PEGI EYERS
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I was thrilled to be asked to be a presenter for the book club hosted by Maija West, based on her brand-new book Matriarch Makeover. In a supportive, intimate space our circle of women had a rewarding dialogue on protocol with First Nations, cultural appropriation, genealogy, epigenetics, re-landing to place, and recovering our own ancestral wisdom as women of European descent.
MATRIARCH MAKEOVER
Guiding women to map their truth, heal their wounds, own their lineages, and forge new paths to radically generative futures. Through online journeys and in person retreats, we invite women to choose a new form of self-leadership that heals the past, and creates a meaningful, whole, and modernized path to living as a matriarch.
>purchase link for book, and book club info below<
MATRIARCH MAKEOVER
Guiding women to map their truth, heal their wounds, own their lineages, and forge new paths to radically generative futures. Through online journeys and in person retreats, we invite women to choose a new form of self-leadership that heals the past, and creates a meaningful, whole, and modernized path to living as a matriarch.
>purchase link for book, and book club info below<
Transcript of Talk by Pegi Eyers
Matriarch Makeover Book Club, July 28, 2025
Good afternoon to everyone from Nogojiwamong, the traditional territory of the Mississauga Ojibway, a great nation of the Anishnaabe people, who have lived in harmony and peace with the lands and waters here since time immemorial, and hold the ancient stories of the land. May we all re-learn the important lifeways that they continue to model to us, of interconnection with the bioregions we call home, and reciprocity with all beings and elements in Earth Community.
For many, our decolonial work begins with noticing the harm our own ancestors have perpetuated on BIPOC, and how we can make amends. As I have been close to native friends and family for many decades - living in two different First Nations reserves in Canada - justice, sovereignty and landback for First Nations has become incredibly important to me. For years I was involved in many political campaigns and social justice actions, especially during the time that Idle No More erupted in Canada and spread to the rest of the world.
So in terms of the research and writing that led to my book Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Roots & Restoring Earth Community, my starting point was a comment made at the Elders Conference here at Trent University in Peterborough, Canada - an annual gathering that I attended for many years. In one of the sessions, Elder James Dumont, a revered Anishnaabe professor and ceremonial leader with the Midewiwin Society, said that “everyone needs to return to their own Indigenous Knowledge.” Of course this was a critique on the many white folks who were practicing native spirituality without actually belonging to native community, but he was also offering us a great blessing, by implying that ALL people have their own original Indigenous Knowledge to access. This simple statement hit me like a lightning bolt, and led me on a marvellous journey of research, writing, publishing, meeting kindred spirits, connecting with folks all over the world, and experiencing many different events and opportunities.
Back in 2012, I began noticing the cultural appropriation that was happening in the New Age sphere, and right here in my own community. When I began to write, my theoretical framework was broadly defined as “the intersection between First Nations and the Settler Society.” Over time, as I continued to research and write, I realized that for me, the key issue lay at the heart of white identity and our unmet yearning for tribe and community, a sustainable worldview, and especially for lifeways deeply embedded in the land. This is the perennial impulse that returns again and again, as it is the timeless and essential way that all of humanity needs to be living on our beautiful planet. As I say in Ancient Sprit Rising in a series of manifestos:
I hold as truth that First Nations cultures need to be held sacred by all peoples. I also believe that tribal life in close connection with the Earth is the only acceptable way to live on our sacred planet, and that everything else is an aberration.
When I began to pay attention to cultural appropriation, it seemed that First Nations across the Americas had been alarmed by white folks pretending to be First Nations for a very long time. In terms of my own truth and my own spiritual path, I had known and worked with many of these pseudo-shamans, and I began to feel deeply betrayed. For myself, and others affected by this syndrome - both First Nations and those of European descent - I was compelled to get to the heart of the matter. Ancient Spirit Rising began as an exploration into this alarming issue, but along the way I delved into social justice action in general, how we live in a culture ruled by white supremacy, how colonialism and capitalism is deeply embedded in our psyches, and how we can uncolonize from these outdated attitudes.
Cultural appropriation is a form of racism, and just another way that those of European descent (the dominant society) continue to perpetuate colonial thinking, and especially to uphold their heightened privilege. Not only white privilege, but the privilege of wealth and advantage not experienced by other white folks at the lower end of the socioeconomical spectrum, and certainly not by BIPOC until the past few decades, when upwardly mobile and highly educated BIPOC began to make a huge difference in the world.
