Coyote Institute's Sixth Annual Two-Eyed Seeing Conference
When: January 22-24, 2027
Where: Virtually (on Zoom) and in-person at The University of Maine in Orono, Maine.
Register: HERE
Our Fifth Annual Two-Eyed Seeing Conference will be held January 22-24, 2027 both virtually and in-person at The University of Maine in Orono, Maine.
Our inspiration for this annual conference comes from Albert Marshall, a M’iqmak elder who popularized the term two-eyed seeing, or etuaptmumk, in his language. Two-eyed seeing establishes the equal validity of indigenous ways of knowing with contemporary scientific ways of knowing. It is a generous concept that recognizes the value of understanding these various paradigms and acknowledging that they can co-exist, and be applied, in integrative ways. In this year's conference, we explore the application of the concept of Two-Eyed Seeing in healthcare through the work of our presenters.
We are excited to have already confirmed expert speakers from around the globe with deep knowledge to share in Ayurveda, Osteopathy, Indigenous mental health practices, Women’s health, herbalism, and much more. Our conference will feature a diversity of voices, as we believe that inclusion, equality, and diversity are of upmost importance in our conference programming. Please see our full schedule below.
Our conference will take place live - both virtually and in person - in Maine, USA. For those joining us in person, the event space in Maine will open at 7:30 AM daily. For those joining virtually, the Zoom meeting will start at 8 AM each day. We will end by 5:30 PM each day.
All presentations will be recorded for later viewing by attendees. All attendees will receive free access to all recorded presentations for one month following the conference. Lifetime access to all recorded presentations is available for an additional fee.
Early Bird tickets to this highly-anticipated conference are on sale now through November 1, 2026. This three-day program also includes 22.5 hours of CME/CE for licensed professionals, DO’s and MD’s.
Conference Pricing:
MD/DO
MD/DO Early Bird (includes CME): $450
MD/DO Regular (includes CME): $495
Other Licensed Practitioners
OLP Early Bird (includes CE): $250
OLP Regular (includes CE) $300
General Public, Students and Residents
GP Early Bird: $125
GP Regular: $150
Lifetime Access to recordings (Add-on only): $100
*special pricing available with Tribal ID, please email us here for details
Two-Eyed Seeing 2027 Conference Jan 22-24 2027 Full Schedule
Day 1: Friday Jan 22, 2027
8:00 - 8:30 AM: Opening the Day in Good Mind: Indigenous Song, Prayer, and Preparation for Learning Through a Two-Eyed Seeing Approach with Lewis Mehl- Madrona, MD, PhD. and Steve Knockwood, Recovery coach. (Maine, USA) (0.5)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Experience the role of Indigenous song, prayer, and oral tradition in preparing mind, body, and spirit for learning within a Two-Eyed Seeing framework.
Recognize the significance of intentional grounding practices in supporting attentiveness, presence, and readiness to engage with new knowledge, including Indigenous knowledge systems.
Reflect on how Indigenous approaches to opening space for learning can complement biomedical and behavioral health practices that support focus, regulation, and holistic well-being in clinical and educational settings.
8:30 - 9:15 AM: On Two-Eyed Seeing with Carol Dana, LLD and Lewis Mehl- Madrona, MD, PhD. (Maine, USA) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Understand Carol Dana’s role in preserving and revitalizing the Penobscot language through teaching, translation, and community-based cultural work.
Learn how Carol Dana’s personal history and professional path reflect the broader importance of Indigenous language preservation and cultural continuity.
Identify practical ways that storytelling, education, and intergenerational teaching can support cultural preservation in Indigenous communities.
9:15 -10:00 AM: The Land Wants Us Back Too: Wabanaki Healing and Land Return with Darren Ranco, PhD (Penobscot Nation Territory | Maine, USA) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Understand the Colonial context for Indigenous land return.
Understand Wabanaki healing frameworks for rematriation and land return.
Identify ongoing projects, needs, and outcomes related to rematriation and land return.
10:00 - 10:15 AM: Break
10:15 - 11:00 AM: Developing Systems That Heal: Taking a Two-Eyed Seeing Approach with Lisa Sockabasin, B.S., B.S.N, M.S (Maine, USA) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Learn about new efforts to create Two-Eyed Seeing programs and approaches in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations.
Learn how Wabanaki Public Health & Wellness embodies a Two-Eyed Seeing approach and examine both the complexities and the benefits of integrating this approach into organizational practice.
Identify Wabanaki traditional values and gain an understanding of how these values can guide the creation and implementation of healing programs.
