community celebrates the miracle of healing and honors those who heal the healers.
Archived · The Journey (Day Three) — pre-revision snapshot (2026-07-05)
Sep11
Day Three · September 11 · On the road
The Journey
— the threshold between the screen and the soil
Day three moves from embodiment to passage. This is the journey itself — you travel to the land, body settled for the road, arriving where the gathering unfolds in person on September 12. You have remembered; you have begun to resurrect. Now you set out for the woods — settled, awake, and holding what you chose to bring.
A word for the road
Why the land is medicine
A truth carried down through Indigenous lineage, to hold as you travel: that the land is not a backdrop to healing, but the healer itself.
the land as ancestorthe spiritual side of healinggrief as medicinereciprocity with the earth
In the days of old, when a person lost their way, the elders would say: go back to the forest. Walk with the medicines. Listen again. Day three is the day you begin to walk.
You do not travel to the land to be healed by it. You travel to remember you were never separate from it.
The bring-something-to-plant ceremony
Choose what you will bring
After all you have received across Day One and Day Two, the journey offers you a ritual of your own. A seed or a tree to plant, or a small thing you hold dear — brought to the land in honor of a name:
a seed, for someone who didn't make ita tree, for someone healing right nowa planting, in honor of yourself
name the one you carry, and why
hold the seed or root as you make the passage
let the grief and the gratitude travel with you
plant it on the land — a living root left behind
What will you plant, and whose name will you speak into the soil?
Preparing the body for the passage
Keep your nervous system regulated
A pilgrimage is asked of the body as much as the spirit. Before you close the screen and set out, you tend the nervous system so you travel settled, open, and awake:
grounding & breathworknervous system regulationancestral prayer for the roadsetting an intention for arrival
This is not simply a program. It is a pilgrimage — a medicine walk across time and continents. You leave the screen regulated, carrying your seed, ready to arrive not as a guest but as one coming home.
The journey to the land is just as sacred as the land itself.
Getting there
How to reach the land
The gathering is on the land at Restore Forward, Ava, New York. However you travel, here's how to arrive:
By air
From your destination city, the nearest airport to listed lodging and the event site is Syracuse Hancock International Airport. From the airport, it's about an hour's drive to Restore Forward.
Choose how you'll join the circle — the two online days, the gathering on the land, or a patron seat that holds space for someone who couldn't otherwise be there.
OnlineSummit PassBoth online days — Sept 17 & 18. Join the virtual summit from anywhere.
$ —
0
On the landThe GatheringSept 19 in Ava, New York — the feast, the performance, and the medicine walk.
$ —
0
Give a seatPatronFund a healer's seat — help someone walk with us who otherwise couldn't.
$ —
0
Your selection
No passes selected yet.
Total—
Internal · Workbench
Workbench
Sections being built right now — one block per chat, owned by the handle it carries. Only that chat edits its block. Not linked publicly. Rules: see CLAUDE.md, “Parallel development — the Workbench”.
Internal · Drafts
Drafts
A staging area for sections in progress, before they go live. This page isn't linked publicly.
Draft · D-09 · Hero button label — 2 options
Hero call to action
Which label for the Founding 100 button?
Both use the real hero button styling. On the live hero they sit over a photo; here they are on the page background, so judge the wording and the width rather than the colour. Narrow the window to phone size to see the width question.
Right now the subtitle (a space dedicated in the luminary’s honor) reads like it’s their own title or organization. Three ways to make the relationship clear:
Option 1 · Labeled
Robert BurgdorfIn their honorThe Legacy Library
A tiny label sets the site apart from a job title. Minimal, and easy to read at a glance.
Option 2 · Rephrased
Robert BurgdorfHonored by the Legacy Library
No extra label — the wording itself carries the meaning. Cleanest, but each line gets a little longer.
Option 3 · Place marker
Robert Burgdorf❦Legacy Library
A divider and small-caps set the site as a named place / plaque, distinct from a title. Most decorative.
— three more —
Option 4 · Chip badge
Robert BurgdorfSacred SpaceLegacy Library
A small pill categorises the line as a space, not a role. Reads instantly, adds a touch of colour.
Option 5 · Plaque bar
Robert BurgdorfLegacy Library
The site sits on a clay band at the card’s base, like an engraved plaque — clearly a separate thing.
Option 6 · Whisper note
Robert BurgdorfLegacy Librarya space dedicated in their honor
Keeps the site line as-is and adds a faint one-line note beneath that spells out the relationship.
Draft · D-04 · Info hero — average hero height (aspect ≈2.033 ≈ 708px @1440)
Plan your visit · Sept 12 · On the land
Info
Everything you need for your visit — how to reach the land, and where to stay.
Draft · WILD! Healing 2026 — RSVP strip & pop-up (for the other site)
Ways to invite visitors on the other Restore Forward site to RSVP for WILD! Healing 2026 — a strip, a pop-up, and a full image-background section (shown at two heights, with an event description). Every RSVP button links out to the WILD website (wildgala.com) — swap the link to the tickets page if you'd rather send RSVPs straight there.
Option A · Announcement strip — dark
RSVP now open · Sept 9–12, 2026WILD! Healing 2026 — a harvest of medicine
Intended use: a full-width bar pinned to the top of the other site.