So how do those of us of European descent reclaim our own Indigenous Knowledge? The trail to a pre-Christian or pre-colonial time is very cold, going back centuries, or even millennia in some cases. But the threads are still there, waiting for us to pick up by learning and exploring, traveling to our homelands, and linking to our ancestral group. Focusing and meditating on images of the landscapes, symbols and artifacts of our root culture(s) can awaken our sense of belonging, and access deep memories of ancestral wisdom within. Becoming part of specific ancestral groups can give us a firm foundation for self-identity, and a place to turn for spiritual guidance and cultural values.
In some cases it is impossible or too painful to trace a family line, so the next best practice is to reclaim ancestral ways of thinking and being. Recovering ancestral mind or Indigenous mind is essential to cultural reclamation work regardless of one's ethnocultural expression, and I devote a number of chapters in Ancient Spirit Rising to this very rewarding practice. It is also the difference between the knowledge that arises from the heart, the cognitive knowledge from our minds, the importance of both, and how we can weave them together.
When charting our family tree through genealogy and the DNA science of individual genetic tracing, we are incredibly blessed today with the abundance of information and assistance available online to map our more recent heritage(s). If you want more connectivity to generations going back for millennia, Geneticists can now put the DNA sequences together with the archaeological record to determine geographical locations, which tell us where our ancestors originated from, and even more miraculously, places us squarely into the roots of our ancient culture(s). We can truly reach back to pre-colonial times, and there is no question that indigeneity can be located, at some point in our ancestral line. This knowledge can be incredibly empowering!
In my own case, I had my mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), or motherline, traced through Oxford Ancestors (now defunct) to a tribal group that existed 33,000 years ago in the Lascaux Valley of France. From generation to generation they thrived, eventually chose the migration journey, and crossed to what is now the Scottish Highlands. Through the mists of cyclic time and geography, I am the recipient of a wealth of blessings from my Pictish and Gaelic ancestors. Their resilience has empowered me to self-identify with my own haplogroup and claim my tribe. It may take much dedication and imagination, but at least there is no argument that I am not Indigenous to Old Europe! I am finally at home, with my primordial belonging, my clan mothers, and my kinship to Earth Community.
It is fascinating to think that we could reach back to the Upper Paleolithic to decolonize and re-indigenize ourselves, and what we could learn from that process going forward. Delving into deep time also leads us to the question – what is the nature of primordial mind? According to China Galland, “Our basic mind is like water, its nature remains clear and unpolluted, and that no matter what distressing emotions arise, our primordial nature – our ‘basic’ mind – remains unaffected, beginninglessly good. Goodness without beginning, goodness without end.”
Also, Haridas Chaudhuri writes, “When a person discovers his ultimate ground of existence, his authentic individuality emerges. He begins to feel a spiritual kinship with the entire universe. He experiences a sense of responsibility for the entire living creation. His heart beats in unison with the all of existence. His soul is aflame with the spirit of dedication to cosmic welfare, and he becomes cosmocentric.”
Metaphysical practices are also incredibly helpful for claiming our ancestors, such as dream archaeology and epigenetics. Non-linear modalities can be a source of indelible knowing and wisdom in our genealogical work. Meeting and consulting with the Ancestors through visions, intuitions, and metaphysical experiences are all journeys we can take in the spirit worlds. Mystical experience is common to all people, and familiar feelings like “I know this place” or “I have done this before” can reverberate as déjà vu, visions, dreams, or everyday moments of spontaneous recall.
Our shared dreamspace is an energetic field of “morphic resonance” where both the Ancestors of the land where we live and our familial ancestors can appear in dream encounters. We can develop the skills to access endless possibilities within this “timeless time” that holds the consciousness of our ancestors, and even meet them face-to-face. Interaction with the ancestors and connecting to significant landscapes in the realm of dreams can provide healing and closure, and add to the ongoing discovery of our beloved homelands and cultural traditions. At certain times in our lives, our ancestors may have already reached out to us, or appeared to us in dreams, and seeking them intentionally through conscious dream travel can transcend the fixity of time and space, to make more of these meetings possible.
Epigenetics shows how the substance of our ancestor’s lives has been handed down to us, and continue to shape us both in body, mind and soul. In addition to the emotional or environmental residues we may hold, we also carry spiritual or mystical memories, and it is likely that the collective consciousness of our ancestors can also be retained in the DNA. Miraculous communications are being transferred through an inner web of interconnected energies where the past, present and future exist simultaneously, and entire cosmologies (the inner traditions and worldviews of our ancestors) are closer than we know.
