Wednesday, March 20th, 2024 from 12:00-1:30pm PST

Join us for an engaging community forum where we explore the intercultural dialogues, co-creations and dissonances between Indigenous wisdom and cutting-edge psychedelic research. Together, we will delve into the complexities of dialoguing traditional knowledge with modern scientific inquiry, navigating challenges while fostering meaningful collaboration. Join our vision of a future where Indigenous voices play a central role in the psychedelic renaissance, offering diverse insights for holistic healing and cultural renewal. Led by esteemed speakers Jimena Chalchi, a Global Leadership researcher specializing in intercultural collaboration for mental, spiritual, and planetary health, and Alejandra Barajas, project coordinator and member of the Chacruna’s Women, Gender Diversity, and Sexual Minorities Working Group.

Jimena Chalchi is a Global Leadership researcher focused on models and systems for intercultural collaboration between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples for mental, spiritual and planetary health. Her research is extensive on the traditional knowledge, philosophy and traditions of Indigenous entheogenic medicine in the Anauhuac, Mayab, and Tawantinsuyu. She is a land-based healer who works body-mindset depatriarchalization, and decolonization through the communion with the medicines and other Indigenous relational technologies.

Alejandra Barajas (she/they/him) received her BA in Studio Art and Journalism from Beloit College. As an undergrad, she explored many topics ranging from art to philosophy to anthropology to journalism. Professionally, she has combined these skills in order to build a portfolio of knowledge. She uses an ethnographic approach to understand existence by communicating with different types of people, documenting their life experiences, and sharing this wisdom with the world through different mediums. She began this practice by working with graffiti artists in Chicago and giving them a platform to share their voices in an effort to remove the stigma surrounding this underground culture. During that time, she was a journalist for UP Mag which is a NY based publication focused on street art and politics. She has since shifted her focus to psychedelic plant medicines and is primarily interested in the topics of accessibility for underrepresented communities and promoting indigenous voices. She is Chacruna’s Program Coordinator and she is also part of Chacruna’s Women, Gender Diversity, and Sexual Minorities Working Group. She supports the production of research, books, chronicles, community forums, in-person events and conferences, courses and team’s speaking engagements. She is currently based in Washington, DC.

Traditions in Dialogue: Indigenous Wisdom and Psychedelic Research