On Indigenous Spirituality and Wisdom

Apela Colorado is a traditional cultural practitioner and Indigenous scientist dedicated to creating a bridge between Western thought and Indigenous worldviews. From China to Alaska, Benin to France, Dr. Colorado passionately works to communicate, conserve, and celebrate sacred Indigenous ways. In her latest book, Woman Between the Worlds, Dr. Colorado invites us to explore how Indigenous wisdom resonates in modern life while lovingly teaching us to honor its power, beauty, and potential.

Join CIIS faculty Susana Bustos for an inspirational conversation with Dr. Colorado on Indigenous wisdom and her lifelong journey connecting with the essence of Indigenous spirituality and culture, reawakening to the wisdom of her Native American and French Gaul ancestors. Drawing on her experiences of remembrance and renewal, Dr. Colorado provides spiritual guideposts to help you reconnect to the wisdom of your ancestors, apply sacred ways of knowing and being to your life, and reclaim your own Creation Story.

Apela Colorado, PhD, of Oneida-Gaul ancestry, has dedicated her life’s work to bridge Western thought and Indigenous worldviews. As a Ford Fellow, Dr. Colorado studied for her doctorate at both Harvard and Brandeis Universities and received her PhD from Brandeis in Social Policy in 1982. She founded the Worldwide Indigenous Science Network (WISN) in 1989 to foster the revitalization, growth, and worldwide exchange of traditional knowledge and to safeguard the lives and work of the world’s endangered traditional culture practitioners. In 1997, Dr. Colorado was one of twelve women chosen from 52 countries by the State of the World Forum to be honored for her role as a woman leader.

In addition to WISN’s many projects—which span the globe and range from research on migration stories of indigenous peoples in Central Asia to big cat conservation—Dr. Colorado founded the Indigenous Science and Peace Studies, UN University of Peace, the first fully accredited advanced degree program taught from an Indigenous perspective that consciously integrates western knowledge. She has also authored numerous articles, including several in peer-reviewed journals, and is the author of Woman between the Worlds (2021).

Susana Bustos, PhD, MA in Clinical Psychology and MA in Music Therapy from Chilean universities, works as adjunct faculty and students' mentor at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. She also conducts independent research on entheogenic shamanic traditions of the Americas; and holds a private integrative practice in Berkeley, CA.  

Her main focuses of teaching, clinical practice, and research revolve around the healing potential of non-ordinary states of consciousness and their integration in ordinary life, as well as around adequately bridging Amerindian cosmologies and practices into the West. Susana carries an Ashaninkan lineage from the Upper Peruvian Amazon area, which informs her work. 

Susana has written several articles and book contributions on the interphase of shamanic song and healing and on entheogenic integration, and she lectures internationally on these topics. She directed the Spiritual Emergence Network in the United States between 2017 and January 2020. 

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Marcus Books is the nation’s oldest Black-owned independent bookstore celebrating its 60th year. Marcus Books’ mission is to provide opportunities for Black folks and their allies to celebrate and learn about Black people everywhere.