If An Owl Calls Your Name – Free Ancestral Healing Film Documentary Screening

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Quick Summary: If An Owl Calls Your Name

• What It’s About: A powerful Indigenous-led film following Elders, healers, and activists from the Esk’etemc, Gitxsan, and Wet’suwet’en territories as they walk through the long shadow of forced assimilation, residential schools, and substance use into ceremony, land-based healing, forgiveness, and inner reconciliation.
• Why Watch: Your free registration includes the full communal film premiere plus a 5-day online gathering with Indigenous Elders, healers, and activists, with 48-hour access to each day’s teachings. It’s offered by donation (including $0 — nobody is turned away for lack of funds).
• When: On-Demand
• Where: Online worldwide. Stream the film and participate from anywhere with an internet connection.
• Good to Know: At least 50% of proceeds after costs support Indigenous-led initiatives in the territories where the film was made, and this premiere is part of the 12-part Wisdom of the Ancestors series — a long-form journey into land, language, and ancestral remembrance.

Prefer to feel into it first? You can register now and choose your donation later — even $0.

About “If An Owl Calls Your Name”

If An Owl Calls Your Name is a feature-length documentary that follows Indigenous Elders, healers, and activists from the Esk’etemc, Gitxsan, and Wet’suwet’en territories (in the region now called British Columbia, Canada) as they walk the quiet, courageous path of healing after generations of forced assimilation.

Through story, ceremony, and the living presence of land, they share how the violence of residential schools, systemic oppression, and cultural erasure continues to echo through bodies, families, and communities — and how those same places of wounding can become gateways into forgiveness, reconnection, and inner reconciliation.

Central to the film is the work and presence of Indigenous trauma therapist and artist Dr. Patricia June Vickers, her brother and renowned artist and Elder Roy Henry Vickers, and other wisdom keepers whose lives bridge neurobiology and ceremony, somatic awareness and ancestral prayer. Rather than “talking about” trauma from a distance, they invite us into the field of healing itself — where the nervous system, like the land, remembers everything, and where true restoration comes from returning to relationship with Spirit, language, and place.

If An Owl Calls Your Name is the third film in the Wisdom of the Ancestors 12-part series from Science and Nonduality (SAND). It is at once a testimony, a prayer, and an invitation to remember that healing isn’t something we do; it’s something we remember — through land, language, song, ceremony, and community.

• Title: If An Owl Calls Your Name
• Directors: Zaya and Maurizio Benazzo (Science and Nonduality)
• Featured Elders & Healers: Patricia June Vickers, Roy Henry Vickers, and other Indigenous Elders, healers, and activists from Esk’etemc, Gitxsan, and Wet’suwet’en territories
• Series: Part of the 12-film Wisdom of the Ancestors collection
• Format: Online screening, on-demand.
• Live Premiere Window: December 9–13, 2025 (with 48-hour access to each day’s teachings)
• Location: Online (worldwide access from any device)
• Cost: Free registration, with the option to watch the film by donation (including $0), and to upgrade into the full Wisdom of the Ancestors journey

When you register for the global premiere, you’ll be welcomed into a community screening of the full film. You’ll also be invited — but never pressured — to deepen your journey through optional donation and upgrade pathways that directly support the communities whose stories are being shared.

Why You Should Watch If An Owl Calls Your Name

If An Owl Calls Your Name is more than a film — it’s a doorway into a living field of Indigenous knowledge, intergenerational healing, and land-based wisdom. At a time when the world feels increasingly fractured, this film brings forward stories that reveal how healing becomes possible when communities return to ceremony, relationship, language, and the truth-telling that colonization tried to silence.

Through the voices and presence of Elders, healers, and activists, you’ll witness how personal trauma, cultural grief, and historical violence can be transformed — not by denying the pain, but by restoring connection to land, Spirit, memory, and each other. This is healing as relational medicine, held not as metaphor but as lived practice.

If you’re drawn to trauma healing, ancestral wisdom, somatic work, or spiritual traditions rooted in land and community, this film speaks directly to the heart of that journey. It offers perspective for anyone seeking wholeness in themselves, clarity in a confusing world, or a deeper understanding of Indigenous history and present-day resilience.

And for many viewers, the impact goes beyond education — it becomes remembrance. A reconnection to the truth that healing is collective, and that we are all shaped by the land beneath our feet and the stories we inherit.

What You’ll Learn By Watching If An Owl Calls Your Name

Watching If An Owl Calls Your Name is not a passive experience — it is an initiation into a way of seeing, listening, and relating that has been carried through Indigenous lineages despite generations of suppression. The film brings forward teachings that touch on trauma healing, ancestral remembrance, relational spirituality, and the deep intelligence of the land. Whether you are exploring your own healing journey, working with others in a professional capacity, or seeking a more grounded understanding of Indigenous history and contemporary resilience, the film offers a multilayered education that unfolds on emotional, psychological, and spiritual levels.

