Dr. Apela Colorado is our featured speaker for our upcoming symposium:
2026 Online Symposium, May 3 2026:
“Reimagining Goddess Scholarship: At the Edges of Sacred Knowledge.”
Apela Colorado, Ph.D. (Oneida-Gaul) is a renowned Indigenous scholar, educator, and cultural bridge-builder whose work centers on restoring Indigenous wisdom and forging ethical relationships between Western and Indigenous knowledge systems. A Ford Foundation Fellow, she earned her Ph.D. in Social Policy from Brandeis University in 1982, with additional coursework in Federal Indian Law and Child Welfare at Harvard University.
In 1989, Dr. Colorado founded the Worldwide Indigenous Science Network (WISN), which she continues to lead. WISN fosters the revitalization and global exchange of traditional knowledge, protects endangered Indigenous cultural practitioners, and facilitates respectful dialogue between Indigenous science and Western disciplines. A major recent milestone in Dr. Colorado’s work is the establishment of WISN’s graduate program in Indigenous Science and Peace Studies at the University for Peace (UPEACE) in Costa Rica.
In 1997, she was honored by the State of the World Forum as one of twelve women leaders selected from 52 countries. She has represented Indigenous perspectives at global events including the United Nations Earth Summit and the Conference on Religion and Environment hosted by the President of Indonesia.
Dr. Colorado’s publications explore sacred ecology, ancestral memory, and Indigenous methodologies. Her recent books include Woman Between the Worlds: A Call to Your Ancestral and Indigenous Wisdom (Hay House, 2021) and Journal des Rêves (WISN.org). She continues to mentor global leaders working at the intersections of culture, land, and spirit.