Submitted
2025 Indigenous Communities Fellowship

Sacred Abundance Wellness

Team Leader
Andrea Moyah Nygren
Sacred Abundance Wellness is building a replicable model of Indigenous-led healing centres that integrate ceremony, trauma-informed practices, and community-based entrepreneurship. We begin by hosting land-based pilot gatherings rooted in sacred mountain territory, bringing Elders, healers, and community members together for 3–5 day retreats. These experiences offer access to traditional healing modalities—sweat lodges, storytelling, plant medicine, drumming, grief circles, and more....
What is the name of your organization?
Sacred Abundance Foundation
What is the name of your solution?
Sacred Abundance Wellness
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Birthing Indigenous Healing Centers Rooted in Ceremony, Led by Spirit.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Foothills, AB Canada
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
CAN
What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Indigenous communities across Canada are navigating the dual crisis of intergenerational trauma and limited access to culturally grounded healing. Our people experience some of the highest rates of mental health struggles, substance use, and chronic illness—yet we are least likely to access services due to stigma, racism, and lack of culturally safe care. Western systems often dismiss traditional practices as “unscientific,” and ceremony remains severely underfunded. In Alberta, Indigenous youth are nearly 6 times more likely to die by suicide than their non-Indigenous peers (Gov. of Alberta, 2022). Across Canada, First Nations adults are nearly twice as likely to report poor mental health compared to non-Indigenous people (Statistics Canada, 2021)¹. Yet funding for cultural healing remains sparse and fragmented despite Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action. Moreover, there is no existing infrastructure to support Indigenous-led wellness centers in rural and remote communities. There are no systems for mentorship. No scalable business model. And yet, Indigenous wellness tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors, with international participation up 82% since 2014². The need is evident: for our nations to heal and thrive economically—we must be well first.
What is your solution?
Sacred Abundance Wellness is building a replicable model of Indigenous-led healing centres that integrate ceremony, trauma-informed practices, and community-based entrepreneurship. We begin by hosting land-based pilot gatherings rooted in sacred mountain territory, bringing Elders, healers, and community members together for 3–5 day retreats. These experiences offer access to traditional healing modalities—sweat lodges, storytelling, plant medicine, drumming, grief circles, and more. Participants receive food, lodging, supplies, and cultural supports while engaging in co-designing what healing centres could look like in their own Nations. From this pilot, we are developing a Sacred Abundance Wellness Incubator: a mentorship and training track to support Indigenous communities in launching their own wellness centres, complete with a toolkit for program development, funding templates, and ceremonial protocols (with Elder input). We aim to create a mobile wellness unit, online resource portal, and peer-to-peer community to scale this vision sustainably. Our solution blends traditional knowledge with technology and innovation—providing culturally rooted healing that is scalable, fundable, and built by and for Indigenous communities.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our solution serves Indigenous women, men, and youth who are seeking deep healing from intergenerational trauma, violence, disconnection, and cultural loss. Many have said they carry more than one healer can hold—and they need a circle, a team, and a return to ceremony. We also support traditional healers, Elders, and wellness practitioners who often work unpaid, funding their ceremonial work out of their own pockets—providing wood, rocks, blankets, food, and medicine to help others heal. Our solution provides the infrastructure and financial support needed to sustain their work and elevate their gifts. The pilot gatherings will benefit Nations like Frog Lake First Nation, where we have family roots, and broader communities connected through our Elders and network. Our project center near Calgary allows us to include urban Indigenous peoples as well. We are building relationships with Stoney Nakoda and Tsuut’ina Nations to host gatherings on their lands with cultural protocol and guidance. By uplifting both those seeking healing and those offering it, we are restoring cultural wellness, building Indigenous-led businesses, and creating spaces of belonging, sovereignty, and hope.
Solution Team:
Andrea Moyah Nygren
Andrea Moyah Nygren
Sacred Abundance Wellness