One of the primary learnings you’ll encounter is a deeper understanding of intergenerational trauma — not as an abstract concept, but as a lived reality that affects bodies, families, communities, and land-based relationships. Through the stories shared by Elders and survivors, you’ll witness how trauma is carried forward through nervous system patterns, cultural ruptures, language loss, and the internalized echoes of residential school violence. At the same time, the film reveals how that same trauma can become a gateway into profound healing when it is met with ceremony, honesty, and relational support. This is trauma healing grounded not in clinical distance, but in community care, ancestral teachings, and embodied presence.

Another essential learning is the role of land in the healing process. Throughout the film, Elders speak of land not as resource, metaphor, or backdrop — but as a living relative with memory, wisdom, and therapeutic power. You’ll learn how Indigenous worldviews understand land as the foundation of identity and belonging, and how reconnecting to specific places can catalyze emotional regulation, spiritual clarity, and a sense of safety that Western models often overlook. This is healing that does not begin inside the mind, but in relationship with the natural world, with ancestors, and with the ecosystems that shaped Indigenous cultures long before colonization.

The film also teaches the importance of language as medicine. For communities where language was deliberately severed through assimilation, rediscovering ancestral words becomes a form of spiritual return — reshaping identity, restoring memory, and anchoring individuals back into inherited ways of knowing. Through the stories of Elders like Dave Belleau and Frederick Johnson, you’ll learn how language revitalization intertwines with trauma healing, and how each word carries teachings that help communities recover from cultural fragmentation.

You’ll also encounter teachings on ceremony — not as performance, but as a lived technology for healing, grounding, and reconnection. Many viewers find themselves deeply moved by the film’s portrayal of ceremony as a relational container where pain transforms into possibility. From sweat lodges to prayer songs to ancestral protocols for opening and closing spaces, the film reveals how ceremony guides individuals through grief, trauma, and identity recovery with structure, compassion, and spiritual coherence.

And perhaps most importantly, you’ll learn about forgiveness — not as a moral obligation or quick resolution, but as a long, nonlinear process supported by community, land, and Spirit. The Elders in the film speak to the difficulty of forgiveness, the courage it requires, and the ways in which it becomes a catalyst for reclaiming personal agency and collective dignity. Their stories offer a roadmap for anyone seeking to navigate their own wounds with integrity and hope.

The 5-Day Online Gathering

The global premiere of If An Owl Calls Your Name was accompanied by a 5-day online gathering that invited participants into a living field of story, ceremony, and dialogue with the Elders, healers, and activists featured in the film. This gathering was not an “event” in the typical sense — it was a relational space shaped by Indigenous worldview, communal learning, and the kind of presence that allows deep listening to unfold. Each day offered a unique theme explored through prayer songs, live sessions, teachings, Q&A, and community reflections, all designed to help attendees receive the wisdom of the film in a grounded and integrated way.

The structure of the gathering mirrored Indigenous understandings of time and process. Rather than approaching healing intellectually or hurriedly, the schedule unfolded slowly, with space intentionally woven between sessions. Prayer songs opened and closed the days, acting as energetic anchors that bring everyone into shared resonance. These sonic ceremonies reminded participants that healing is not linear or cognitive — it is relational, rhythmic, and connected to something larger than any one of us.

Throughout the gathering, we heard directly from Elders and knowledge keepers whose lives embody the teachings the film highlights. Their stories spoke to the transformation of intergenerational trauma, the reclamation of land and language, and the restoration of identity after the violence of colonization. But what made these sessions extraordinary is the way they were held. The Elders did not simply “teach” — they invited participants into the same field of connection and humility that shaped the making of the film. This created a sense of intimacy and reciprocity that is rare in online spaces, making the gathering feel more like a communal fire than a webinar series.

The gathering also explored themes that extend far beyond trauma and colonization. Among them were stewardship, sovereignty, cultural revival, ancestral continuity, and the responsibilities communities carry as they heal. These sessions challenged modern assumptions about progress and identity while offering pathways to live in deeper alignment with land, lineage, and Spirit. Whether the conversation centered on activism, ceremonial healing, language revitalization, or the role of the body in processing historical grief, the Elders spoke with clarity rooted in lived experience.

Another powerful aspect of the gathering was the inclusion of community dialogue. Participants were invited to reflect, ask questions, and learn from one another in break-out groups. These moments helped integrate the teachings while fostering connection between people of different cultures, backgrounds, and life paths. The gathering becames not just an opportunity to witness wisdom — but to participate in a collective remembering of how humans heal in community.