As Elder James Dumont implied, when we do reclaim our own ancestral traditions, we will automatically gain respect from those already rooted in ancient earth-honoring and animist traditions, forming both an actual and a metaphysical membership in the circle of worldwide indigenity. As we become adept with building our ancestral house through deep geneology and practices that align with our tradition, we can in turn help other people reconnect with their own ethnic and cultural roots.
Experiencing the riches of our ancestral heritage can be pure delight, as we honour the customs and beliefs of those who came before, and preserve them for all who will follow. Connecting with our ancestral lineage expands our true purpose, and family and cultural continuity has the ability to ground us throughout the cycles of birth, death and regeneration. We are all Children of the Earth, and to embody the elements of our ancestral traditions that sing to our souls, is to experience the joy that comes from authentic living.
For many, our decolonial work begins with noticing the harm our own ancestors have perpetuated on BIPOC, and how we can make amends. As I have been close to native friends and family for many decades - living in two different First Nations reserves in Canada - justice, sovereignty and landback for First Nations has become incredibly important to me. For years I was involved in many political campaigns and social justice actions, especially during the time that Idle No More erupted in Canada and spread to the rest of the world.
So in terms of the research and writing that led to my book Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Roots & Restoring Earth Community, my starting point was a comment made at the Elders Conference here at Trent University in Peterborough, Canada - an annual gathering that I attended for many years. In one of the sessions, Elder James Dumont, a revered Anishnaabe professor and ceremonial leader with the Midewiwin Society, said that “everyone needs to return to their own Indigenous Knowledge.” Of course this was a critique on the many white folks who were practicing native spirituality without actually belonging to native community, but he was also offering us a great blessing, by implying that ALL people have their own original Indigenous Knowledge to access. This simple statement hit me like a lightning bolt, and led me on a marvellous journey of research, writing, publishing, meeting kindred spirits, connecting with folks all over the world, and experiencing many different events and opportunities.
Back in 2012, I began noticing the cultural appropriation that was happening in the New Age sphere, and right here in my own community. When I began to write, my theoretical framework was broadly defined as “the intersection between First Nations and the Settler Society.” Over time, as I continued to research and write, I realized that for me, the key issue lay at the heart of white identity and our unmet yearning for tribe and community, a sustainable worldview, and especially for lifeways deeply embedded in the land. This is the perennial impulse that returns again and again, as it is the timeless and essential way that all of humanity needs to be living on our beautiful planet. As I say in Ancient Sprit Rising in a series of manifestos:
I hold as truth that First Nations cultures need to be held sacred by all peoples. I also believe that tribal life in close connection with the Earth is the only acceptable way to live on our sacred planet, and that everything else is an aberration.
When I began to pay attention to cultural appropriation, it seemed that First Nations across the Americas had been alarmed by white folks pretending to be First Nations for a very long time. In terms of my own truth and my own spiritual path, I had known and worked with many of these pseudo-shamans, and I began to feel deeply betrayed. For myself, and others affected by this syndrome - both First Nations and those of European descent - I was compelled to get to the heart of the matter. Ancient Spirit Rising began as an exploration into this alarming issue, but along the way I delved into social justice action in general, how we live in a culture ruled by white supremacy, how colonialism and capitalism is deeply embedded in our psyches, and how we can uncolonize from these outdated attitudes.
Cultural appropriation is a form of racism, and just another way that those of European descent (the dominant society) continue to perpetuate colonial thinking, and especially to uphold their heightened privilege. Not only white privilege, but the privilege of wealth and advantage not experienced by other white folks at the lower end of the socioeconomical spectrum, and certainly not by BIPOC until the past few decades, when upwardly mobile and highly educated BIPOC began to make a huge difference in the world.
So how do those of us of European descent reclaim our own Indigenous Knowledge? The trail to a pre-Christian or pre-colonial time is very cold, going back centuries, or even millennia in some cases. But the threads are still there, waiting for us to pick up by learning and exploring, traveling to our homelands, and linking to our ancestral group. Focusing and meditating on images of the landscapes, symbols and artifacts of our root culture(s) can awaken our sense of belonging, and access deep memories of ancestral wisdom within. Becoming part of specific ancestral groups can give us a firm foundation for self-identity, and a place to turn for spiritual guidance and cultural values.
