SUSAN TURMAN - SANCTUARY DIRECTOR

Susan’s involvement with plants and the natural world is a journey that began over 20 years ago as an apprentice on a permaculture farm in Maui. She went on to become an organic farmer for 10 years, growing vegetables and producing pasture-raised meats for the high country community. Most recently she finished her degree in natural resource management specializing in wildlife and Silviculture. Susan has been involved with Spirit Canoe Lodge since 2016 and has danced as a SunDancer with the Deer Tribe. She loves connecting with nature from the trail, spending days or weeks at a time with nothing but a backpack. Her great interest is in habitat restoration and regenerative forestry of Oaks , native chestnuts, and longleaf pines. She lives in Todd, NC on her organic farm.

KASSIE MAURER - WEB DESIGNER

Kassie "Shining Otter Woman", earned a Bachelor's Degree in Fashion Design from Otis College of Arts in Los Angeles, and designed & developed contemporary sportswear, dresses, and outdoor apparel for 25 years in California. Now in rural Michigan with her partner Rodney, she continues to design websites, graphics, and make art from her home studio, while making medicine on 3 acres of wooded land with food and flower gardens, and mossy meandering pathways. Kassie has been teaching throughout her life in various venues including as an adjunct professor at Western Michigan University, at her alma mater Otis College of the Arts, and in public schools, charter schools, and city recreation programs. Kassie has been a SMSD Path apprentice since 2011 and is accredited with the St. Germain Mystery School to read Akashic Records. Creating Spirit Canoe Lodge's Logo and Web presence has been a magikal way to marry her spiritual path with her art. See Kassie's art at www.kassiemaurer.com.

BROOKE WALKER - LAND DEVELOPMENT

Brook Walker facilitates ecologically progressive programs such as Green Burials for Spirit Canoe Lodge. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to give back to a place that has given so much to me." Brook has been an Apprentice on the Sweet Medicine SunDance Path since 2017. She carries a great passion for ceremony and community with a dedication to the enlightenment of herself and all beings. Brook sits as one of Spirit Canoe Lodges active drum team leaders. She brings unconventional perspectives with experience serving as a general board member of the Ashe County Farmers Market for 3 consecutive years. She currently works as a carpenter and project manager for a construction company in Asheville. If you would like to learn more about Green Burials, contact Brooke.

LISA REDMAN - GRANT WRITER

Born and raised in Appalachia, Lisa leads a life dedicated to consciously creating a beautiful world in service to humanity and Gaia. She is an advocate for ecosystem resiliency weaving in elements of permaculture, biodynamics, sacred geometry, embodying one’s highest self, and other cosmic wisdom as it’s channeled. She’s a creative entrepreneur whose current projects include designing & building conscious community spaces from greenhouses to tiny houses to entire communities. She’s also a Reiki practitioner and an active member of the No Limits Society – a worldwide collective with a shared mission to ignite global awakening. At Spirit Canoe Lodge, she enjoys grant writing to support the restoration of the native forests while implementing educational opportunities for visitors, supporting a future green cemetery where bodies will lay to rest in the sweet peaceful Earth from wince they came, and other heart-centered projects.