Importantly, each session included 48-hour replay access, allowing participants to revisit teachings or catch up if they couldn’t attend live. Many found that listening a second time revealed layers they missed before, as the teachings deepen with each encounter. This flexibility ensured that more people around the world can engage with the gathering in a meaningful and accessible way.

For those drawn to Indigenous wisdom, trauma healing, ancestral remembrance, or community-centered spiritual practice, the 5-day gathering offered a rare opportunity to learn directly from Elders carrying generations of knowledge. It’s a chance to be part of a global circle grounded in respect, humility, and the possibility of healing — both personal and collective.

Schedule of  Premiere Week Events (December 9–13, 2025)

The global premiere of If An Owl Calls Your Name unfolds across five days of teachings, conversations, prayer songs, and community-held learning with the Elders and knowledge keepers featured in the film. Each day is organized around themes that reflect the core messages of the documentary — including intergenerational trauma, land-based healing, cultural resilience, and the restoration of identity through language, ceremony, and sovereignty.

This schedule is designed to support a slow, relational rhythm of learning. Prayer songs begin and end major sessions, grounding participants in the ceremonial field of the gathering. Every session includes space for reflection, integration, and, in many cases, communal dialogue or breakout groups. All sessions are held online and include 48-hour replay access, allowing you to engage with the teachings regardless of your schedule or time zone.

Day 1 — December 9, 2025

• 10:00 AM PDT — Opening Live
  Welcoming and introduction with the SAND team to open the ceremonial container for the gathering.
• 10:15 AM PDT — Community Screening of If An Owl Calls Your Name
  A collective viewing experience of the full feature film.
• 11:55 AM PDT — Opening the Process with the Ancestors
  with Dr. Patricia June Vickers
  Exploring principles of holistic healing, somatic listening, and ancestral tools such as the rakau (wooden staffs).
• 12:00 PM PDT — Opening Words: Ancestral Ground
  with Him̓as Tlakwagila & Dinï Ze’ Na’ Moks
  Teachings on land-based governance, ancestral law, and truth-telling.
• 12:30 PM PDT — Prayer Song
• 12:35 PM PDT — Breakout Groups, Reflections & Q&A
  with Him̓as Tlakwagila & Dinï Ze’ Na’ Moks.
• 1:40 PM PDT — Prayer Song

Day 2 — December 10, 2025

• 10:00 AM PDT — Prayer Song
• 10:05 AM PDT — Standing with the Land, Speaking as the Land
  with Dinï Ze’ Na’ Moks & Gaylene Morris
  Teachings on ancestral law, sovereignty, and remembering responsibilities to land (Yintah).
• 11:45 AM PDT — From Fireweed Ground: Embodied Land Defense
  with Kolin Sutherland-Wilson
  Explorations of embodied sovereignty, intergenerational responsibility, and land-protection work.
• 1:15 PM PDT — Prayer Song
• 1:20 PM PDT — God, Are You There?
  with Dr. Patricia June Vickers
  Somatic teachings on listening to the body’s truth and bridging neurobiology with ancestral prayer.

Day 3 — December 11, 2025

• 10:00 AM PDT — Prayer Song
• 10:05 AM PDT — Buried in the Soul: A Secwepemc Story of Language and Healing
  Interview with Dave Belleau (ICAD Counselor, Elder, Esk’etemc First Nation)
  Teachings on surviving residential schools, healing from addiction, and the power of language revitalization.
• 11:00 AM PDT — Live Q&A with Dave Belleau
• 11:30 AM PDT — Finding Home in What Endured
  Interview with Frederick Johnson (ICAD Counselor, Cultural Lead, Esk’etemc First Nation)
  Teachings on intergenerational trauma, cultural remembrance, and returning home through community.
• 12:30 PM PDT — Live Q&A with Frederick Johnson
• 1:30 PM PDT — Prayer Song

Day 4 — December 12, 2025

• 10:00 AM PDT — My Daughter’s Letter
  with Dr. Patricia June Vickers
• 10:05 AM PDT — Intergenerational Healing
  with Patricia June Vickers
  Teachings on the impact of colonial violence, cycles of suffering, and the transformation of betrayal into healing.
• 11:45 AM PDT — Breakout Groups, Reflections & Q&A
• 12:15 PM PDT — This Is My Church
  with Roy Henry Vickers
  A deep exploration of truth-telling, forgiveness, and how individuals reconcile with histories that fractured identity.
• 1:00 PM PDT — Live Q&A with Roy Henry Vickers
• 1:30 PM PDT — Prayer Song

