Indigenous
milk medicineweek 2026
August 8–14, 2026
“We KEeP The Fires Lit: Rising Through Milk Medicine”
Indigenous Milk Medicine Week is here!
Programming agenda now available. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for most up to date information.
Join us for Indigenous Milk Medicine Week Sessions
Happy Indigenous Milk Medicine Week
+ Registration Now Open +
Happy Indigenous Milk Medicine Week + Registration Now Open +
++++ All Week Long ++++
Indigenous Milk Medicine Week virtual 5K
August 8 - 14, 2026
Anytime - Wherever you are
(at your own leisure)Movement is medicine. Join us for the IMMW Virtual 5K, a free and flexible community event where relatives of all ages can run, walk, roll, dance, or move in whatever way feels good. Complete your 5K anytime during Indigenous Milk Medicine Week and celebrate our theme, We Keep the Fires Lit: Rising Through Milk Medicine, by honoring connection, wellness, and the strength of Indigenous families and communities.
SUPPORTIVE ACTION: Share your photo on social media using the hashtags and tag us on Instagram and Facebook so we can celebrate together. #WeKeepTheFiresLit5K #RiseThroughMilkMedicine5K #IndigenousMilkMedicineWeek5K #IMMW2026
Rise & Rally Saturday
Self-Care SatuRDAY
++++ saturday ++++
Spirit Week Theme Day: “Rise & Rally Saturday”
Supportive Action: Wake up and join us in movement to kick off IMMW 2026! Sign up and participate in the virtual 5K. Don’t forget to post on social media and tag us or use our hashtags!
Daily Post: “Self-Care Saturday”
Self‑care is community care. Today we honor rest or movement, reflection, and the ways we nurture mind, body, and spirit to keep the fires lit. Share your self‑care practices or wellness offerings that uplift balance and healing within our communities.
++++ sunday ++++
Spirit Week Theme Day: “Healing Sunday”
Supportive Action: Wear orange. We wear orange to honor the children who never came home, uplift survivors, and stand with the generations rising.
Every Child Matters — today and every day.
Daily Post: “Healing Sunday”
Today. we wear orange to honor the children who never came home, uplift survivors, and stand with the generations rising. Healing asks us to pause, remember, and reflect on the stories, teachings, and truths carried by our communities.
What are you reflecting on today as we honor Healing Sunday? A teaching, a memory, a commitment, a hope — share what’s on your heart as we hold space together.
Healing Sunday
++++ monday ++++
Mocs & Tees Monday
MOvement Monday - CHair Exercise Session
Spirit Week Theme Day: “Mocs & Tees Monday”
Supportive Action: Rock your mocs and/ or your IMMW or breastfeeding supporting t-shirts! We want to see you in style! Post on social media.
“Movement Monday: Chair Exercises”
Join us for the Chair Exercise Session led by Chebon Gooden (Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole), highlighting accessible movement and the connection between breastfeeding, wellness, and diabetes prevention.
If you watched or plan to watch the Chair Exercise Session, please take a moment to sign in using our short form.
12 pm ET
Posted on our social media
++++ Tuesday ++++
Two Spirit Tuesday
Spirit Week Theme Day: “Two Spirit Tuesday”
Supportive Action: Honor our Two-Spirit relatives with a message of love, solidarity, or visibility. Share affirmations, artwork, stories, or photos that uplift Two-Spirit brilliance.
“Two Spirit Relatives in Birthkeeping & Indigenous Milk Medicine Panel”
Guided by this year's theme, "We Keep the Fires Lit: Rising Through Milk Medicine," this conversation honors Indigenous lactation as a living practice of continuity, collective care, and cultural responsibility. Together, we will explore how Two Spirit relatives carry teachings, relationships, and responsibilities within birthkeeping spaces - and how these experiences shape the ways we nourish our families and communities. This session uplifts the unique perspectives and contributions of Two Spirit birthkeepers and Indigenous Lactation Counselors. Participants are invited to share stories, teachings, and reflections on how Two Spirit relatives continue the work of Milk Medicine for future generations.
+ Panelist #1 - T’Leeuh Antone + (They / them) | Akimel O’odham
A Two‑Spirit indigiqueer birthworker from the Gila River Indian Community. They currently serve as a Birthkeeper and Indigenous Lactation Counselor with Hummingbird Indigenous Family Services, offering full‑spectrum support including harm reduction, death work, and queer fertility care. Outside of birthwork, T’Leeuh enjoys printmaking, bingo, and traveling for music and street art.
