A Journey of Remembrance

My name is Teresa Padilla, and I am the Lead Steward of Medicine of Many Tribes The truth is, I never set out to create a spiritual community organization like this. For over twenty years, I was a hairstylist and salon owner. I worked hard, built a business, raised a family, and spent much of my life taking care of everyone else. Like many people, I kept pushing forward, believing I could carry it all.

Then my body began to change. In 2013, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. At first, I did what many of us do. I kept going. I tried to hold everything together. But over time, my health declined, my body struggled, and the life I had carefully built began to unravel.

What I understand now is that Creator was asking me to surrender. At the time, it didn't feel like surrender. It felt like loss. I lost my health. I lost certainty. I lost the identity I had built around who I thought I was supposed to be. Eventually, I lost my marriage as well. One by one, the things that no longer aligned with where Creator needed me to go were stripped away. It was painful, confusing, and at times heartbreaking. I wanted answers. I wanted certainty. Instead, life kept bringing me back to the same lesson: Trust. Surrender. Listen.

Years before I ever met Yawa Bané, I received a message about helping with the reconnectivity of the Indigenous peoples. At the time, I didn't understand what that meant. I didn't know how it would happen or what role I would play. I simply carried those words with me and continued following where Spirit seemed to be leading.

Then I met Bané, and what changed my life wasn't simply the medicine. It was the prayer. There was something in the songs, the language, the frequency, and the devotion carried through generations that touched something deep within me. Something ancient. Something familiar. Something in me recognized it before my mind understood it. For the first time in a very long time, I stopped fighting. I surrendered. Not because I gave up. Because I finally trusted.

In the Huni Kuin tradition, this prayer is often spoken in Cosmology by the name of Yuxibu , and over time I came to understand why. There is something I often say when I try to explain what this prayer means to me: The prayer remembers me. It remembers my heart. It remembers my spirit. It remembers my frequency.

Through this prayer, I have experienced healing across my past, my present, and the path still unfolding before me. It has helped me soften grief, release fear, find forgiveness, and remember parts of myself I thought were lost. For that, I will always be grateful.

That night in my first ceremony changed my life in ways I could never have imagined. Not only did I meet Bané, but I met many of the people who would later become part of Medicine of Many Tribes. None of us knew it at the time. We were simply people gathered in prayer, each carrying our own stories, struggles, and hopes for healing. Looking back now, I can see that Spirit was bringing us together long before any of us understood why.

A few months later, I found myself traveling to Brazil. When I think about that journey, I still become emotional. I had gone from walking with a cane (loss of balance in life) and wondering what my future would look like to standing in the Amazon rainforest, helping push boats through low water, learning from the forest, sitting in prayer, and witnessing the traditions and teachings firsthand.

There were moments when I looked at myself and thought, "How am I doing this?" Not from pride. From awe. I was witnessing what was possible when healing begins to happen not only in the body, but in the heart, the spirit, and the soul. The forest became a teacher. The community became a teacher. The people became family. There, I witnessed something beautiful within the Huni Kuin communities. I witnessed people caring for one another. Sharing. Working together. Praying together. Living in relationship with one another, with the forest, and with Yuxibu, the Creator.

The name Huni Kuin is often translated as "The True People," and spending time with the community helped me understand that this isn't simply a name. It is a way of remembering our relationship with Creator, with each other, and with the living world around us.

As time passed, I began to realize that the healing I was experiencing wasn't limited to my physical body. The prayer brought more peace into my home. More balance into my life. More patience as a mother. More understanding within my relationships. A deeper connection to Spirit. A deeper connection to myself. And a deeper connection to the people around me.

My heart healed in ways I never expected. Not because life became perfect, but because I learned how to trust again. To trust Creator. To trust the path. To trust that even when I couldn't see where I was being led, there was purpose in the journey.

Since that first ceremony, I have remained in remission. But the greatest healing wasn't simply physical. The greatest healing was remembering who I am. Remembering that I am connected. Remembering that I am supported. Remembering that there is purpose even in our suffering. Through prayer, community, Indigenous wisdom, and sacred traditions, I began to understand the message I had been given years before. The work was never about me. It was about building bridges. It was about helping reconnect people to themselves, to one another, to Spirit, and to the wisdom that has been carried by Indigenous communities for generations. Medicine of Many Tribes was born from that understanding.

This path exists because of prayer. It exists because of healing. It exists because of community. And it exists because a group of ordinary people answered a call they didn't fully understand but trusted enough to follow. I am deeply grateful for every steward, every elder, every teacher, every community member, and every person who has walked beside us on this journey. Each person has helped shape this community and reminds me that none of us walk this path alone.

People sometimes ask us if we know exactly what we're doing. The truth is, we laugh and say: "We don't know what we're doing, but we're doing something." Behind that humor is a deeper truth. We are listening. We are learning. We are trusting. We are following the guidance we receive one step at a time. And perhaps that is what faith really is. Not having all the answers. But continuing to walk forward with an open heart. I thought I was coming for my own healing. I didn't realize I was being called into service.

Today, it is my honor to help carry these prayers, support Indigenous communities, build bridges between people, and create spaces where others may remember themselves too. Because at the end of the day, that is what this work has always been about. Remembrance. The prayer remembered me when I had forgotten parts of myself. The community reminded me that I was never alone. The forest reminded me that healing is possible. And Creator reminded me that even the most difficult chapters can become part of something beautiful.

For that, I am grateful. And together, we remember. We are the medicine.

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Photography: Selected images throughout this website are by Daniel Cohen and are used with permission. We are deeply grateful for Daniel's generosity in sharing, through his reflective lens, the story of Lago Lindo, the Huni Kuin, and his guidance in helping tell the story of Medicine of Many Tribes.

Medicine of Many Tribes is a Colorado nonprofit religious corporation and is in the process of applying for federal 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.