Day 5 — December 13, 2025

• 10:00 AM PDT — Prayer Song
• 10:05 AM PDT — Holocaust Shadows: Intergenerational Wounds & the Long Work of Healing
  with Gabor Maté, Patricia June Vickers, & Roy Henry Vickers
  A profound dialogue connecting Indigenous and global experiences of historical trauma.
• 12:45 PM PDT — Carrying It Forward: Closing Circle of Reflections
  with Chief Na’Moks, Kolin Sutherland-Wilson, Frederick Johnson, Dave Belleau, Patricia Vickers, and Roy Henry Vickers.
• 2:15 PM PDT — Gathering the Threads
  with Maurizio & Zaya Benazzo
  Closing the container and weaving together the teachings of all five days.

All sessions are held live online, with 48-hour replay access included for every participant. You are welcome to attend the entire gathering or join the sessions that resonate most deeply with your personal journey.

Featured Voices & Wisdom Keepers

If An Owl Calls Your Name is carried by the presence, teachings, and lived experience of Indigenous Elders, healers, activists, hereditary Chiefs, and community leaders whose stories shape every frame of the film. Their voices reveal not only the wounds created by forced assimilation but the immense strength, creativity, and cultural continuity that survived it. Through their stories, viewers learn how trauma can transform into wisdom, how land restores identity, and how healing unfolds through language, ceremony, and community.

These Wisdom Keepers represent lineages from the Esk’etemc, Gitxsan, Haida, Tsimshian, Heiltsuk, and Wet’suwet’en territories. Each one offers a unique perspective rooted in their Nation’s worldview, ceremonial life, and generational memory. Together, they hold a collective story of survival and reconnection — a story that is not told for entertainment, but as an act of generosity, truth-telling, and cultural restoration.

Their contributions in the film range from trauma healing and somatic awareness to land governance, language revitalization, sovereignty work, and community recovery. Many of them survived residential schools. Many have guided their communities through addiction treatment movements, cultural revival, and land-defense efforts. And all of them speak to the same fundamental truth: healing is not a solitary process. It is a communal path shaped by land, memory, and responsibility.

By meeting these Elders and knowledge keepers in the film, you are being invited into relationship — not with individuals alone, but with the lands and lineages that shaped them. Their stories offer perspective, humility, and a greater understanding of what it means to heal historical wounding while carrying forward ancestral wisdom for future generations.

Featured Voices Include:

• Dr. Patricia June Vickers — Indigenous trauma therapist, artist, and ceremonial practitioner whose work bridges neurobiology with ancestral teachings. Her lineage includes Tsimshian, Haida, Heiltsuk, and British roots. Her teachings form one of the central arcs of the film.
• Roy Henry Vickers — Master artist, Elder, Hereditary Chief of the House of Walkus, Wuikinuxv. A cultural leader and advocate for healing from addictions and intergenerational trauma, Roy’s presence helps weave art, memory, and cultural continuity into the film’s narrative.
• Dave Belleau — Elder, ICAD Counselor, Esk’etemc First Nation. A fluent Secwepemctsin speaker, residential school survivor, and addictions recovery leader. His teachings on language and healing form one of the film’s most profound layers.
• Frederick “Freddie” Johnson — Cultural Lead, Esk’etemc First Nation. Counselor, survivor, artist, and community healing facilitator. His story of healing, homecoming, and cultural reclamation offers deep insight into intergenerational trauma and recovery.
• Chief Na’Moks (John Ridsdale) — Hereditary Chief of the Tsayu Clan, Wet’suwet’en Territory. A leading voice for land protection, ancestral governance, and cultural survival.
• Kolin Sutherland-Wilson — Indigenous activist and Fireweed Clan member of the Gitxsan Nation. His work centers on sovereignty, land defense, and intergenerational responsibility. A powerful voice for youth leadership and cultural continuity.
• Art Wilson (Wii Mukwilixw) — Hereditary Chief of the Fireweed Clan, Gitxsan Nation. A lineage holder whose presence anchors teachings about law, governance, and cultural revival.

Together, these Elders and knowledge keepers represent a living archive of resilience, cultural revival, and spiritual wisdom. Their stories — personal, ancestral, and communal — shape the heart of the film. By witnessing them, you become part of a global circle that honors Indigenous sovereignty, intergenerational healing, and the sacredness of land and memory.

About the Featured Wisdom Keepers (Speaker Biographies)

The Wisdom Keepers featured in If An Owl Calls Your Name are not simply “participants” — they are lineage carriers, cultural protectors, trauma healers, language keepers, activists, hereditary Chiefs, and artists whose lives embody the teachings they share. Many of them have lived through the intergenerational impact of residential schools. Others have led their Nations through cultural revitalization, land stewardship, and community healing movements. Each biography below offers a deeper look into the individuals whose stories illuminate the film’s central themes.

