December 9-13, 2025
Register to view the FULL film and gain access to the 5-Day Live Online Event with Indigenous Elders, Healers & Activists. You’ll be invited to make a donation of any amount (even $0), with the option to upgrade to the 12-film journey and talk series.
PREMIERE DATE
DECEMBER 9, 2025
ABOUT THE FILM
Patricia June Vickers, her brother Roy Henry Vickers, and other Indigenous Elders, healers, and activists from the Esk’etemc, Gitxsan, and Wet’suwet’en territories open their hearts and histories in this deeply human story of healing.
Born into a world shaped by the violence of forced assimilation, they carry the intergenerational impact of residential schools, scars that ripple through memory, body, and lineage.
Through trauma healing work, ceremony, land, and language, they navigate the deep echoes of intergenerational trauma, transforming disconnection, substance use, and cultural grief into profound pathways of healing and deep remembrance.
The Guardians
Guest Speakers & Indigenous Wisdom Keepers
Join Us for the Global Film Premiere of If An Owl Calls Your Name
PLUS A 5-DAY ONLINE GATHERING WITH INDIGENOUS ELDERS, HEALERS, & ACTIVISTS
December 9 - 13, 2025
Day 1 | DECEMBER 9,2025
Opening Live @ 10:00 am PST
Welcoming and Introduction
w/ Zaya Benazzo & Maurizio Benazzo
Film @ 10:15 am PST
If An Owl Calls Your Name Film Communal Screening
Live @ 11:55 am PST
Opening the Process with the Ancestors
w/ Patricia Vickers, Indigenous Trauma Therapist & Artist
We will explore in community:
› Holistic principles and elements for healing
› How to use rākau (wooden tools)
› Listening to the body’s truth
Live @ 12:00 pm PST
Opening Words, Ancestral Ground
w/ Hìm̓às Tlakwagila, Gaylene Morris for Chief Na'Moks
Live @ 12:30 pm PST
PRAYER SONG
Live @ 12:35 pm PST
Break-out Groups, Reflections and Q&A
w/ Hìm̓àsTlakwagila
We will explore in community:
› Holistic principles and elements for healing
› How to use rākau (wooden tools)
› Listening to the body’s truth
Live @ 1:40 pm PST
PRAYER SONG
Day 2 | DECEMBER 10,2025
Recorded @ 10:00 am PST
PRAYER SONG
Recorded @ 10:05 am PST
Standing with the Land, Speaking as the Land
w/ Wet'suwet'en Chief Na'Moks
We will explore in community:
› Acting in accordance with ancestral law and land-based governance
› Standing with Yintah
› Carrying forward what must never be forgotten
Live @ 10:50 am PST
LIVE Q&A
w/ Gaylene Morris,"WeKēs, Wet’suwet’en First Nation
We will explore in community:
› Acting in accordance with ancestral law and land-based governance
› Standing with Yintah
› Carrying forward what must never be forgotten
Live @ 11:00 am PST
Live Q&A
w/ Gaylene Morris. Hosted by Zaya Benazzo & Maurizio Benazzo
We will explore in community:
› Indigenous Holocaust
› Working in Vancouver’s East End
› Carrying forward what must never be forgotten
Live @ 11:40 am PST
Land Defense, Sovereignty, and Intergenerational Responsibility
w/ Kolin Sutherland, Gitxsan - Fireweed Clan Anspayaxw
We will explore in community:
› The land is protected where our bodies stand
› Sovereignty lives in action, not just in claim
› The wound ends with me
Live @ 1:15 pm PST
PRAYER SONG
Recorded @ 1:20 pm PST
Who are You God?
w/ Patricia Vickers, Indigenous Trauma Therapist & Artist
We will explore in community:
› Holistic principles and elements for healing
› How to use rākau (wooden tools)
› Listening to the body’s truth
Day 3 | DECEMBER 11,2025
Live @ 10:00 am PST
PRAYER SONG
Live @ 10:05 am PST
Buried in the Soul: A Secwepemc Story of Language and Healing
w/ Dave Belleau, Elder, ICAD Counselor, Secwepemc, Esk'etemc First Nation speaking in Secwepemc, translation provided by Frederick Sandy Johnson. Introduction by Patricia June Vickers.
We will explore in community:
› Surviving residential schools
› Healing from abuse and addiction
› The language is the wisdom
Live @ 11:45 am PST
Finding Home in What Endured
w/ Frederick Johnson, Elder, ICAD Counselor, Secwepemc, Esk'etemc First Nation, speaking in Secwepemc, translation provided by Dave Belleau. Introduction by Rick Favelle.
We will explore in community:
› Residential schools tried to make us forget
› Integenerational Trauma & Healing
› Finding home through culture
Live @ 1:15 pm PST
PRAYER SONG
Day 4 | DECEMBER 12,2025
Recorded @ 10:00 am PST
My Daughter's Letter
w/ Patricia Vickers, Indigenous Trauma Therapist & Artist
Live @ 10:05 am PST
Intergenerational Healing
w/ Patricia June Vickers, Rebekah Beaton. Hosted by Zaya Benazzo and Maurizio Benazzo.
We will explore in community:
› The impact of the curse of incest and colonialism
› Intervention and the cycle of suffering
› Transformation of betrayal and loss
Live @ 10:05 am PST
Intergenerational Healing
w/ Patricia June Vickers, Rebekah Beaton & Sophia Mather
We will explore in community:
› The impact of the curse of incest and colonialism
› Intervention and the cycle of suffering
› Transformation of betrayal and loss
Live @ 11:45 am PST
Break-out Groups, Reflections and Q&A
Recorded @ 12:15 pm PST
This Is My Church
w/ Roy Henry Vickers, Indigenous Elder, Artist & Hereditary Chief of the House of Walkus, Wuikinuxv
We will explore in community:
› How can we reconcile what was never whole?