11:00 AM-11:45 AM: Centering Two-Spirit Voices: Indigenous Knowledge, Health, and Healing with John Sylliboy (Millbrook First Nation/Nova Scotia, Canada) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Experience the role of Indigenous song, prayer, and oral tradition in preparing mind, body, and spirit for learning within a Two-Eyed Seeing framework.
Identify principles of Indigenous research and Two-Eyed Seeing that support culturally safe and respectful practice.
Apply community-informed approaches to promote equity, inclusion, and culturally grounded care for Two-Spirit people.
11:45 - 1:00 PM: Lunch
1:00 - 1:45 PM: Lineage of Support: Working with Multi-Generational Healing with Barbara Mainguy, LCSW, M.A., Lauren Stevens, and Elizabeth Churchill (Maine, USA) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Understand multi-generational healing from a Wabanaki perspective.
Recognize the challenges and considerations in working with a multi-generational healing approach.
Explore the advantages of narrative approaches in a multi-generational healing approach.
1:45- 2:30 PM: Braiding Worldviews: Understanding with Holism Through Indigenous Wellbeing Approaches with Nancy Stevens, PhD (Prince George, BC) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Understand and define holism through Indigenous lenses and the implications for practice
Explore and explain the differences between well-being from Indigenous and Western paradigms.
Develop a personal holistic toolkit for self-reflection and reflexivity for well-being practices.
2:30 - 3:00 PM: Reflection & Integration Breakout Session: Guided Two-Eyed Seeing Dialogue with Lewis Mehl- Madrona, MD, PhD (Maine, USA) (0.5)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Engage in facilitated small-group dialogue, guided by a conference discussion prompt, to reflect on key concepts, teachings, and experiences from the conference.
Examine connections among conference presentations, share diverse perspectives, and deepen understanding through a Two-Eyed Seeing lens.
Synthesize conference learnings and identify opportunities to apply new insights within their communities, organizations, and professional practice.
3:00 - 3:15 PM Break
3:15 - 4:15 PM: Development of an Independent Medical School in Australia with Johanna Lynch, PhD,(Queensland, Australia) (1.0)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
List three design elements of a medical school developed to be inclusive of Aboriginal people in Australia.
Identify two institutional strategies that promote cultural safety and Aboriginal participation in medical education.
Describe one way an inclusive medical school model can support workforce development and health outcomes for Aboriginal communities.
4:15- 5:00 PM: Culturally Safe, Community Led Health Care for Indigenous Australians with Mark Wenitong, MD (Melbourne, Australia) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Understand what it means to advocate for culturally safe, community-led healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Explore ways to strengthen Indigenous representation within the Australian medical profession.
Understand strategies to address the structural causes of health inequality affecting Aboriginal communities.
Recognize how Country acts as a co-therapist in Indigenous healing practices.
Day 2: Saturday Jan 23, 2027
8:00 - 8:15 AM: Opening the Day in Good Mind: Indigenous Song, Prayer, and Preparation for Learning Through a Two-Eyed Seeing Approach with Lewis Mehl- Madrona, MD, PhD. and Sandra Bassett (Maine, USA) (0.25)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Experience the role of Indigenous song, prayer, and oral tradition in preparing mind, body, and spirit for learning within a Two-Eyed Seeing framework.
Recognize the significance of intentional grounding practices in supporting attentiveness, presence, and readiness to engage with new knowledge, including Indigenous knowledge systems.
Reflect on how Indigenous approaches to opening space for learning can complement biomedical and behavioral health practices that support focus, regulation, and holistic well-being in clinical and educational settings.
8:15-9:00 AM: Rural and Remote Recovery: Bringing People Back to Themselves with Sandra Bassett (Maine, USA) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Understand the challenges to creating recovery community in rural and remote locations.
Analyze the personal, social, and structural factors that shape decisions to enter recovery.
Understand the unique challenges of post-incarceration recovery.
9:00-10:00 AM: Humanistic Psychology and Indigenous Philosophies: What Can They Learn From One Another? with Mick Cooper, PhD and and Lewis Mehl- Madrona, MD, PhD (1.0)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Describe key principles of humanistic psychology and Indigenous philosophies of well-being.
Compare humanistic and Indigenous perspectives on self, relationships, healing, and human flourishing.
Explore how Two-Eyed Seeing can foster reciprocal learning between humanistic psychology and Indigenous ways of knowing.
10:00 - 10:15 AM: Break
10:15-11:00 AM: Childhood Trauma and Ways of Healing: with Barbara Mainguy, LCSW, M.A.(Maine, USA), Nadia Colburn, Ph.D (Cambridge, MA), and Merm Duffy (Melbourne, Australia) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Describe the relationship between trauma history and increased exposure to adverse and negative life events across the lifespan.