Their roles extend far beyond the screen. They are Elders whose work continues daily in their communities — teaching language, training counselors, guiding ceremonial practice, advocating for Indigenous sovereignty, and rebuilding cultural structures disrupted by colonization. This section gives you a closer view of who they are, the territories they come from, and the wisdom they bring into the global premiere gathering.

Dr. Patricia June Vickers

Patricia Vickers is an Indigenous trauma therapist, artist, and scholar rooted in the Tsimshian, Haida, and Heiltsuk Nations through her father, and British ancestry through her mother. Her life’s work bridges neuroscience, somatic psychology, and ancestral teachings. Her practice includes trauma healing through movement, breath, body-based awareness, and ceremonial protocols that facilitate soul retrieval and spiritual reconnection. As a mother of four and grandmother of ten, Patricia’s healing work is grounded in family, lineage, and love for her community. Her teachings form one of the central structures of the film’s healing arc.

Roy Henry Vickers

A world-renowned artist, Elder, and Hereditary Chief of the House of Walkus (Wuikinuxv), Roy Henry Vickers is known internationally for his vivid prints, carvings, storytelling, and cultural leadership. His contributions to healing and sobriety within First Nations communities are widely respected. Roy has been a design advisor for major public projects, a keynote speaker, and the author of several books. His presence in the film provides a powerful bridge between traditional artistry, community healing, and intergenerational resilience.

Dave Belleau

Dave Belleau is an Elder, ICAD counselor, trainer, and fluent Secwepemctsin language speaker from Esk’etemc First Nation. A survivor of Indian Residential School, Dave’s journey includes decades of work in addiction recovery and community healing movements. His teachings emphasize the centrality of language as memory, medicine, and cultural identity. In the film, Dave shares how language revitalization became his path toward reconnecting with himself and his community.

Frederick “Freddie” Johnson

Frederick Johnson is the Cultural Lead for the Esk’etemc community and a certified counselor through Nechi Institute. A survivor of residential school and a fluent Secwepemctsin speaker, Freddie’s life is dedicated to helping end violence against women and children while strengthening cultural recovery. His teachings in the film illuminate how intergenerational trauma affects families and how cultural homecoming can restore belonging and purpose.

Chief Na’Moks (John Ridsdale)

Chief Na’Moks is a Hereditary Chief of the Tsayu Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation. A powerful activist for land rights, cultural preservation, and Indigenous governance, he is widely recognized for protecting his Nation’s territories and cultural protocols. His commitment to sovereignty and traditional governance is reflected in his teachings on ancestral responsibilities and collective care for the land (Yintah).

Kolin Sutherland-Wilson

Kolin Sutherland-Wilson is a Fireweed Clan member of the Gitxsan Nation, an Indigenous activist, a father, and an emerging storyteller. Born in the village of Anspayaxw and the son of Hereditary Chief Art Wilson, Kolin works at the intersection of sovereignty, land defense, youth leadership, and cultural resurgence. His teachings in the gathering highlight the responsibilities of future generations in carrying forward what must not be forgotten.

Hereditary Chief Art Wilson (Wii Mukwilixw)

Chief Art Wilson is a Hereditary Chief of the Fireweed Clan of the Gitxsan Nation. As a lineage holder, he carries forward ancestral governance systems, oral history, and clan responsibilities. His leadership reflects the importance of cultural continuity, language, and community empowerment. His presence in the film reminds viewers of the depth of Indigenous governance systems and the resilience of cultural structures that survived colonization.

Together, these Wisdom Keepers represent a constellation of lived experience, ancestral knowledge, and contemporary leadership. Their stories serve as both teaching and testimony — grounding the film in authenticity, lineage, and a living framework of Indigenous resilience.

Themes Explored in If An Owl Calls Your Name

If An Owl Calls Your Name weaves together some of the most essential themes in Indigenous healing, intergenerational trauma recovery, and land-based spirituality. Each theme appears not as an academic idea, but as living knowledge carried by Elders, survivors, and community leaders whose stories reveal the emotional, psychological, and spiritual realities of colonization — and the pathways to transformation that follow. The film sits at the meeting point of personal memory, communal responsibility, and ancestral continuity, offering viewers a nuanced and deeply human exploration of how individuals and Nations heal.

