Our Programs
Peta Wakan Tipi
A Place for Spiritual and Physical Recovery
Peta Wakan Tipi (Lakota for Sacred Fire Lodge) is one of Minnesota’s oldest (20 years) American Indian-established and run nonprofit organizations, having provided culturally appropriate housing and support services for recovering American Indian people in the Twin Cities since 1986. Our mission is to help American Indian people achieve economic, emotional and cultural balance.
Our core programs are Sacred Fire Lodge and Mother Earth Lodge. These are transitional homes serving Native American men and women recovering from substance abuse and experiencing homelessness. Our clients are with us for up to 24 months and during that time develop and follow their own individualized self-sufficiency plans that incorporate input from social service/health care providers, employers, family members, and most importantly, the clients themselves. For the majority of our clients their plans have led to reunification with their children, higher paying jobs and permanent housing.
In response to the Twin Cities’ Native American community, PWT expanded its services to include, Dream of the Wild Health Network which is a cultural preservation project that brings Native American adults, elders and youth together to collect and grow indigenous, heirloom seeds. Some of the seeds that are already growing in our gardens have come from an 800-year old archeological site while others have been donated by Native American families whose Elders have passed them down over several generations. The women’s medicine garden has become an excellent forum for Elders to teach our young people about the ancient traditions of American Indian medicine and gardening, helping to build cultural pride and self-respect as well as to save this knowledge.
