Honor Indigenous and African Healing Practices:

A Global Dialog on Recognition, Preservation, and Innovation

A Sacred Gathering of Tradition Bearers, Healers and Culture Keepers.

Friday, October 16, 2026 to Sunday, October 18, 2026

City of Light Sanctuary

100 Kerness Rd., Ellenville, NY 12428

LUNCH

Main Hall

Main Hall

BREAK

DINNER

Activity

BREAK

DRAFT PROGRAM

DAY 1 - Friday, October 16, 2026

Time

Location

5:00pm

Main Hall

Arrival/Check in, Cabin Assignments & Site Tour

— AI-26 Team

6:00pm

Main Hall

WELCOME, Libation Ceremony, Dinner

— AI-25 Team

Eternal Song

Documentary Screening - Courtesy of SAND

Announcements/Preparations for Day 2

— AI-25 Team

Presenter

Day 2 - Afternoon

END DAY 1

AI-26 Team

BREAKFAST

END DAY 1

DAY 2 - Saturday, October 17, 2026

Opening Day - Libation Ceremony and Ancestral Invocation

7:00pm

8:30pm

END DAY 1

Main Hall

7:00am

7:30am

8:30am

Main Hall

BREAK

BREAKFAST

Four Gatherings, One Turn: The Ancestral Institute from Critique to Construction

— Keith Watts, Ph.D. (University of Kentucky)

10:00am

BREAK

10:15am

12:00noon

12:45pm

Main Hall

END DAY 1

Outdoors

Main Hall

Honoring Indigenous and African Healing Practices

— Betty Pierre

Reclaiming Ancestral Wisdom through Somatic Healing for Caribbean Communities

Rooted Holistic Inner & Outer Stability: Vedic/Nature-based Living with Ayurveda, Yoga, and Eastern Ancestral Practices

— Phadia Jean-Pierre

— Shweta Parmar

1:00pm

LUNCH

2:30pm

Reconvene—Afternoon Session

4:00pm

Main Hall

Yoga

— Kim Narayani

4:15pm

BREAK

5:15pm

Main Hall

Main Hall

Main Hall

Reclaiming Memory, Restoring Identity: Africentric, Human-Centered Design for Healing in the Afircan Diaspora

— James Singletary

7:00pm

Main Hall

Kato

BREAK

AI-26 Team

END DAY 2

8:00pm

Putdoors

BREAKFAST

DINNER

Documentary Screening - Courtesy of SAND

9:30pm

END DAY 2

7:00am

7:30am

8:00am

9:30am

11:00am

11:45am

1:00pm

Main Hall

Main Hall

Main Hall

Main Hall

Closing Libation Ceremony/Ancestral Invocation
Announcements/Preparations for Day 3

END DAY 2

DAY 3 - Sunday, October 18, 2026

Opening Day- Libation Ceremony/Ancestral Invocation
Announcements

BREAKFAST

Genealogical Consciousness as Radical Resistance:Reclaiming Ancestral Identity for Black Healing and Social Work

Drumming and Percussion Workshop

Closing Libation Ceremony & Ancestral Invocation

Announcements: Packing up/Preparation for Departure

Grab-n-Go LUNCH

Departure - Bus/Private Transport

— AI-26 Team

BREAKFAST

Warren Graham, Ph.D., (Columbia University)

— Kwabena B. Agyeman & Ryan Greenidge (CUMBE)

— Kwabena B. Agyeman & Ryan Greenidge (CUMBE)

— AI-26 Team

Outdoor - Yoga Platform/Stones

Main Hall

Main Hall

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Martes, 18 de noviembre de 2025

Pre-Garifuna Celebrations

Walking Tour

  • Stann Creek Ecumenical High School/Ecumenical Junior High School

  • Dangriga Communities

Celebraciones Pre-Garífunas

Tour a pie

  • Stann Creek Ecumenical Escuela secundaria/Ecumenical Junior High School

  • Comunidades Dangriga

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Miercoles 19 de noviembre, 2025

Dangriga Celebration Day

  • Early Morning Gathering for Ancestral Worship where river meets the ocean

  • Parade to local church for service

  • Walk to Drums of Our Fathers Monument and Park

  • Official Garifuna Ceremony

  • Parade through Dangriga

Día de celebración de Dangriga

  • Reunión matutina para el culto ancestral donde el río se encuentra con el océano
  • Desfile a la iglesia local para el servicio.

  • Camine hasta el monumento y parque de los Tambores de Nuestros Padres

  • Ceremonia oficial garífuna

  • Desfile por Dangriga

Thursday, November 20, 2025

Jueves, 20 de noviembre, 2025

Cultural Immersion Experiences:

  • Maya Center Ceremony  (optional)

  • Garifuna Cultural Experience - Palmetto Grove (optional)

    Experiencias de Inmersión Cultural:

  • Ceremonia del Centro Maya - Centro Maya (opcional)

  • Experiencia Cultural Garífuna - Palmetto Grove (opcional)

Friday, November 21, 2025

Viernes 21 de noviembre, 2025

Open - Attendees free to depart or extend stay, explore Dangriga and surrounding areas.

Abierto: los asistentes pueden salir o extender su estadía, explorar Dangriga y sus alrededores.

Kindred Spirits

This beautiful sculpture was built by the Irish people in Ireland to honor the American Choctaw Indian tribe, to express their gratitude for the Choctaw People , who in 1847 sent money to Ireland when they learned that Irish people were starving due to the potato famine. The Choctaw themselves were living in hardship and poverty, having recently endured the Trail of Tears.

Kindred Spirits is a large stainless steel outdoor sculpture in Bailick Park in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland. The shape of the feathers is intended to represent a bowl of food.

Espíritus afines

Esta hermosa escultura fue construida por el pueblo irlandés en Irlanda para honrar a la tribu india choctaw americana, para expresar su gratitud al pueblo choctaw, que en 1847 envió dinero a Irlanda cuando se enteraron de que los irlandeses morían de hambre debido a la hambruna de la papa. Los propios choctaw vivían en penurias y pobreza, habiendo soportado recientemente el Sendero de las Lágrimas.

Kindred Spirits es una gran escultura al aire libre de acero inoxidable en Bailick Park en Midleton, Condado de Cork, Irlanda. La forma de las plumas pretende representar un plato de comida.