Identify and describe evidence-informed and culturally responsive healing modalities that support trauma recovery.
Analyze how social, environmental, cultural, and economic life circumstances can influence, complicate, or impede trauma recovery.
11:00 AM-11:45 AM: Two-Eyed Seeing in Digital Spaces: Radicalized Youth as Online Warriors Resisting Cyber Aggression and Reclaiming Resilience with Johanna Sam, PhD (Vancouver, BC) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Explain how Two-Eyed Seeing serves as a guiding framework for understanding and addressing online hate experienced by Indigenous and radicalized youth.
Describe culturally grounded “Online Warrior” strategies that blend Indigenous resilience practices with digital realities.
Apply Two-Eyed Seeing principles to design culturally responsive social-emotional learning (SEL) programs and digital literacy initiatives that support Indigenous youth wellbeing.
11:45 AM-12:45 PM: Autoimmunity Through an Integrative Lens: Bridging Biomedical Science and Ayurvedic Principles in Contemporary Clinical Care with Bhaswati Bhattachrya, MPH, MD, PhD (New York, USA) (1.0)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Describe current biomedical understandings of autoimmune disease pathophysiology.
Explain key Ayurvedic frameworks relevant to autoimmune conditions
Identify integrative care strategies that incorporate both biomedical and Ayurvedic-informed approaches
12:45 - 2:00 PM: Lunch
2:00 - 3:00 PM: A Balanced Approach to Madness: Befriending Paradox and Alien States of Mind with Ron Unger, LCSW (Oregon, USA) (1.0)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Differentiate between destructive and constructive dimensions of psychotic or “mad” states of mind, using a variety of metaphors such as wilderness, fire, and revolution as balancing frameworks for relational understanding.
Examine personal and cultural responses to uncertainty, alienation, and the abyss of unknowing in order to develop a more balanced and compassionate understanding of altered states of mind.
Apply relational, reflective, and multi-viewpoint practices for engaging with individuals experiencing madness in ways that foster connection, healing, and openness to new personal and cultural perspectives.
3:00 - 3:30: Reflection & Integration Breakout Session: Guided Two-Eyed Seeing Dialogue with Lewis Mehl- Madrona, MD, PhD (Maine, USA) (0.5)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Engage in facilitated small-group dialogue, guided by a conference discussion prompt, to reflect on key concepts, teachings, and experiences from the conference.
Examine connections among conference presentations, share diverse perspectives, and deepen understanding through a Two-Eyed Seeing lens.
Synthesize conference learnings and identify opportunities to apply new insights within their communities, organizations, and professional practice.
3:30 - 3:45: Break
3:45 - 4:30 PM: The Human Flourishing Movement with Marquis Bureau, Professor (ptp) Saint-Paul University and Community Caregiver Wellness Coordinator at Connexions (Quebec, Canada) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Describe key principles of human flourishing and their relevance to individual, community, and institutional well-being.
Identify cultural, social, and historical factors that influence health, well-being, and experiences of care.
Apply principles of relationship-building, cultural safety, and community engagement to support more equitable and respectful approaches to health and well-being.
4:30 - 5:30 PM: Healing Through Sound and Song: Honoring Traditional Indigenous Music with Lauren Stevens (1.0)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Recognize traditional Indigenous songs as expressions of Indigenous knowledge, cultural tradition, and lived relationship to community and place.
Describe the role of sound and song in supporting resilience, connection, and holistic well-being within Indigenous-informed understandings of health and healing.
Reflect on how a Two-Eyed Seeing approach supports multiple ways of understanding music and healing within community-based and clinical contexts.
Day 3: Sunday Jan 24, 2027
8 - 8:30 AM: Opening the Day in Good Mind: Indigenous Song, Prayer, and Preparation for Learning Through a Two-Eyed Seeing Approach with Lewis Mehl- Madrona, MD, PhD. and Lauren Stevens (Maine, USA) (0.5)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Experience the role of Indigenous song, prayer, and oral tradition in preparing mind, body, and spirit for learning within a Two-Eyed Seeing framework.
Recognize the significance of intentional grounding practices in supporting attentiveness, presence, and readiness to engage with new knowledge, including Indigenous knowledge systems.
Reflect on how Indigenous approaches to opening space for learning can complement biomedical and behavioral health practices that support focus, regulation, and holistic well-being in clinical and educational settings.
8:30-9:30 AM: Letting Herders Lead: How Traditional Knowledge Informs Stable Value Chains for Nomadic Products with Alexandra Heller (Maine, USA) and Dr. Burmaa Dashbal, PhD (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) (1.0)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Understand Mongolia's nomadic agricultural system.
