What if the land could teach you everything you forgot you knew?

In this episode of Calling in the Healers, Nick Pineda sits down with Courtney Eddy King—Indigenous scientist, cultural steward, and greenhouse manager at Haskell Indian Nations University—for a conversation about the work of healing land, memory, and self.

Courtney shares her journey into ecological restoration and her relationship with the land—as someone reclaiming cultural knowledge that colonial systems sought to erase. Together, they explore what it means to rebalance ecosystems and why public land care serves as a mirror for how much we truly value the land and sovereignty of the other-than-human species that live on it.

With honesty and reverence, Courtney invites us to move beyond theory and into the practice of care—starting with plant identification, accountability, and deep listening to the beings who have always been here.

In this conversation, we explore:

• What it means to restore not just prairie ecosystems—but cultural memory

• How the land can become a teacher when ancestral knowledge is missing or broken

• The tension between progressive environmentalism and lived Indigenous realities in Lawrence

• The emotional and ancestral depth of working with plants as material and kin

This episode is for anyone hungry to feel rooted again—anyone looking to begin, or begin again, with the land beneath their feet.

📍 Recorded on ancestral Kaw, Osage, and Shawnee land, at the Lawrence Public Library.
🔗 Show notes include resources on restoration, land care, and local action in Douglas County.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.
💬 Follow along @leadwithkapwa for more reflections and community conversation.

In this opening episode of Calling in the Healers, host Nick Pineda sits down with Cris—great-grandmother, sponsor, and longtime member of the Lawrence recovery community—for a conversation that is equal parts laughter and tears. It's about being honest and showing up for yourself so that others can do the same.

Together, they reflect on what it means to say yes to change, the role of truth-telling in recovery, and why healing is a lifelong, relational practice—not something we earn or perform. Cris shares how a pivotal boundary from her therapist led her to her first recovery meeting, how she grew into the role of sponsor for others, and how she brings an "attitude of gratitude" wherever she goes.

This episode is a reminder that we don’t need to be perfect to be powerful—and that some of the most transformative work in a community happens quietly, through honest friendship and steady presence.

In this conversation, we explore:

• What it means to begin a healing journey later at any stage of life

• How the recovery community models a different kind of leadership

• The difference between saving others and walking alongside them

• Why “taking the cape off” might be the most powerful thing we can do

🎧 Listen now and explore what recovery, honesty, and healing mean in your own life.

🔗 Resources and local support info are in the show notes.
📍 Recorded at the Lawrence Public Library, on ancestral Kaw, Osage, and Shawnee land.

Mabuhay & Welcome!

I'm Nick Pineda, Lawrence resident and host of this new, hyper-local podcast all about what it takes to renew, restore, repair, regenerate, reimagine and actively build the future of Lawrence, KS.

This is a teaser episode that gives you a preview of what to expect in upcoming interviews.

All guests featured on this show:

1. Have local roots: They were born in, currently live in, attend school in, work in, feed, or are otherwise recognized as someone who contributes meaningfully to our community.
2. Are committed to a practice of healing: Whether or not folks explicitly call their work “healing,” they actively engage in practices that restore balance, harmony, and health to any system—be it personal, familial, organizational, ecological, ancestral or communal.
3. Have a vision for our shared future: These folks have a point of view about the directions and places they want to see the Lawrence community grow, and the role they want you to play in shaping it.

Subscribe, follow, and share to help us build momentum in these early days.

If you have a question you'd like to ask one of our upcoming guests, or if you want to nominate a member of the community for this podcast, visit us at kapwaleadership.com/callinginthehealers and let us know what you think.

Let's go!