Red Barn Event: Indigenous Roots and Reparation Foundation

The Indigenous Roots and Reparation Foundation (IRRF) is an Indigenous lead nonprofit established in 2021 to preserve history, culture, traditions and language through education and advocacy. Our goal is to provide a space on ancestral homelands for members of all tribes to practice cultural traditions, ceremony, and fellowship. This space will also serve as a hub for tribal members displaced by wildfire. IRRF strives to build relationships within our community for the purpose of Earth preservation, recognition of the intrinsic value of all species and ecosystems, ensuring clean water and air, and returning human activity to a balanced, sustainable level.

Mary Big Bull-Lewis is the Chair of IRRF. She is an enrolled member of the Colville Confederated Tribe; Wenatchi, Moses and Entiat bands & a descendant of the Blackfoot Tribe. She was born & raised in the Wenatchee Valley and has continued to raise her family here. Mary is an Indigenous Entrepreneur, who owns two small businesses with her husband – Wenatchi Wear & R Digital Design. She has dreamed of creating a community space for all Indigenous Peoples to gather and grateful to be in contact with many like-minded individuals who joined her in making that dream a reality.

Rob Crandall, IRRF Board Member. Rob has in lived in the homelands of the Methow tribe for the past 30 years. His passion for the natural world and the flora of the valley inspired him to start Methow Natives, a native plant center focused on propagation, restoration and education. For the past 10 years, he has worked to expand his knowledge of the plant world through exploring indigenous plant knowledge. Rob is committed to supporting efforts to regain connections to the plant world by the native community and to the work of reconciliation within the region.

Paige Castro-Reyes, IRRF Board Member. Paige is a CHamoru/European woman, mother, artist and public health advocate living on P’Squosa/Wenatchi lands. Her father’s family moved from their ancestral homelands on Guåhan (Guam) in 1969 to Dryden, WA, bringing with them Indigenous kinship values and culture. Paige is the Deputy Director of Community-Campus Partnerships for Health where she works in collaboration to promote health equity and social justice through partnerships. Paige is a fiber artist (@knotted_pines) that uses her art to uplift the voices of Land and Water Protectors. As a guest on these Lands, she hopes to instill in her sons the values of stewardship, respect and reciprocity, deeply entrenched in Indigenous cultures.

Ric Escobedo, IRRF and WRI Board Member. Ric’s family moved to Cashmere, WA in 1989 from Los Angeles, CA. He attended Cashmere high school, and later Wenatchee Valley College before leaving for undergrad in Olympia WA. The Wenatchi valley is his family’s home. Ric’s ancestors are the Wixarika aka Huichol from the region now known as Zacatecas, MX. Ric has worked to serve the most vulnerable populations in youth correctional/ probation settings, group homes, hospitals and educational institutions. His current work at North Central Educational Service District 171, is with migrant agricultural youth and indigenous communities ensuring health concerns do not impede on educational engagements.

This is a FREE event with a donation basket at the door.
Doors open at 6:30pm for a community social with beer and wine available for purchase. The presentation will start at 7:00pm.
Red Barn Events are now hybrid, you may join us in person in the Red Barn or livestream virtually via Zoom.

Address: 347 Division Street, Leavenworth, WA 98826

Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84439284951