Learn about the state-and-transition model ecological tool that is used to capture Indigenous and western knowledge.
Understand how state-and-transition models are applied to cashmere and yak down value chains to support ecological and socio-economic stability for herder livelihoods.
9:30-10:30 AM: Pervasive Principles in Healing Traditions: The Five Elements Across Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Feng Shui, and Integrative Practice with Bhaswati Bhattacharya MPH, MD, PhD (New York, USA), Josie Conte, DO (Maine, USA), and RD Chin (New York, USA). Moderated by Sheldon Lewis (New York, USA) (1.0)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Describe the concept of Five Elements as a foundational principle across multiple healing and philosophical traditions, including Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Feng Shui.
Differentiate how elemental frameworks are expressed and applied within Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Feng Shui.
Discuss how cross-traditional elemental frameworks can inform integrative clinical and environmental approaches to health and well-being.
10:30 - 10:45 AM: Break
10:45 - 11:30 AM: Uniting the Eagle and the Condor: A Dance of Body, Mind, and Spirit with Rafael Zegarra-Parodi, DO (Paris, France) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Examine how Indigenous American healing traditions may contribute to contemporary reflections on the osteopathic Body–Mind–Spirit tenet.
Explore the contribution of medical anthropology to understanding diverse healthcare worldviews, including materialist, post-materialist, and Indigenous perspectives.
Discuss how engaging with multiple epistemologies may support clinical reasoning and help navigate complexity in osteopathic practice.
11:30 AM-12:15 PM: Enhancing the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Traditional Healing Paradigm: A Shkaabe Makwa Case Study at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health with Walter Lindstone, B.A., B.S.W., M.S.W, (K’okomis Shkabaywis) (Ontario, Canada) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Describe the role of Shkaabe Makwa in supporting Indigenous mental health and wellness initiatives within a hospital or academic health setting.
Identify the responsibilities of ‘Supervisor of Traditional Healing’ in advancing Indigenous-led mental health programming and systems change
3. Explain how Shkaabe Makwa contributes to the ‘Braiding Wisdoms’ paradigm through a First Nations, Inuit, and Metis culturally grounded approach shifting the mental health services and outcomes from the ‘One Eyed Cyclops’ to a more balanced ‘Two Eyed Seeing’ lens.
12:15 - 1:30 PM: Lunch
1:30 - 2:15 PM: How our homes and work places help or hinder our health, recuperation, and wellness with Alex Stark, Feng Shui Consultant and Shamanic Practitioner (California, USA) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Participants will be able to identify the most important considerations for health in their homes and workplaces
Participants will be able to correct these problems using Feng Shui interventions.
Participants will be able to enhance their homes for additional health and wellness.
2:15 - 3:15 PM: The Future of Curanderismo with Bob Vetter, MA (New York, USA) (1.0)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Understand how non-Indigenous allies can prepare to enter Indigenous spaces.
Develop an appreciation for why Indigenous cultural exchange is important.
Understand the politics of what Indigenous knowledge can and can not be shared with non-Indigenous allies.
3:15 - 3:45: Reflection & Integration Breakout Session: Guided Two-Eyed Seeing Dialogue with Lewis Mehl- Madrona, MD, PhD (Maine, USA) (0.5)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Engage in facilitated small-group dialogue, guided by a conference discussion prompt, to reflect on key concepts, teachings, and experiences from the conference.
Examine connections among conference presentations, share diverse perspectives, and deepen understanding through a Two-Eyed Seeing lens.
Synthesize conference learnings and identify opportunities to apply new insights within their communities, organizations, and professional practice.
3:45 - 4:00 PM: Break
4:00 - 4:45 PM: Where Do We Go from Here? Turning Nouns into Verbs and Other Steps to Decolonize Psychiatry with Lewis Mehl- Madrona, MD, PhD (Maine, USA) (0.75)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Participants will list three ways in which a verb-based language changes our perspectives on mental health from a noun-based language.
Participants will define decolonization in the context of the contemporary world of psychiatry and psychology.
Participants will list three strategies to decolonize psychiatry.
4:45 - 5:15 PM: Closing Circle: Honoring Our Shared Journey and Carrying the Teachings Forward with Lewis Mehl- Madrona, MD, PhD. (Maine, USA) (0.5)
Learning objectives:
Participants will:
Reflect on the knowledge, relationships, and experiences gained throughout the conference.
Participate in a traditional closing ceremony that includes Indigenous song and prayer, honoring cultural traditions, expressing gratitude, and recognizing the relationships and learning cultivated throughout the conference.
Identify personal and professional commitments for carrying the teachings, relationships, and principles of Two-Eyed Seeing into their future work and communities.