+ Panelist #2 - Anthony Johnson + (He/ him) | Navajo
An artist, poet, photographer, and cultural documentarian whose work centers healing through story. A graduate of Harvard University, he has worked across tech, fashion, and consulting, and now serves as a Project Coordinator in Kehewin Cree Nation, supporting the revitalization of Traditional Cree birthing practices and medicines. As a filmmaker and winner of The Amazing Race Canada, Anthony uses his platform to uplift Two Spirit and Trans visibility, recovery, mental health, personal transformation, and Indigenous issues.
Moderator- Jasha Lyons Echo-Hawk (they/them)
is a self-described “Intertribal Love Song,” and Two Spirit relative, belonging to the Seminole, Pawnee, Iowa, Omaha, and Mvskoke Creek Nations. As the Founder of Four Sisters Birth and Health Sovereignty, Founding Director of Indigenous Milk Medicine Collective, and creator of Indigenous Milk Medicine Week, and the recent founder of Rezcycled, they center intergenerational knowledge, cultural expression, and narrative visibility in community-rooted health, policy, and advocacy work.
August 11, 2026
Panel - 12 pm ET
Register for Zoom Webinar
Free
++++ wednesday ++++
BEADS & BLING Wednesday
Spirit Week Theme Day: “Beads & Bling Wednesday”
Supportive Action: Rock your favorite bling or beadwork today! Don’t forget to post your look and tag IMMW — let’s shine together and uplift Indigenous artistry.
“Artist Spotlight Session with Julianne Denny”
Join us for our Featured Artist Session honoring Julianne Denny (Cree, Ojibway, Mi’kmaq), the artist behind this year’s Indigenous Milk Medicine Week 2026 artwork. Her piece beautifully reflects our theme, “We Keep the Fires Lit: Rising Through Milk Medicine,” capturing the strength, connection, and cultural continuity carried through Milk Medicine. In this session, Julianne will share the story behind her artwork, the teachings that guide her creative practice, and the ways visual storytelling uplifts Indigenous families, birthwork, and community care. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about her artistic process, inspirations, and the cultural meaning woven throughout her work. We’re honored to celebrate Julianne’s contribution to IMMW 2026 and to hold space for conversation around art, identity, and the brilliance of Indigenous creativity.
+Julianne Denny Bio+ Julianne Denny (Cree, Ojibway, Mi’kmaq), a multidisciplinary Indigenous artist, lactation counselor, and birthworker who raises her family in the Rocky Boy community. Juliannes roots stem all the way to Membertou First Nation in Nova Scotia, Canada. Her artwork for IMMW 2026 beautifully captures the essence of connection, kinship, and the strength of Indigenous families. Julianne holds degrees in Fine Arts and Human Services. She currently is working on her certification as a Community Family Support Worker.
Moderator: Jasha Lyons Echo-Hawk (They/them) is a self-described “Intertribal Love Song,” and Two Spirit relative, belonging to the Seminole, Pawnee, Iowa, Omaha, and Mvskoke Creek Nations. As the Founder of Four Sisters Birth and Health Sovereignty, Founding Director of Indigenous Milk Medicine Collective, and creator of Indigenous Milk Medicine Week, and the recent founder of Rezcycled, they center intergenerational knowledge, cultural expression, and narrative visibility in community-rooted health, policy, and advocacy work.
August 12, 2026
1pm ET
Register for Zoom Webinar
Free
++++ THursday ++++
Spirit Week Theme Day: “Titi Thursday”
Supportive Action: It’s Virtual Latch Day! Share a photo, your milk journey story, or a message about how you uplift others on theirs. Celebrate the aunties, caregivers, and milk medicine supporters who keep our families strong.
“Ask an Indigy IBCLC Panel Session”
Join us for this special live Q&A session during Indigenous Milk Medicine Week 2026! Out of more than 39,000 International Board-Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) across 137 countries, a little over 25 IBCLCs identify as Indigenous. This makes the work and leadership of Indigenous IBCLCs not only rare, but profoundly impactful.
This year, four panelists will share their journeys into the field, the investment and support, and offer insights on what it means to support families through a lens of identity, culture, and sovereignty.