Option B · Pop-up
You’re invited
WILD! Healing 2026
A four-day medicine walk across cultures and landscapes — three days of virtual immersion, then a gathering on the land. Led by healers, farmers, and wisdom keepers, it’s a return to ancestral plant medicine and the work of calling the body back to life. September 9–12 · Ava, New York & Online.
Tap “Preview the pop-up” to see it as a centred overlay (click the backdrop or “Maybe later” to close). The RSVP button is removed but its space is kept. Intended use: appears once on load, or after a short delay. The same design, shown static below:
You’re invited
WILD! Healing 2026
A four-day medicine walk across cultures and landscapes — three days of virtual immersion, then a gathering on the land. Led by healers, farmers, and wisdom keepers, it’s a return to ancestral plant medicine and the work of calling the body back to life. September 9–12 · Ava, New York & Online.
Option C · Full-height section — image background + description
You’re invited · Sept 9–12, 2026
WILD! Healing 2026
A harvest of medicine.
WILD! Healing is a four-day medicine walk across cultures and landscapes — three days of virtual immersion, then a gathering on the land. Healers, farmers, herbalists, and wisdom keepers guide a return to ancestral plant medicine, culminating in a lantern-lit feast in the woods of Ava, New York.
Option D · Narrower band — same image, condensed copy
You’re invited · Sept 9–12, 2026
WILD! Healing 2026
A four-day medicine walk — three days of virtual immersion, then a gathering on the land at Ava, New York. A refusal to surrender our bodies, and an invitation to walk back and get what was lost.
Day three moves from embodiment to the road. This is the journey itself — you travel to the land, body settled for the trip, arriving where the gathering unfolds in person on September 12. Now you set out for the woods — settled, awake, and holding what you chose to bring.
A word for the road
Why the land is medicine
A truth carried down through Indigenous lineage, to hold as you travel: that the land is not a backdrop to healing, but the healer itself.
the land as ancestorthe spiritual side of healinggrief as medicinereciprocity with the earth
In the days of old, when a person lost their way, the elders would say: go back to the forest. Walk with the medicines. Listen again. Day three is the day you begin to walk.
You do not travel to the land to be healed by it. You travel to remember you were never separate from it.
An offering of your own
A way to honor someone
After all you have received across Day One and Day Two, the journey opens a ritual that is yours alone. A seed or a tree to plant, or a small thing you hold dear — brought to the land in honor of a name:
a seed, for someone who didn't make ita tree, for someone healing right nowa keepsake, in honor of yourself
name the one it is for, and why
keep it close as you travel
let what you feel travel alongside it
plant it, or leave it, on the land
What will you bring, and whose name will you speak into the soil?
Preparing the body for the journey
Keep your nervous system regulated
A pilgrimage is asked of the body as much as the spirit. We know there's a flight to catch, a ride to arrange, a train to board. Before you close the screen and set out, you tend the nervous system so you travel settled, open, and awake:
grounding & breathworkancestral prayer for the roadsetting an intention for arrival
This day is a pilgrimage, a medicine walk across time and continents; you travel regulated, holding what you chose to bring, ready to arrive not as a guest but as one coming home.
The journey to the land is just as sacred as the land itself.
Draft · Home hero — all text in a left column (tablet), clear of the dancer
In the days of old, when a person lost their way, the elders would say: "Go back to the forest. Walk with the medicines. Listen again."
WILD! Healing is a return to that ancient remembering. It is not simply a program. It is a pilgrimage — a medicine walk across time and continents, guided by healers, farmers, herbalists, and wisdom keepers who still remember how to call the body back to life. Across two days of virtual immersion, you travel a living landscape of ancestral healing, culminating in a third day on the land: a glorious feast and festival in the woods, where the community celebrates the miracle of healing and honors those who heal the healers.
Internal · Terminal
Visitor Ledger
Live traffic for wildgala.com — visits, top pages, referrers, and reach.
The dashboard is private: it opens in your Claude workspace, and only you — signed in —
can see the numbers. This page holds no data and no keys.
Opens claude.ai in a new tab — sign in as yourself to view. Ask Claude to “refresh the dashboard” for the latest figures.
Internal · Dashboard
Dashboard
A private workspace for internal notes, links, and references. Not linked publicly and not meant for visitors.
Versions
Lock-and-scale — current LiveThe uniform lock-and-scale build: everything sized in rem, so within each breakpoint (mobile / tablet / desktop) the whole page zooms as one unit with the display width. This is the version you're viewing now.
v6 — darker version Not archivedThe original deep-teal build, before the brightness lift. The file was never committed, so there is nothing to open — the link here used to 404. Listed for the record only. (v10 and v12 snapshots exist on the maintainer's machine but were likewise never committed.)
Locked pages
Attend / “Join the circle” LockedThe retired Attend page (ticket tiers + “Join the circle” email form) still exists in the source as #page-attend, but is deliberately unreachable — no route, no crawlable URL, not in the sitemap, not shown in search. Locked 2026-07-23. To bring it back: re-add "attend" to the router’s routes array (and, if a public URL is wanted, to build-routes ROUTES + the workflow PATHS). A read-only snapshot is also kept on the Archive page.
Restore