Our Creation Story
The connection started through the sober community in Prescott, Arizona. Arrow Funmaker, co-founder, was working at Royal Life Centers, and had shared his story with a co-worker. Hearing that Arrow was of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, she realized how random it was that she knew another person who was also a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation out in Prescott, as well; Hunter Eary, co-founder. Because of how random that was, she knew that they had to meet. During their first meeting, it was like they had been long lost brothers; they connected immediately. This is when the seed of Thundermaker Cultural Recovery was planted.
Over the next few months, getting to know each other, Arrow had a dream to build a sweat lodge to help the addiction recovery community through their spirituality. Hunter offered a space on his land in Chino Valley, and so the seed started to get watered.
Months following the creation of the sweat lodge, the families started sweating together, and Royal Life Centers started sending their clients to sweat every Thursday, as a part of their recovery program. More water.
After about 6 months of continued sweats, Hunter and Arrow noticed the major difference in the clients at Royal, and started discussing their own recovery process, and how traditional teachings and a way of life has helped them to stay sober. They started discussing that the recovery centers of today do not offer what Native Americans need to recover and stay sober. Many of the recovery centers of today focus on clinical ways of recovery, which, for Native Americans, has not been in their traditions. They both realized there was a need of a Native American focused recovery program. More water.
Hunter and Arrow then started discussing this idea with Jason Carrasco, who is a member of the Yaqui Nation, a friend, and a licensed Marriage, Family, and Child Therapist in the state of California, about their idea of a Native American recovery program. They began planning. More water.
After some discussion, they knew that they wanted to create a sustainable addiction prevention and recovery center for Native Americans, that would not only provide recovery from addictions through traditional cultural practices, but teach life skills and confidence building to prevent relapse when people return to their homes. Knowing this undertaking would take a lot of time, preparation, and a substantial financial investment, Arrow and Hunter started discussing, smaller, cultural recovery camps to provide immediate attention to those Nations in need. More water.
With the help of Whitney Tatum, Hunter and Arrow were able to form the nonprofit, Thundermaker Cultural Recovery, a registered 501(c)3, to be able to start fundraising for the cultural recovery camps. And so the mission truly began. The seed had broken through the soil, and was reaching towards the sun.
Our mission is to provide a space and opportunity for our Native relatives suffering through addiction and looking for recovery, as we, as Native People, are also in the process of not only addiction recovery, but both cultural and spiritual recovery.