2026 Panelists
✦ Ashley Renee Sayers (She/Her) — Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe
✦ Sam Gann (She/Her) — Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa
✦ Naomi Defoe (She/Her) — Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa
✦ Kylee Graham (She/Her) — Cherokee Nation
Moderators (Indigenous IBCLCs)
✦ Camie Goldhammer (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyaté)
✦ Kimberly Moore-Salas (Diné/Navajo)
TIti Thursday
August 13, 2026
Panel - 1pm ET
Register for Zoom Webinar
Free
++++ Friday++++
Spirit Week Theme Day: “Firekeeper Friday”
Supportive Action: Celebrate the beauty and diversity of Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island and beyond. Wear your cultural attire or share items that represent your identity and tell us how you keep the fires lit.
Daily Post: Today we celebrate Unapologetically Indigenous Day by uplifting the beauty, diversity, and strength of Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island and beyond.
Wear something that represents your culture — regalia, beadwork, ribbon skirts, kapa, lei, shells, textiles, colors, patterns, or any item that carries meaning for your people. If cultural attire isn’t part of your practice, share an item, symbol, or teaching that reflects your identity and the ways you keep your fire lit.
Tell us the significance of what you’re wearing or sharing.
Your stories help uplift the brilliance of our Nations, our languages, and our lifeways. Drop a photo, a teaching, or a reflection below and help us celebrate the many ways Indigenous identity shines.
#UnapologeticallyIndigenous #IMMW2026 #WeKeepTheFiresLit
“Weaving Mātauranga Māori/Māori wisdom, Whānau experience and Primary Health Settings in Aotearoa” with Carmen Parata”
Join Ngāti Kahungunu researcher Ms. Carmen Parata (Ngāti Kahungunu), RN, MA Nursing, for a powerful session on "Weaving Mātauranga Māori, Whānau Experience, and Primary Health Settings" in Aotearoa. Carmen will share her work in Whāngai ū/breastfeeding as a public health researcher, highlighting the strength of hapori/community in normalising breastfeeding through collective values, whānau/family support, and socially accepting environments free from stigma. Breastfeeding success needs to be reframed beyond duration or volume, recognising Whāngai ū as a taonga/special gift when understood through a whānau/family-centred lens. As we continue to “Keep the Home Fires burning bright” we ensure that our Indigenous knowledge is transmitted into the future to benefit our generations ahead.
Firekeeper friday
August 14, 2026
3pm CT
Zoom Webinar
(Not streaming on Facebook Live)
Free
ANnouncements
sUPPORT THE Annual T‑Shirt Fundraiser — IMMW 2026
Our annual IMMW T‑Shirt Fundraiser is LIVE!
Consider supporting the cause.
The annual fundraiser helps sustain accessible virtual programming, community education, and culturally grounded events throughout the year. Every purchase directly supports the Indigenous community by holding space and celebrating the work of Indigenous educators, lactation providers, and uplifting families to continue with our traditional ways of life and nourishment.
Order by August 15.
Save the Date — The Gathering for Indigenous Milk Medicine (NOV 2026)
The Details
November 8, 2026 • Pre-event programming, 5-8 pm
November 9–11, 2026 • Gathering dates, 8 am - 5 pm/ 8 am - 12:30 pm (last day)
OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark • Oklahoma City, OK
The Gathering will feature a special beading presentation, educational sessions (plenary style), Native Market, Daily breakfast and Lunch.
Join us for our first in‑person convening dedicated to Indigenous lactation, community knowledge, and collective care. Registration now open + Early bird registration EXTENDED.
++++
Registration Information
Early Bird Pricing: $200 until August 21, 11:59pm PT
General Pricing: $250
Price is per attendee (Includes meals, sessions and activities). Does not include travel/ lodging.
Priority registration is reserved for Indigenous relatives.
*BIPOC guests are absolutely invited and welcomed and will be added to our priority waitlist and offered registration as space allows.
NOTE: This will be a two-step process—first, submit your request to attend. After the early bird registration period ends, you will receive a follow-up email containing a link for payment if you meet admission requirements.
Sponsors and vendors are welcome - Please reach out to indigenousmilkmedicine@gmail.com for vendor and sponsor information.
REGISTRATION UPDATE
If you’ve already submitted a request to attend, you are not forgotten! We’ve decided to extend registration for another week so even more people have the opportunity to join us.
We’ll review submissions after early bird pricing closes on the 21st, and you’ll receive a follow-up link with payment details shortly afterward.
Thank you for your patience and excitement!