In some cases it is impossible or too painful to trace a family line, so the next best practice is to reclaim ancestral ways of thinking and being. Recovering ancestral mind or Indigenous mind is essential to cultural reclamation work regardless of one's ethnocultural expression, and I devote a number of chapters in Ancient Spirit Rising to this very rewarding practice. It is also the difference between the knowledge that arises from the heart, the cognitive knowledge from our minds, the importance of both, and how we can weave them together.
When charting our family tree through genealogy and the DNA science of individual genetic tracing, we are incredibly blessed today with the abundance of information and assistance available online to map our more recent heritage(s). If you want more connectivity to generations going back for millennia, Geneticists can now put the DNA sequences together with the archaeological record to determine geographical locations, which tell us where our ancestors originated from, and even more miraculously, places us squarely into the roots of our ancient culture(s). We can truly reach back to pre-colonial times, and there is no question that indigeneity can be located, at some point in our ancestral line. This knowledge can be incredibly empowering!
In my own case, I had my mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), or motherline, traced through Oxford Ancestors (now defunct) to a tribal group that existed 33,000 years ago in the Lascaux Valley of France. From generation to generation they thrived, eventually chose the migration journey, and crossed to what is now the Scottish Highlands. Through the mists of cyclic time and geography, I am the recipient of a wealth of blessings from my Pictish and Gaelic ancestors. Their resilience has empowered me to self-identify with my own haplogroup and claim my tribe. It may take much dedication and imagination, but at least there is no argument that I am not Indigenous to Old Europe! I am finally at home, with my primordial belonging, my clan mothers, and my kinship to Earth Community.
It is fascinating to think that we could reach back to the Upper Paleolithic to decolonize and re-indigenize ourselves, and what we could learn from that process going forward. Delving into deep time also leads us to the question – what is the nature of primordial mind? According to China Galland, “Our basic mind is like water, its nature remains clear and unpolluted, and that no matter what distressing emotions arise, our primordial nature – our ‘basic’ mind – remains unaffected, beginninglessly good. Goodness without beginning, goodness without end.”
Also, Haridas Chaudhuri writes, “When a person discovers his ultimate ground of existence, his authentic individuality emerges. He begins to feel a spiritual kinship with the entire universe. He experiences a sense of responsibility for the entire living creation. His heart beats in unison with the all of existence. His soul is aflame with the spirit of dedication to cosmic welfare, and he becomes cosmocentric.”
Metaphysical practices are also incredibly helpful for claiming our ancestors, such as dream archaeology and epigenetics. Non-linear modalities can be a source of indelible knowing and wisdom in our genealogical work. Meeting and consulting with the Ancestors through visions, intuitions, and metaphysical experiences are all journeys we can take in the spirit worlds. Mystical experience is common to all people, and familiar feelings like “I know this place” or “I have done this before” can reverberate as déjà vu, visions, dreams, or everyday moments of spontaneous recall.
Our shared dreamspace is an energetic field of “morphic resonance” where both the Ancestors of the land where we live and our familial ancestors can appear in dream encounters. We can develop the skills to access endless possibilities within this “timeless time” that holds the consciousness of our ancestors, and even meet them face-to-face. Interaction with the ancestors and connecting to significant landscapes in the realm of dreams can provide healing and closure, and add to the ongoing discovery of our beloved homelands and cultural traditions. At certain times in our lives, our ancestors may have already reached out to us, or appeared to us in dreams, and seeking them intentionally through conscious dream travel can transcend the fixity of time and space, to make more of these meetings possible.
Epigenetics shows how the substance of our ancestor’s lives has been handed down to us, and continue to shape us both in body, mind and soul. In addition to the emotional or environmental residues we may hold, we also carry spiritual or mystical memories, and it is likely that the collective consciousness of our ancestors can also be retained in the DNA. Miraculous communications are being transferred through an inner web of interconnected energies where the past, present and future exist simultaneously, and entire cosmologies (the inner traditions and worldviews of our ancestors) are closer than we know.
As Elder James Dumont implied, when we do reclaim our own ancestral traditions, we will automatically gain respect from those already rooted in ancient earth-honoring and animist traditions, forming both an actual and a metaphysical membership in the circle of worldwide indigenity. As we become adept with building our ancestral house through deep geneology and practices that align with our tradition, we can in turn help other people reconnect with their own ethnic and cultural roots.
Experiencing the riches of our ancestral heritage can be pure delight, as we honour the customs and beliefs of those who came before, and preserve them for all who will follow. Connecting with our ancestral lineage expands our true purpose, and family and cultural continuity has the ability to ground us throughout the cycles of birth, death and regeneration. We are all Children of the Earth, and to embody the elements of our ancestral traditions that sing to our souls, is to experience the joy that comes from authentic living.
