INDIGENOUS MEDICINE
The native peoples of this continent have experienced a devastating and centuries long history of genocide and stigmatization, with upwards of 90% of their populations killed off following the arrival of European settlers. Despite extraordinary resiliency and managing to preserve threads of culture, the historical trauma and current lack of resources continues to devastate indigenous communities today, many with lowest rates of life-expectancy and highest rates of suicide in the US. Despite the unspeakable historic debt we owe the native peoples of this country, as well as dire levels of public health and wellbeing, less than 0.5% of all philanthropic dollars go to directly support Native American communities. The stigma continues.
The Riverstyx Foundation works to support Indigenous peoples through the preservation of sacred plant medicines, which have been used for thousands of years in healing ceremonies, and have the potential to address trauma, addiction, and the reconnection to native spirituality and culture. We aim to support sustainable access to these medicines, as well as empowering native communities, and the traditions which surround them, to ensure that these sacred plants and ceremonies can bring healing for generations to come.
Riverstyx takes its lead and direction primarily from its Indigenous partners, funding projects to help ensure the conservation of sacred plant medicines for Indigenous peoples. Our aim is to help keep the cultures and medicines intact. There is an imminent opportunity to ensure that the dominant culture does not further exploit or extract these precious medicines and ways of life, and we humbly listen to our partners on culturally appropriate strategies for doing so.
For more information on Riverstyx' involvement with Peyote Conservation, see our
Indigenous Partner Organizations
The Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund (IMC Fund) is a high impact strategic fund created to ensure that Indigenous communities and organizations can succeed in their own biocultural conservation efforts. The IMC Fund directly addresses the threat and opportunity of the “psychedelic renaissance” for Indigenous communities and ecosystems. Through community based assessment, on-the-ground alliance building, and an Indigenous led governance structure, the IMC Fund supports an integrated suite of conservation activities for five keystone medicines: Ayahuasca, Bufo, Iboga, Peyote, and Mushrooms. Each project is part of a strategy to protect traditional knowledge, culture, and native territories.
The Riverstyx Foundation has provided support to Native American Church organizations at the forefront of the Peyote conservation movement to empower indigenous communities to conserve and regenerate their sacred Peyote medicine and their way of life. Formed in 2017, IPCI engages in diverse biocultural strategies for spiritual reconnection and restoration of Peyote, including land access and stewardship, youth education and engagement, Peyote cultivation and propagation, and a system of harvest and distribution that is regenerative and spiritually sound. IPCI is an international collaborative, supporting tribes and partners focused on the sustainability and Indigenous sovereignty of Peyote across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Riverstyx Statement of Purpose with Peyote Conservation.
Indigenous Grantees & Partners
In addition to our direct support of indigenous partners, we also work with organizations that maintain a high integrity in their work with native peoples.
