Nookomis Aki Sacred Circles
🚨 Urgent: We’re raising $150,000 to purchase the land by Spring 2026. Every gift, large or small, brings us closer.
🌿 The creation of learning botanical gardens restoring 100 - 200 acres of deforested land in Northern Ontario, as a living sanctuary shaped by Mikinaak (the Snapping Turtle), guided by Anishinaabe teachings, and dedicated to Grandmother Earth (Nookomis Aki).
We are creating 38 sacred circles of native trees, medicinal plants, and fung, where Ojibwe food, language, and art thrive in the Turtle’s Head, youth learn from Elders, and visitors reconnect with the land in a good way.
Your gift helps us:
✅ Purchase and heal Crown land
✅ Build the Cultural Pavilion for Ojibwe-led gatherings
✅ Plant 9,000+ native trees (Maple, Oak, Cherry, Cedar, and more)
✅ Create camping decks so guests can stay and learn for days
✅ Honor Indigenous knowledge through true partnership
This is more than a garden, it’s a homecoming for all beings.
These are some options for you to choose from in helping us reach our goals:
🌿 One-Time Donation Tiers – Help Launch Nookomis Aki
Your gift will directly support the purchase of 100 acres of Crown land in Northern Ontario and the startup work needed to begin healing the land, planting sacred circles, and building gathering spaces in true partnership with Anishinaabe knowledge keepers.
$20 – Plant the First Seed
Your gift provides:
Native seed collection for our first tree genus (Maple or Cedar) + soil testing for one scute.
How it makes a difference:
Before we can restore, we must understand the land. Your gift funds the first ecological survey and seed gathering, so we’re ready to plant the moment we secure the land.
You’re helping us listen to the land before we ask it to grow.
$75 – Mark Mikinaak’s Back
Your gift provides:
Site surveying and scute layout for one section of the turtle’s shell (e.g., one Costal or Marginal Scute).
How it makes a difference:
We can’t build sacred circles without first honoring Mikinaak’s true form. Your gift pays for professional surveying to mark the 38 scutes accurately, ensuring the sanctuary is cosmologically and ecologically sound from day one.
You’re helping draw the turtle not with chalk, but with respect.
$250 – Prepare the Ground
Your gift provides:
Invasive species removal and soil restoration for one full botanical circle (e.g., the Cherry Scute or Oak Nuchal Scute).
How it makes a difference:
Logged land is often overrun with buckthorn and garlic mustard. Your gift clears the way for native plants to return—creating healthy soil for trees, fungi, and future ceremonies.
You’re not just clearing brush, you’re making space for healing to take root.
$1,000 – Secure the Circle
Your gift provides:
Legal and administrative costs toward land acquisition, title search, Crown land application fees, or municipal permits.
How it makes a difference:
Purchasing Crown land requires expert guidance and paperwork. Your gift covers critical startup legal steps that move us closer to owning the land, so we can begin co-creating with Wahnapitae First Nation without delay.
You’re helping turn ‘someday’ into ‘this year.’
🌍 Why Your One-Time Gift Matters Now
We are at the threshold, between dream and deed.
Your support at this stage ensures we:
✅ Acquire the land with integrity
✅ Begin restoration with Anishinaabe guidance
✅ Build the first circles with care
Grandmother Earth is waiting.
With your help, we answer.
All monthly gifts in the next 6 months will go directly toward land acquisition and startup, help us break ground by spring.
🌿 Monthly Donation Tiers – Help Us Bring Nookomis Aki to Life
Your monthly gift will go directly toward purchasing 100 acres of Crown land in Northern Ontario and launching the first sacred circles, so we can begin healing the land, planting native trees, and building gathering spaces in partnership with Anishinaabe knowledge keepers.
$20/month – Seed the Dream
Your gift provides:
$240/year toward land purchase + funds to collect and propagate 60 native tree seeds (Maple, Oak, Cedar) in our first nursery.
How it makes a difference:
You help us secure the land and ensure the first trees are ready to plant the moment we close. Your steady support turns soil into sanctuary.
You’re not just giving money,you’re giving roots.
$50/month – Claim the Circle
Your gift provides:
$600/year toward land purchase + materials to clear, mark, and prepare one full botanical circle (e.g., the Cherry Scute or Oak Nuchal Scute).
How it makes a difference:
Before we can teach or gather, we must prepare the land with care. Your gift funds surveying, invasive species removal, and sacred circle layout, so Mikinaak’s body can emerge.
You’re helping draw the first lines of the turtle on Grandmother Earth.
$100/month – Build the Foundation
Your gift provides:
$1,200/year toward land purchase + startup costs for core infrastructure: the Entrance Kiosk, first trail network, and composting toilet at the Tail.
How it makes a difference:
You ensure visitors are welcomed respectfully from day one, with clean facilities, clear maps, and safe access. Your support makes the sanctuary ready to receive, teach, and heal.
You’re building the door through which healing enters.
$250/month – Anchor the Vision
Your gift provides:
$3,000/year toward land purchase + critical startup operations: Elder honoraria, site assessments, legal fees, and partnership development with Wahnapitae First Nation.
How it makes a difference:
True reconciliation begins with relationship, not just restoration. Your gift ensures Anishinaabe knowledge guides every decision, from the first tree planted to the first ceremony held.
You’re not just funding a project, you’re honoring a promise to the land and its original caretakers.
🌍 Why Your Monthly Gift Matters Right Now
We cannot begin without the land.
We cannot heal without partnership.
Your recurring gift makes both possible.
Every dollar brings us closer to:
✅ Closing on 100-200 acres of deforested Crown land
✅ Planting the first 9,000 - 18,000 native trees
✅ Building Mikinaak’s body, scute by sacred scute
✅ Opening the Cultural Pavilion in the Turtle’s Head for Ojibwe food, art, and language
Just as Grandmother Earth gives every day, your steady gift helps us give back, month after month.
Miigwech for walking with us from the very beginning.