February 2026 Newsletter: Gratitude For Being Alive!
Tai Guey Itainos! (Family)🌿
As winter begins to soften and the days slowly stretch toward the light, we pause in gratitude — for the land that holds us, the people who walk beside us, and the prayers that continue to guide our way. February invites us to move gently, to prepare what is coming, and to remember why we choose to walk together. Let’s spread the experience we feel when on the land with others. Han Hankatu!
🏆 Community Honor — Arieto Award: Musicians of the Year
We are deeply honored to share that Taíno Woods Sanctuary will receive the Arieto Award – Musicians of the Year at the 16th Annual Taíno Awards Ceremony on May 9, 2026, held at Boricua College in New York City.
We are especially grateful to share that we have been invited to perform as part of the awards ceremony, offering our songs and rhythms as prayer in honor of our Ancestors, Elders, and community.
This recognition follows our first award, the Anacaona Award – Land Keepers, and honors the living medicine of song, rhythm, and ceremony carried by our community. We receive this award with humility, on behalf of our Elders, song carriers, drummers, dancers, and all who continue to keep these traditions alive.
This honor belongs to the whole circle.
Han Han Katu. Seneko Kakona.
💻 Winter Virtual Sanctuary Series — With Gratitude
We give heartfelt thanks to Luna for holding a beautiful Winter Virtual Sanctuary gathering rooted in Kundalini Yoga, meditation, movement, breathwork, music, and Indigenous medicinal practices on January 18, 2026. These winter offerings continue to nourish and connect our community while the land rests.
🍄 Upcoming Virtual Gathering
Grow Your Own Mushrooms
📅 February 17, 2026
🕘 7:00–8:30 PM (Virtual)
Join us for an evening of practical learning and ecological wisdom as we explore mushroom cultivation and deepen our relationship with cycles of nourishment and regeneration.
👉 Register at tainowoods.com/gatherings
🌱 A Community Call — Early RSVP & Shared Responsibility
As the seasons turn, we are asking our community to walk a little closer with us this year. Many of our gatherings require careful preparation — welcoming Elders who travel long distances, gathering wood, water, food, and ceremonial supplies, and preparing the land and lodges in a good way.
Early RSVP is essential so we can prepare with care, clarity, and respect, knowing who is coming and how best to hold the circle.
This year, we are also calling in more paid membership so we can sustainably provide the supplies and resources needed for ceremonies. Membership is not just support — it is a commitment to keeping these prayers alive and accessible for all.
🌸 Important Notice — Spring Equinox Lodge Prayer
This ceremony is only possible through community support. Our Behike Miguel Sagué Jr. travels over 12 hours to be with us.
If we do not reach our minimum registration by March 7, 2026, we will need to cancel this gathering.
🌸 Spring Equinox Lodge Prayer
📅 Saturday, March 14, 2026
🕘
• 9:00 AM Arrival & Check-in
• 10:00 AM Opening Directions
• Cibucan Dance (Women’s Rope Weaving)
• Boa Constrictor Dance
• Anointing of Men
• 12:00 PM Fire 🔥 Lighting & Guanara Lodge
🗓️ Looking Ahead — 2026 Sacred Calendar (Highlights)
🍄 Los Sacred Nino’s Journey- March 6th – 7th email: events@tainowoods.com (must be a paid member)
🌸 Spring Equinox Lodge Prayer – March 14th
🌿 Land Stewardship Day — March 28
🌑 New Moon Purification Lodge — April 18
🌿 Land Stewardship Day — April 19
🌑 New Moon Purification Lodge — May 16
🌿 Land Garden Stewardship & Sacred Niños Tipi (Paid Members Only) — May 30–31 (Blue Moon)
☀️ Radiant Sun Summer Solstice Dance, Lodge & Overnight — June 20–21
🔥 Karaya Guey Guateke Arieto: World Overnight Prayer Dance — July 24–26
🌿 Nature Quest Prep & Stewardship Weekends
• July 31–August 1
• August 8–9
🪶 3rd Annual Nature Quest Fast (Vision Quest) — August 19–23
🍂 Fall Equinox Prayer & Purification Lodge — September 19
🪶 Native American Day — 2nd Annual Gathering Of The Tribes -September 26th – 27th
Full details and registration at tainowoods.com/gatherings
🪶 Nature Quest — An Invitation
We are holding space for two more Nature Seekers to sit in this upcoming Quest. We are also gently inviting experienced supporters from our neighboring communities to help tend the land and hold the ceremonial container. While each quester is responsible for finding their own supporter, we do our best to walk alongside — offering guidance so all who step onto this path are held with care, humility, and love.
🌿 Membership Keeps the Fire Alive (and the Land Open)
Paid membership directly supports ceremonies, Elders, land care, and supplies.
✨ Member Benefit:
All paid members receive one free overnight stay every month for themselves and one guest.
To reserve, simply email events@tainowoods.com and let us know whether you’ll bring your own tent or need access to our communal tents.
💛 $10/month or $99/year
👉 Join or renew at tainowoods.com
🌿 Calling in Retreat Hosts & Medicine Keepers
We are opening the circle and inviting retreat hosts, facilitators, and medicine carriers to come share their modalities with Taíno Woods Sanctuary. If you feel called to host a retreat, workshop, or gathering, you are welcome to rent the land and share your medicine in a space held with care, respect, and reciprocity.
This is an invitation to support one another — to uplift community, collaborate, and help each other thrive. When we share the land and our gifts, we all grow together.
📧 To inquire, please email events@tainowoods.com
🪶 Native American Day — 2nd Annual Gathering Of The Tribes
📅 September 25th
We are honored to announce our 2nd Annual Gathering of the Tribes in recognition of Native American Day — a celebration of culture, music, prayer, and community.
This gathering is a space to come together across nations and lineages through rhythm, word, movement, and shared presence.
🎶 What to Expect
✨ DJ Afro Beats & Meditative House Music
✨ Live Music & Song
✨ Spoken Word & Poetry
✨ Community Prayer & Gathering
We are actively calling in singers, musicians, spoken word artists, and vendors to join us.
🛍️ Vendors
• $75 per table • Includes overnight stay
🎟️ Community Admission
• $50 door charge • Includes overnight stay
🏕️ Lodging Options
• Bring your own tent, or • Rent a large glamping tent (sleeps 8–10 people) through Hipcamp
• Glamping sites have space for additional tents within the same site for additional costs
🍲 Community Care
Please bring a prepared dish to share. Light refreshments and snacks will be provided.
This gathering is about unity, expression, and remembering that we are stronger together.
Come as you are. Bring your voice, your art, your prayers, your medicine.
📧 For performers, vendors, or questions: events@tainowoods.com. To donate and RSVP ->become a guest or paid member, by going to Tainowoods.com/gatherings
✨ Closing Blessing
May this season bring clarity to your steps, strength to your hands, and warmth to your heart. Thank you for walking with us — in prayer, in service, and in community.
With gratitude,
🌿 Taíno Woods Sanctuary
Home of fire, song, and rooted community
Han Han Katu. Seneko Kakona.