TAMAI is inspired by Afro-Indigenous methods of learning that prioritize learning in community. The apprenticeship model draws on traditions that are thousands of years old. Elders, community or/and Spirit select apprentices as they move to accept their calling for community. Apprentices learn through watching, listening and assisting the elders and listening to the Spirits. In the process both spiritual and practical skills are learned. The apprenticeship, which can last for decades, also allows for apprentices to integrate the spiritual and practical lessons so they can continue to be applied. Apprentices are prepared within their apprenticeships and community work to be able to become elders to teach the next generation of apprentices. Apprenticeships can also be called initiations. “Initiation is spiritual death,” a ceremony in which the initiate receives the transmission of “hundreds if not thousands of years of information,” and their selfhood is “replaced with something radically different” (Blacquemoss, 2020). Initiation is an essential process for remembering traditional practices that have been displaced by colonial rupture. Black Indigenous spiritual and dream technologies allow for information storage in the ether, much like a modern cloud.

(Proposed) Schedule

For Apprentices & Collaborators 

Year 1 - Fall 2021-Summer 2022: (Learning Theme) Who are you? #IAM

• Energy Clearing and Divination for the year 

• 5 points Ear Acupuncture 

• DREAM School Level 1: EQUINOX Dreaming Awake

• Tobacco, Pine, Sage and Local plant 

• Plant Chemistry, Materia Medica, Pharmacology

• Body systems: 

  • Nervous System & Endocrine System 

  • Autonomic Nervous System and Pain

  • Endocannabinoid System  

• Speaker themes: related to project and learning theme

• Circle Themes (with the larger community): chosen by apprentices and participants

• Study Group Themes (with apprentices only): Q&A, fellowship and presentations

• Retreat Location - TBD / Tucson, AZ

• Project(s) - Research strategies & publication

Year 2 - Fall 2022-Summer 2023: (Learning Theme) What are you doing here? #IWILL

• Bone Divination for the year 

• Reiki 1

• DREAM School Level 2: Lexicon Building and Shedding

• Cypress, Rue, Dandelion, and local plant

• Plant Chemistry, Materia Medica, Pharmacology

• Body systems: 

  • Generative systems

  • Urinary System and the Musculoskeletal System. 

  •  Lymphatic, Immune, and Respiratory Systems 

• Speaker themes: related to project and learning theme

• Circle Themes (with the larger community): chosen by apprentices and participants

• Study Group Themes (with apprentices only): Q&A, fellowship and presentations

• Retreat Location - TBD

• Project(s) Leadership: facilitate trans power circle (create manual)

Year 3 - Fall 2023-Summer 2024: (Learning Theme) What is the action plan? #IDO

• Read for self for the year

• Reiki 2 

• DREAM School Level 3: Manifesting and Travel

• Palm (coconut), bush, mugwort, and local plant

• Plant Chemistry, Materia Medica, Pharmacology

• Body systems:

  • Chemistry, Integumentary system, and Wound Healing 

  • Digestive System & The Liver 

  • Cardiovascular System and Inflammation

• Speaker themes: related to project and learning theme

• Circle Themes (with the larger community): chosen by apprentices and participants

• Study Group Themes (with apprentices only): Q&A, fellowship and presentations

• Retreat Location - TBD

• Project(s) Entrepreneurship: build a product line or service or another offering

Trans Apprenticeship of Medicinal Afro Indigeneity (TAMAI) is an expansion of the education provided by DREAM School with additional scientific, holistic context. TAMAI is a 3-year apprenticeship of plant medicine, community facilitation, Indigenous African historical, cultural practices, energy healing, body systems, and addiction awareness. Each year of the apprenticeship culminates in a project developed and presented in community. TAMAI apprentices will develop a strong personal foundation while in the praxis of healing and learning in community. The Black and TGNC community in Tucson, AZ will be the starting point for TAMAI’s community interventions. The remote apprentices will learn from this model to apply in their local communities. Apprentices who complete the program in its entirety will be prepared to identify their role within reproductive justice work and how to implement it with their communities. TGNC folks require training and communal support to fulfill their global and historical caregiving roles in ways that are sustainable while there is an ongoing war against our lives and existence.