The Three Creeks Collective
The Owens Valley Indian Water Commission and core partners Teena Pugliese and Jen Schlaich have come together to form The Three Creeks Collective.
The Three Creeks Collective is committed to the continued care of the 5-acre sanctuary currently called Three Creeks, offering the water and land as a place of healing, learning, beauty, food, and medicine — a place to experience belonging with all peoples, with a focus on opening access and building connection back to the original stewards of Payahuundaü.
We also plan to maintain and expand the work, health, and relationships at Three Creeks that have been established here over the last 25 years. Listening for what parts of the old story we wish to carry with us into the new story we are building together. Partnerships and collaborations will be reaffirmed to provide continuity, resources, and stewardship for Three Creeks.
We see many inspiring activities and ceremonies emerging at Three Creeks that will support the people of Payahuunadü and all that come through the valley. And we have an agreement with the previous title owner and Advisory Committee member, Gigi Coyle, to continue to hold Three Creeks the way it has been held the last 25 years until she and her partner Win officially transition off the land in September 2023. We are deeply grateful for how Gigi has modeled a new way for private land owners, she has played a huge role in opening up this opportunity and helping to build a beautiful way forward together.
In addition to having an Advisory Committee providing guidance to the OVIWC and its Core Partners, we will also be deepening and growing partnerships that we hope will assist with resources, stewardship and advice as we begin this journey. We know we have to listen and be in prayer to hear what the land wants and needs, and are committed to listening to the water and land as our guide.
We know that implementing our plans, goals, and objectives will take work, patience, resources, legal structures, meditation and care. We are grateful for the opportunity to dream into a collective that brings healing to our communities, builds collective belonging & continues to protect the water & land.
Led by Indigenous partners and supported by non-indigenous relatives, Three Creeks Collective is committed to the care, protection, and sharing of these sacred lands and waters.
Core Partners
Jen Schlaich (Radicle Wellness LLC) Inspired by the radicle that grows downward to anchor a plant into the soil, Jen Schlaich owner of Radicle Wellness LLC works to create a foundation of wellness that is rooted in the interconnectedness. Radicle Wellness partners people+plants to re-inspire relationships where we each hold a central role in the cultivation of individual, community, and environmental health.
Offerings include: herbal consultations and an apothecary for custom formulations; education via workshops, seasonal herbal boxes, home health garden design, and a Seed-to-Apothecary endeavor that is growing/increasing access to high-quality, bioregional herbs. Radicle Wellness also works via contracts that uplift small-scale community food systems and is currently offering a yearlong Food as Medicine/Home Herbalism series in collaboration with Toiyabe Indian Health Project as well as creating seasonal herbal wellness boxes for patients.
Jen previously served for 6 years as the Bishop Paiute Tribe’s Food Sovereignty Program Director working to create food security on the Bishop Reservation and currently serves as the Grants Manager for the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance. Jen brings her knowledge of fundraising, grants management, plants, wellness, and care for the land to the Three Creeks venture.
Teena Pugliese is a youth mentor, facilitator and digital artist turned activist. She is a member of the governance team and stewardship council for Youth Passageways, a mentor & facilitator for the indigenous youth council at Earth Guardians. She has been co- stewarding Three Creeks for the last 2 1⁄2 years with Gigi Coyle, Win Phelps, Scott Davidson & many others. She has created content and worked with Digital Smoke Signals, Divest-Invest-Protect, WECAN, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe & Youth Council, Indigenized Youth, International Indigenous Youth Council, Defend the Sacred Alliance & Indigenous Environmental Network.
Teena is focused on land stewardship, holding healing spaces and building community and belonging with people, place, and planet. She has a BA in Theatre and has a passion for exploring storytelling, the arts, and performance as pathways toward healing & connection. She is committed to and grateful for collaborations with all beings who work towards restoring our relations with each other and the natural world. Teena will continue to work as a steward at Three Creeks while educating through media arts programs and community projects.