The Book: Matriarch Makeover
Matriarch Makeover: A 30-Day Invitation is a daily journaling practice for women, to transform your leadership identity and craft a personalized map grounded in your unique cultural lineages. Twenty minutes a day for thirty days is all it takes to start your Matriarch Makeover.
“This book is perfect for any woman ready to know herself and harness her personal power, from 18-50 years old and beyond… This book teaches women to spend some personal time daily, identifies for each woman that her personal power lies in her choices, brings spirit into conversation and freely allows each woman to define it for herself.” Eli PaintedCrow
This transformational book is a call-to-action for you to step into your full power as leaders, nurturers, and stewards of your communities and the natural world. You will be offered tools for a path toward greater self-awareness, resilience, and personal dignity, making it a valuable resource for any woman seeking to embrace and integrate her full potential into her daily life.
“Matriarch Makeover is a transformative guide to healing, self-discovery, and empowerment. Through this work, I experienced a profound shift in nearly every area of my life. I healed many relationships with men and loved ones, opening the door to love and partnership in ways I never imagined… This journey helped me renew damaged relationships, realign my priorities, and rediscover my inner artist.” Madeline Reeves
You will learn tools for how to move beyond outdated patriarchal paths and to a new definition of success. Becoming a modern matriarch includes redefining power as a consensual experience. As you practice the daily activities, you are guided to map your truth, heal your wounds, own your lineages, and forge new paths to radically generative futures. Women leaders are invited to choose a new form of self-leadership that heals the past and creates a meaningful, whole, and modernized path to living as a modern matriarch.
“This guide is a compilation of years of Maija’s embodied practices that she’s gathered from her professional work, commitment to social and racial justice through healing and reconciliation, reconnecting with her lineage, Indigenous wisdom, and her own inner ways of knowing.” Louellyn White
These tools are a gift to your future self, and they are a map that can be passed down to help the next generations understand their own lineage… it is more than just a family tree, it’s a deeply rooted map of beliefs, experiences, and purpose.
>Purchase Link Amazon< >Purchase Link Blurb<
“This book is perfect for any woman ready to know herself and harness her personal power, from 18-50 years old and beyond… This book teaches women to spend some personal time daily, identifies for each woman that her personal power lies in her choices, brings spirit into conversation and freely allows each woman to define it for herself.” Eli PaintedCrow
This transformational book is a call-to-action for you to step into your full power as leaders, nurturers, and stewards of your communities and the natural world. You will be offered tools for a path toward greater self-awareness, resilience, and personal dignity, making it a valuable resource for any woman seeking to embrace and integrate her full potential into her daily life.
“Matriarch Makeover is a transformative guide to healing, self-discovery, and empowerment. Through this work, I experienced a profound shift in nearly every area of my life. I healed many relationships with men and loved ones, opening the door to love and partnership in ways I never imagined… This journey helped me renew damaged relationships, realign my priorities, and rediscover my inner artist.” Madeline Reeves
You will learn tools for how to move beyond outdated patriarchal paths and to a new definition of success. Becoming a modern matriarch includes redefining power as a consensual experience. As you practice the daily activities, you are guided to map your truth, heal your wounds, own your lineages, and forge new paths to radically generative futures. Women leaders are invited to choose a new form of self-leadership that heals the past and creates a meaningful, whole, and modernized path to living as a modern matriarch.
“This guide is a compilation of years of Maija’s embodied practices that she’s gathered from her professional work, commitment to social and racial justice through healing and reconciliation, reconnecting with her lineage, Indigenous wisdom, and her own inner ways of knowing.” Louellyn White
These tools are a gift to your future self, and they are a map that can be passed down to help the next generations understand their own lineage… it is more than just a family tree, it’s a deeply rooted map of beliefs, experiences, and purpose.
>Purchase Link Amazon< >Purchase Link Blurb<
Online Book Club: Matriarch Makeover
If you’re reading the book Matriarch Makeover: A 30-Day Invitation, you will get the most out of it by joining an amazing group of supportive women. We meet online via Zoom once per month for 90-minutes: new dates in 2026 to be determined. This is the perfect opportunity to ask Maija (the author) questions about the book, and about your journey to becoming a Modern Matriarch. >Registration<
| Read more on social justice, ethnocultural recovery, settler re-landing, rewilding, ancestral connections, sacred land and animism in Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community Available from Amazon >here< |
