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Wākale Amotī.
The covenant of rising.

A 21-day initiation through the Five Pillars of Life. Our most demanding workshop and our most transformative. Graduates leave as cultural torchbearers, prepared for community leadership and ecological stewardship.

Workshopii. of vi.
Circle9 to 29 September
Seats16 in the circle
TuitionFrom $5,400
A senior KWAJI:YÄ K'NÖGÉ Nation oath keeper kneels at the central basalt step of the fellowship-grade stone amphitheatre of the Wākale Amotī rite at first golden hour, lighting the day's signal flame in a hand-forged brass fire basin while addressing a tiered half-moon of seven cohort fellows seated on the rising stepped basalt benches around him. Each fellow in a distinct brand-palette tunic — sage, cream, charcoal, terra-rust, espresso, warm-grey, olive — leaning forward in active listening. Eastern volcanic ridge catches the warm dawn rake light at the upper right. Mature tropical hardwood canopy frames the deep upper edges.
A senior KWAJI:YÄ K'NÖGÉ Nation oath keeper of the Wākale Amotī rite seated on a moss-covered volcanic basalt mentorship terrace beneath a mature kapok tree at late golden hour. His right hand rests gently on the right shoulder of a young woman initiate in a sage tunic seated to his right; his left hand opens in a quiet teaching gesture before a second initiate in a terra-rust tunic seated further to his right. Both initiates lean toward him in unhurried listening. The massive vertical trunk of the kapok rises behind the keeper into mid-canopy mature hardwood; warm canopy-filtered dappled golden light reaches the moss terrace through the canopy.
The oath-keepers

A rite held by fellowship masters.

The Wākale Amotī rite is taught by oath-keepers of the KWAJI:YÄ K'NÖGÉ Nation, practitioners who have themselves passed through and now carry the work forward as their fellowship office. They are masters of the chamber, the lineage, and the language of the rite.

Each circle is held by three oath-keepers, supported by elders from the wider Nation council.

The promise

The rite that names our fellowship.

The fellowship takes its name from this rite. Wākale Amotī is the threshold through which our young people have passed for generations. It is a complete training in identity, body, community, and vision, held in the form our ancestors gave it.

The work is real. Days are long. The circle is held with great care. Those who finish leave with a clear sense of who they are, where they stand, and what they are responsible to.

We welcome adults of any age and any background. Most participants are between 25 and 50.

The five pillars of life

Five teachings. One rising.

i.

Discipline.

Body practice, breathwork, early rising, daily ritual.

ii.

Knowledge.

Tribal history, lineage, language, ancestral cosmology.

iii.

Endurance.

Martial arts. Wilderness skills. Vision quest preparation.

iv.

Service.

Agriculture, food preparation, stewardship of the land we share.

v.

Guardianship.

Council, governance, the covenant signing that closes the circle.

Three weeks

Roots. Practice. Initiation.

Week 1

Roots.

Arrival ceremony. Lineage and identity work. Tribal history. Breathwork and morning movement. The foundation of the rite.

Week 2

Practice.

Agroforestry. Food systems. Shelter skills. Indigenous martial arts. Language. Cultural arts. The body and the land together.

Week 3

Initiation.

Vision quest. Healing circles. Governance councils. Closing covenant ceremony. Names spoken into the land.

A senior KWAJI:YÄ K'NÖGÉ Nation oath keeper kneels in the dark volcanic loam of a hand-dug agroforestry terrace bed of the Wākale Amotī land at mid-morning, lifting a freshly-pulled sweet potato root crown between his two hands at chest height to demonstrate to three cohort fellows kneeling along-side him on the same terrace bed, each fellow holding a freshly-pulled root crown of their own in mirroring gesture. Each figure in a distinct brand-palette tunic — sage, terra-rust, espresso — with honest morning fieldwork patina on hands and forearms. The upper terrace step's hand-cut basalt retaining wall rises behind with low cassava and pigeon-pea plantings. The volcanic Vincentian mountain backdrop with mid-elevation mature forest at the deep upper edge.
The oath chamber at Fountain Villa. Hand-joined greenheart trusses, shou-sugi-ban walls, basalt floor, brass meridian line, brass-bound covenant lectern.
The covenant signed

Named into the lineage.

Twenty-one days close with the covenant seal: a hand-stamped scroll, a carved hardwood circlet, and the right to address yourself in the Nation's leadership register.

A senior KWAJI:YÄ K'NÖGÉ Nation oath keeper of the Wākale Amotī rite extends his lit ceremonial torch toward the unlit ceremonial torch held upright by a young cohort initiate at the central basalt step of the fellowship-grade stone amphitheatre after sunset. The two torch flames touch at the center of the frame in the moment of ignition — the keeper's full-burning flame transferring to the initiate's wick which is just catching as a small bright kindled tongue. The keeper's left hand rests gently on the initiate's right shoulder. Both figures' faces lit warm from the firelight; the deep amphitheatre interior softly receding into cool blue dusk + firelight-warm bokeh.
Five newly-named torchbearers of the Wākale Amotī rite — one per teaching pillar — walking in a single staggered descending line along the volcanic basalt-stepped path from the fellowship-grade stone amphitheatre on the hillside above toward the community below at civil twilight after sunset. Each torchbearer carries a lit ceremonial torch upright in the right hand and wears a carved greenheart hardwood circlet at the brow with a narrow step-fret meander relief around the band. Each in a distinct brand-palette tunic — sage, cream, charcoal, terra-rust, espresso. The lead torchbearer at the central foreground lifts the torch slightly higher in invitation toward the community below visible as soft warm hearth-light at the deep middle of frame. The rearmost torch-bearer at the deep upper edge turns the chin slightly back toward the amphitheatre, where a soft warm signal-flame still burns at the central basalt step. Cool blue dusk sky with first faint stars at the upper edges; the volcanic Vincentian mountain ridge silhouetted softly at the deep upper edge.
Tuition

From
$5,400 USD.

$800 deposit reserves your seat. Final payment due 60 days before arrival. This workshop includes the ceremonial garments worn during the closing rite.

Reserve a seat. September.
Tuition includes
  • Single-occupancy lodgingIncluded
  • Three meals daily from the gardensIncluded
  • All instruction and ceremonial elementsIncluded
  • Ceremonial garments for the closing riteIncluded
  • Transfers from Argyle International Airport (SVD)Included