One of the central themes is intergenerational trauma — how the wounds of residential schools echo forward through families, communities, nervous systems, and identities. In the trailer, survivors speak of memories so painful they seem to exist outside of language: silence replacing laughter, the absence of children’s voices, the complicated grief passed from parents to children. Yet the film makes clear that naming trauma is only the beginning. True healing emerges through the slow return to land, ceremony, language, and connection. Trauma is not simply reversed — it is transformed through relationship, as one Elder says: “You cannot reverse a curse. A curse can only be transformed.”

The film also explores land-based healing as a foundational medicine. Elders describe land not as metaphor or background, but as family — a living presence that holds memory, identity, and belonging. Viewers learn how reconnecting with land can restore nervous system regulation, cultural identity, and spiritual clarity. As Chief Na’Moks shares, “It’s the land, air and water. That is the therapy.” This theme reframes healing not as an individual pursuit, but as a communal reconnection to place.

Another key theme is language revitalization. Survivors like Dave Belleau and Frederick Johnson speak about the role of Secwepemctsin in restoring identity and cultural memory. Language becomes medicine — each word carries ancestral teachings that help communities reclaim the parts of themselves that were forcibly taken. For many viewers, this theme reveals how colonial violence targeted not only people, but the structures of meaning that ground them.

Ceremony is also central to the film. Ceremony is presented as a living technology for healing — a place where grief, memory, and identity can be restored through rhythm, prayer, breath, song, and the presence of community. The story of the filmmakers being invited to sweat lodge before filming speaks to this relational ethic: nothing is captured without respect, consent, and spiritual alignment. Ceremony brings everyone — filmmakers, Elders, and viewers — into shared responsibility.

The film further explores sovereignty and ancestral governance. Teachings from the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en leaders highlight how land defense, responsibility to lineage, and traditional governance structures continue to guide present-day activism. These moments illuminate a broader truth: healing is not only personal; it is political, cultural, and collective.

Finally, the film explores forgiveness and reconciliation — not as shortcuts to closure, but as hard-won, generational processes. Forgiveness emerges slowly, through ceremony, truth-telling, cultural revival, community accountability, and reconnection to Spirit. Viewers are shown that forgiveness is not forgetting; it is remembering in a way that restores dignity, relationship, and possibility.

Watch the Trailer

The trailer for If An Owl Calls Your Name offers a powerful window into the emotional and spiritual depth of the film. In just a few minutes, it reveals the lived reality of intergenerational trauma, the quiet courage of survivors, and the profound healing carried by the land, the Elders, and the ancestral practices still alive in Indigenous communities today. The imagery is both beautiful and unflinching — a testament to resilience, cultural memory, and the lives shaped by histories that continue to echo through generations.

What makes this trailer so compelling is its honesty. It does not attempt to soften the impact of residential schools or the suffering they caused. Instead, it allows the Elders and survivors to speak directly, in their own words, with the clarity and strength of people who have lived the stories being told. Their voices carry a truth that cannot be simulated, and a depth of emotion that invites viewers into relationship rather than observation.

In the opening moments, we hear survivors speak to the limitations of language itself — how words like “trauma,” “intergenerational trauma,” and “decolonization” are insufficient to express what was lived. These words point toward something real, but they cannot contain the fullness of the experience. The trailer confronts viewers with the silence left behind when children were taken from their families, when laughter vanished from the land, and when cultural memory was forcibly interrupted. This silence becomes a metaphor for the wounds that were meant to erase identity — and the courage it takes to reclaim it.

The trailer also highlights one of the film’s central teachings: that healing cannot be achieved simply through intellectual understanding or psychological analysis. As one Elder says, “You cannot reverse a curse; a curse can only be transformed.” This is the heart of the film — a transformation that emerges through ceremony, land, community, language, and the long work of returning to Spirit. The trailer offers glimpses of drum, smoke, song, and land — each one a thread in the larger tapestry of cultural remembrance that the film brings forward.

For those drawn to trauma healing, Indigenous wisdom, ancestral remembrance, or the intersection of spirituality and social justice, the trailer acts as a call. Not a call to consume something, but a call to witness. A call to remember. A call to honor the stories being shared and to allow them to shift something inside you. Many viewers find that even the trailer alone brings forward an emotional response — a sense of grief, clarity, or deep resonance with their own history or lineage.

We encourage you to take a quiet moment to watch the trailer with presence. Let the words wash over you. Feel the land. Hear the prayer beneath the pain. The film was created in ceremony, and even the trailer carries that field of intention.

Who This Film Is For

The global premiere of If An Owl Calls Your Name is for anyone who feels the call to witness, remember, and engage with stories that carry both historical truth and pathways of healing. This event is not limited to those with direct Indigenous ancestry — it is for all people who recognize that healing is a shared human responsibility and that the stories of residential school survivors and their communities carry lessons the whole world needs to hear.

