DREAMFEST

Manari Ushigua is a traditional healer and leader of the Sápara Nation of the Ecuadorian Amazon, a culture recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. A lifelong defender of Indigenous land and knowledge, he has served as President of the Sápara Indigenous Federation and Vice President of CONAIE, helping to protect over 276,000 hectares of primary rainforest from extractive industries. He has represented his people at the UN Climate Summit and the Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights, and is co-founder of the Naku Center, supporting new models of cultural and ecological stewardship in the Amazon. Central to his path is the practice of dreaming — a way of listening, learning, and maintaining connection with the forest, spirit, and the deeper intelligence of life.

Jaleh Lauren is a medicine woman, musician, and ceremony holder whose voice opens portals that words alone cannot reach. Forged in the fires of the San Francisco music scene — headlining BottleRock, Outside Lands, The Fillmore, and touring alongside Pink, The Roots, and Thievery Corporation — she is now channeling that same fearless energy into sacred space. Through cacao ceremony, original medicine music, and the transmission of sacred sound, she creates containers where transformation becomes inevitable. She is the co-creator and beating heart of Dreamfest.