Wild Soles practices and offerings take place on land known today as Wisconsin, the ancestral and contemporary homeland of many Indigenous nations, including the Ho-Chunk Nation, the Menominee, the Ojibwe/Chippewa, the Potawatomi, the Odawa, the Sauk and Meskwaki (Fox), and others who have deep ties to this region.

Here, in the Driftless coulee lands, I acknowledge that I stand, work, and raise my daughter on land that was violently taken through forced removal, broken treaties, and government-sanctioned erasure. The Ho-Chunk Nation, known as the People of the Sacred Voice, were expelled from these homelands multiple times yet returned again and again. Their resilience, care, and sovereignty endure.

But acknowledgment is only the first breath.

Right relationship requires movement, not merely words.

As the guide and heart behind Wild Soles, I offer the following commitments:

1. To Practice Ongoing Learning

I commit to learning the history and present reality of Indigenous nations in Wisconsin, especially the Ho-Chunk people, and to integrating truths (not myths) into my teaching, offerings, and theology.

2. To Support Indigenous-Led Work

A portion of Wild Soles income will be directed to Ho-Chunk–led and other Native-led organizations that protect land, language, waters, culture, and sovereignty.

3. To Uplift Indigenous Knowledge Without Appropriation

I honor Indigenous ecological knowledge as wisdom born from thousands of years of relationship with land—and I commit to referencing, citing, and supporting this wisdom rather than borrowing or commodifying it.

4. To Tend to the Land with Reciprocity

Inspired by both Indigenous teachings and the wisdom traditions I carry, I commit to:

  • restoring native plants
  • tending the coulee lands with care
  • protecting waters
  • reducing harm
  • listening to the land as teacher
  • participating in local ecological restoration efforts

5. To Keep This a Living Commitment

This acknowledgment is not static. It will grow, adapt, and deepen with time, learning, accountability, and relationship.