This gathering is especially supportive for individuals on their own healing path. If you are exploring trauma recovery, somatic practices, or the impact of intergenerational patterns in your own family, you will find the teachings in this film deeply resonant. The Elders speak to trauma not only as a psychological phenomenon, but as a relational wound — a rupture in belonging, land connection, and spiritual identity. Many people find that these teachings illuminate aspects of their own lives, helping them understand where they come from and how healing becomes possible through community, presence, and reconnection.

The event is also a meaningful experience for those who work in healing professions — therapists, counselors, social workers, educators, support workers, and facilitators of somatic or spiritual modalities. The Wisdom Keepers in the film offer a unique understanding of the nervous system, memory, and trauma that bridges Western neuroscience with ancestral worldviews. Their perspectives can help modern practitioners see trauma through a more relational, land-based, and culturally grounded lens.

If you are involved in or curious about Indigenous rights, land stewardship, or social justice work, this gathering offers invaluable insights. Teachings from hereditary Chiefs, language keepers, and land defenders highlight the living systems of Indigenous governance, the ongoing impact of colonization, and the responsibilities communities carry as they heal. You’ll learn how sovereignty, activism, and cultural revival are intertwined — and how these movements are grounded in spiritual and ancestral ethics, not only legal or political frameworks.

The premiere is also a powerful experience for those drawn to spirituality, meditation, or contemplative traditions. The film’s rhythm mirrors the pace of ceremony: slow, grounded, spacious, and relational. Prayer songs, land-based teachings, stories of spiritual awakening, and the presence of Elders create a sacred atmosphere that supports inner reflection and emotional clarity. If you’re seeking a deeper spiritual foundation or a reminder of what it means to belong to something larger than yourself, you will feel at home here.

Lastly, this event is for anyone who simply feels the call. The call to understand something deeper about this moment in human history. The call to reconnect with ancestral wisdom — whether your ancestors were Indigenous, displaced, colonized, or part of cultural lineages disrupted by migration or historical violence. People of all backgrounds find that the teachings in this film awaken something ancient within them, something that recognizes the importance of truth-telling, healing, and remembrance.

Whether you join for personal insight, communal learning, professional growth, or spiritual remembrance, this gathering welcomes you. The story being shared belongs to specific lineages — and yet its medicine reverberates through all people seeking a more connected, honest, and compassionate world.

How to Watch the Film (Free Registration + Donation Model)

If An Owl Calls Your Name is being offered as a global gift — accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world, at no cost. To watch the full documentary and participate in the 5-day online gathering, simply register for free using the link below. Your registration grants access to the entire premiere experience, including the live community screening, all teachings from the Elders, 48-hour replays of every session, and the closing circle.

This offering follows a “gift economy” model rooted in Indigenous values of reciprocity. Rather than selling tickets or placing the film behind a paywall, the organizers and Wisdom Keepers chose to make the event freely available so that its teachings could reach people who need them — regardless of financial situation, geography, or background. The film’s stories are meant to be witnessed, not restricted. This model honors the relationships, ceremonies, and generosity that brought the film into being.

While the event is free, there is also an invitation — not an obligation — to contribute financially if you feel moved. Donations go directly toward supporting Indigenous community initiatives, cultural revitalization, language programs, land-based healing projects, and the continued work of the Elders featured in the film. In other words, contributions help the medicine of the film continue long after the premiere.

Many viewers choose to donate because the film touches something personal: a memory, an ancestral thread, an understanding of trauma, or a new perspective on what healing truly requires. Others contribute as a way of standing in solidarity with Indigenous communities or supporting the work of cultural restoration. Some donate simply because the event feels like a gift and they want to give something back. All forms of participation — whether financial or through presence, listening, and witnessing — are honored.

Once you register, you’ll receive a confirmation email with your personal access link. This link allows you to join the live sessions on each of the five days, including the film screening and all Q&A sessions with the Knowledge Keepers. If you can’t attend live, the 48-hour replays make it easy to watch when it works for you. Nothing is required — you are welcome to join as much or as little as feels right.

If you’re new to Spiritual Growth Events or the broader SAND community, registration also adds you to the event list so you can receive reminders before the sessions begin. Those reminders include links to each day’s livestream and replay. There is no cost, no upsell, and no membership required. This is a gift from the Elders, the filmmakers, and the land that shaped their stories.

Why This Film Matters Now

If An Owl Calls Your Name arrives at a moment when conversations about trauma, truth-telling, historical memory, and cultural survival are more urgent than ever. Around the world, communities are grappling with the aftershocks of colonization, displacement, forced assimilation, and intergenerational wounding. Many are only beginning to understand how deeply these histories shaped the emotional, spiritual, and political realities we live with today. This film helps illuminate that landscape — not through theory, but through the lived experience and ancestral knowledge of Indigenous Elders who carry both the wounds and the medicine.

