Sacred Medicines 2025

What?

Sacred Medicines is an online Indigenous-led conference organized by the non-profit Sunflower Sutras and Co-produced by the Confederacy of Amazonic Nationalities of Peru and the International Consciousness Research Laboratories. This gathering will bring together Indigenous Elders, scholars, and practitioners to collectively envision a more respectful, relational future for the psychedelic movement. 

When?

May 31st - June 1st, 2025 from 9 AM to 6 PM, with an opening ceremony on Friday, May 30th from 8 AM to noon for those who can attend. You may find here the complete schedule.

Why?

To honor Indigenous knowledge, address cultural appropriation, and foster ethical, reciprocal, and decolonial relationships in psychedelic research and practice.

Art by Sitalin Sánchez, @sitalin.sanchez

How?

The encounter seeks to replicate the intimate learning environments of Indigenous communities. Aside from the traditional panel format, participants will be divided into small cohorts according to their background, such as a cohort for therapists, one for researchers, another one for community organizers, etc. Each group will have 1.5 hour blocks of intimate conversations and practical workshops with one Elder at a time, with the support of live translators and an expert team of "Bridgers," scholars with profound knowledge and experience with psychedelic medicines as well as with indigenous traditions. You can read more about our Bridgers in the speakers section.

Speakers

  • Doéthiro Alvaro Tukano

    Chief of the Tukano People of Brazil

    Yepã Masã

    Alto Rio Negro, Amazon, Brasil

  • Ruro Caituro Monge

    Midwife/Partera

    Quechua

    Sacred Valley and Cusco, Peru

  • Oseas Barbarán Sánchez

    President of the Confederacy of Amaazonic Nationalities of Peru

    Shipibo

    Callería, Amazonas, Peru

  • Naira Tukano

    Mother, environmental lawyer, activist

    Yepã Masã

    Alto Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brasil

  • Edinson Ramos

    Curandero

    Shipibo

    Pucallpa, Peru

  • Gilberto Lopez Ruiz

    Taita

    Kameramui

    Colombia

  • Glauber Loures de Assis

    Ph.D, sociology

    Co-founder of Jornadas de Kura and the Director of the Psychedelic Parenthood Community

  • Marlena Robbins

    Ph.D Candiate, Public Health

    Diné

    Specializes in the intersection of Indigenous knowledge, psychedelic science, and mental health policy

  • Ayize Jama Everett

    MDiv, MA, MFA

    Therapist, educator, and advocate focused on psychedelics, mental health, and social justice.

  • Dr. Susana Bustos

    Ph.D. Clinical Psychology

    Psychotherapist, music therapist, and researcher specializing in entheogenic healing, expanded states of consciousness, and integration practices.

Conference organizers

Community Partners

Community Benefactors

Therapy with Valerie
Dr. Chris Becker, Author of A Path With Psychedelics

Register Now

Registration is now open here.

Cohort groups will fill up on a rolling basis. To ensure your participation on your preferred cohort group we suggest applying as soon as possible.

Art by Sitalin Sánchez, @sitalin.sanchez

“Research is not an innocent academic exercise but an activity that has something at stake and that occurs in a set of political and social conditions.”

— Linda Tuhiwai Te Rina Smith

Art by Sitalin Sánchez, @sitalin.sanchez

Sign up for a conference information session here:

Conference Co-Chairs

  • Oseas Barbarán Sánchez

    CO- CHAIR

    Oseas Barbarán Sánchez is a Shipibo-Konibo leader and advocate for indigenous sovereignty and ancestral medicine. As President of the Confederation of Amazonian Nationalities of Peru (CONAP), the largest indigenous organization in Perú, he represents 944 indigenous communities across seven regions of the Peruvian Amazon, defending their rights, cultural heritage, and sacred territories.

    Rooted in his Shipibo traditions from the Ucayali River where he still lives, Oseas has spent decades protecting and revitalizing Amazonian plant medicine practices. Since 2007, Oseas has strengthened CONAP, leading efforts to secure direct international funding for large-scale projects that empower indigenous knowledge, governance, and sustainable living. He has represented indigenous peoples before the United Nations, the GCF Task Force, COP and the International Land Coalition, amongst others.

  • Solei Sarmiento

    CO-CHAIR

    Solei Sarmiento is a researcher, community organizer, and multimedia storyteller dedicated to amplifying Indigenous knowledge within the field of contemplative science. As the Director and Co-Founder of the non-profit Sunflower Sutras, she has co-created a platform that merges visual storytelling with decolonial narratives, fostering virtual and in-person dialogue on reciprocity and ancestral wisdom. With a background in cognitive science and human rights from UC Berkeley, her work explores the intersections of Indigenous epistemologies, contemplative psychology, spiritual care, and immersive media. This Fall, she will begin her Master of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School to deepen her engagement with Mesoamerican Traditional Knowledge and decolonial methodologies.

  • Francisco Lopez Rivarola

    CO-CHAIR

    Francisco Lopez Rivarola is from Argentina, Buenos Aires, and works as the Co-Founder of Sunflower Sutras, a multimedia educational platform based on Berkeley, dedicated to documenting the work of indigenous elders and consciousness researchers to help bridge the paradigms of ancestral knowledge and modern-western science. Francisco is currently filming and producing courses with indigenous elders aimed at psychedelic practitioners and guides, hoping to make their voices and cosmovisions accessible for the stewarding of the psychedelic renaissance, in a reciprocal and non-extractivist manner.