› What if the truth isn’t a path back, but a fire we must stand in?
› What does it mean to forgive?
Live @ 1:00 pm PST
Live Q&A
w/ Roy Henry Vickers, Indigenous Elder, Artist & Hereditary Chief of the House of Walkus, Wuikinuxv
Live @ 1:30 pm PST
PRAYER SONG
Day 5 | DECEMBER 13,2025
Live @ 10:00 am PST
PRAYER SONG
Live @ 10:05 am PST
Holocaust Shadows, Intergenerational Wounds, and the Long Work of Healing
w/ Gabor Maté, Patricia June Vickers, Roy Henry Vickers
We will explore in community:
› How colonial trauma travels through generations
› How these wounds live in our bodies, families, and Nations
› What helps transform inherited pain into healing
Live @ 11:45 am PST
Raven's Call Canada
w/ Rick Favelle & Patricia June Vickers
We will explore in community:
› The five guiding principles of ancestral law that shape respectful, relational healing
› Why ceremony, language, and supernatural guidance offer what Western methods cannot
› How spiritual balance emerges through practice, truth-telling, and reclaiming sacred self
Live @ 11:45 am PST
Raven’s Call: Ancestral Law, Ceremony, and the Work of Sacred Healing
w/ Rick Favelle, Dave Belleau, Frederick Johnson, Patricia June Vickers
We will explore in community:
› Ancestral teachings and healing from a history of atrocities
› Ceremony, language, and supernatural guidance coupled with healing methods
› How spiritual balance emerges through practice, truth-telling, and retrieving sacred self
Live @ 11:45 am PST
Raven’s Call: Ancestral Law, Ceremony, and the Work of Sacred Healing
w/ Rick Favelle, Dave Belleau, Frederick Johnson & Patricia June Vickers
We will explore in community:
› Ancestral teachings and healing from a history of atrocities
› Ceremony, language, and supernatural guidance coupled with healing methods
› How spiritual balance emerges through practice, truth-telling, and retrieving sacred self
Live @ 12:30 pm PST
Honoring and Respect: Closing Reflections
w/ Kolin Sutherland-Wilson, Frederick Johnson, Dave Belleau, Patricia June Vickers, Roy Henry Vickers, Gaylene Morris
Live @ 12:30 pm PST
Carrying It Forward: Closing Circle of Reflections
w/ Kolin Sutherland-Wilson, Frederick Johnson, Dave Belleau, Patricia June Vickers, Roy Henry Vickers, Gaylene Morris
Live @ 1:15 pm PST
Gathering the Threads
w/ Maurizio Benazzo & Zaya Benazzo
The Vision
Our vision for the 12-film Wisdom of the Ancestors documentary series is to honor Indigenous resilience, illuminate sacred wisdom held for humanity and Earth, and invite healing across communities facing trauma and colonial erasure.
WISDOM OF THE ANCESTORS 12–FILM SERIES
The Eternal Song
The Eternal Song
LAND: EARTH
92 Minutes
Mauri
LAND: AOTEAROA (NEW ZEALAND)
70 Minutes
If an Owl Calls
Your Name
LAND: Esk’etemc, Gitxsan, and Wet’suwet’en (CANADA)
In the Circle of Life
LAND: BUNDJALUNG & WIRADJURI (AUSTRALIA)
75 Minutes • COMING JANUARY 20-25
Little Singer
LAND: DINÉ BIKÉYAH (ARIZONA)
Sila
LAND: KALAALLIT NUNAAT (GREENLAND)
COMING 2026
‘Āina
LAND: MOKUPUNI HAWAI’I
COMING 2026
Guarani-Kaiowá
LAND: MATO GROSSO DO SUL (BRAZIL)
COMING 2026
Katô: Dreams of Dark Earth
LAND: DAJE KAPAP EYPI (BRAZIL)
COMING 2026
Maasai
LAND: OLOSHO LE MAA (KENYA)
COMING 2027
Haida
LAND: HAIDA GWAII (CANADA)
COMING 2027
Ifá
LAND: TSENACOMOCO (VIRGINIA)
COMING 2027
The Eternal Song
LAND: EARTH
Mauri
LAND: AOTEAROA (NEW ZEALAND)
If an Owl Calls
Your Name
LAND: UNIST’OT’EN YIN’TAH (CANADA)
In the Circle of Life
LAND: BUNDJALUNG & WIRADJURI (AUSTRALIA)
Sila
LAND: KALAALLIT NUNAAT (GREENLAND)
Little Singer
LAND: DINÉ BIKÉYAH (ARIZONA)
‘Āina
LAND: MOKUPUNI HAWAI’I
Guarani-Kaiowá
LAND: MATO GROSSO DO SUL (BRAZIL)
Mundurukú
LAND: DAJE KAPAP EYPI (BRAZIL)
Maasai
LAND: OLOSHO LE MAA (KENYA)
Haida
LAND: HAIDA GWAII (CANADA)
Ifá
LAND: TSENACOMOCO (VIRGINIA)
Sign up below for the Global Film Premiere of
If An Owl Calls Your Name Film
Plus a 5-Day Online Gathering with
Indigenous Elders, Healers, & Activists
December 9 – 13, 2025
SAND is a nonprofit organization under section 501.c.3 of the US tax code. Its headquarters are on the unceded ancestral territories of Coastal Miwok and Southern Pomo Land in Sebastopol, CA. We thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