One reason this film matters now is the global need for collective healing. So many people feel disconnected — from land, from community, from lineage, from meaning. Anxiety, depression, loneliness, and inherited patterns of trauma are rising worldwide. The Elders in this film remind us that healing does not begin with fixing symptoms; it begins with remembering who we are, where we come from, and what relationships sustain us. Their teachings bring forward a vision of healing that is communal, relational, embodied, and spiritually grounded — a counterpoint to the fragmented, individualistic approaches dominant in modern culture.

This film also matters in the context of truth and reconciliation. Across Canada, the United States, and many other countries, societies are wrestling with how to confront the truth of residential schools, cultural erasure, and land theft. These histories have shaped generations — not only those who survived, but those who inherited silence, shame, addiction, distrust, and disconnection. If An Owl Calls Your Name brings these truths forward with honesty and reverence, helping viewers understand not just the events themselves, but their ongoing impact on families, identities, and Nations today.

The stories shared by the Wisdom Keepers are also a powerful antidote to misinformation and romanticized narratives about Indigenous cultures. These are not myths or abstractions — they are lived realities. The Elders speak with clarity about sovereignty, language, ceremony, and the responsibilities people carry toward land and future generations. Their teachings help non-Indigenous viewers understand that these issues are not political talking points — they are part of a living, relational worldview sustained through immense resilience.

Another reason this film matters now is the rise of global movements for land protection and ecological stewardship. Indigenous knowledge holders have been guardians of the land for thousands of years. Their perspectives on restoration, sustainability, and governance offer crucial guidance at a time when climate change demands new ways of relating to the earth. The teachings in this film remind us that environmental healing cannot be separated from cultural healing — they are the same story.

Finally, this film matters now because it opens a door for personal transformation. The stories of trauma, forgiveness, courage, and reconnection resonate across cultures. Many viewers recognize parts of their own lineage — even if their ancestors came from different lands, languages, or histories of displacement. The film helps people see how trauma travels through families, how silence shapes identity, and how remembrance becomes a form of liberation.

At a time when the world is asking, “How do we heal what we’ve inherited?” — this film offers a path. Not a quick path, not an easy path, but a real one.

Frequently Asked Questions

The global premiere of If An Owl Calls Your Name brings together viewers from many cultures, countries, and healing traditions. Below are the most common questions people ask before joining the 5-day event. These answers will help you understand how to participate, what to expect, and how to make the most of your experience.

All sessions include free access, optional donations, replay availability, and a ceremonial container shaped by Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers. If you’re new to Spiritual Growth Events or to SAND, you’ll find everything you need to get started below.

Top Questions

About SAND (Science and Nonduality)

SAND — Science and Nonduality — is a global community dedicated to exploring the deep intersection between modern science, contemplative traditions, Indigenous wisdom, embodiment, and the nature of consciousness. Founded in 2009, SAND has become a gathering place for seekers, scholars, spiritual practitioners, artists, healers, and change-makers who share a common inquiry: How do we live with clarity, compassion, and interconnectedness in a rapidly changing world?

Unlike traditional spiritual communities or academic institutions, SAND blends multiple ways of knowing. Its events, conferences, and film projects highlight voices from physics, neuroscience, somatics, meditation, trauma healing, and Indigenous worldviews — creating a space where people can think, feel, and explore across disciplines. The goal is not to present answers, but to support deeper questions that lead to transformation, healing, and connection.

If An Owl Calls Your Name is part of SAND’s ongoing commitment to amplifying Indigenous voices and honoring the teachings of cultures who have held relational wisdom for thousands of years. SAND approaches this work with humility, collaboration, and a recognition that true healing emerges through relationships — with land, lineage, ancestors, and community. The making of this film reflects that ethic: the filmmakers entered ceremony, listened deeply, and honored the cultural protocols of the Nations they collaborated with.

SAND’s broader offerings include large annual conferences, online courses, live gatherings, retreats, film premieres, and community circles. Many of these events explore trauma healing, somatic practice, ecological awareness, consciousness studies, and the timeless teachings found across contemplative traditions. What unites all of these is the commitment to fostering a more compassionate and interconnected world.

If you feel drawn to stories that bridge science, spirituality, and ancestral wisdom — or if you’re seeking practices that help you live with greater authenticity, presence, and embodied clarity — SAND provides a welcoming home for that exploration. The premiere of If An Owl Calls Your Name is one of the ways SAND supports global healing and invites people into deeper conversations about our shared humanity and the responsibilities we carry into the future.