Why We Replant Lakota Medicines (Tokata – The Future) 🌱
Why We Replant Medicines (Tokata – The Future) 🌱
At Wozani, we talk a lot about balance — between people and plants, land and spirit, giving and receiving.
That balance guides everything we do and is at the heart of what it means to live in connection with the land.
“Tokata” means the future. When we talk about replanting traditional medicines, that’s what we mean — planting for tokata, for the generations yet to come.
🌿 Honoring Lakota Teachings and the Land
As an Oglala Lakota-owned brand, we see replanting as both a cultural practice and an act of environmental stewardship. Our ancestors taught us that the Earth and all who share it are our relatives. Caring isn’t just a choice — it’s a responsibility.
Our children are the ones who inspire this work. They’re the reason we think about what comes next — what will still be here when they’re grown. They’ve learned how to dig roots, how to recognize the smell of sage and cedar, and how to say thank you before taking something from the earth.
But lately, we’ve noticed that things don’t grow where they used to. Places where our families once gathered sage, sweetgrass, or wild bergamot are changing — crowded, dried out, or treated with chemicals the plants can’t survive. Some medicines are harder to find each year.
That’s why replanting matters so much. It’s our way of giving back for everything we take — a form of balance that ties directly to sustainable practices and Indigenous environmental values.
When we harvest, we always leave an offering or prayer.When we replant, i t’s that same intention in action — returning something to the land so the circle keeps going.
🌾 The Medicine Wheel and the Circle of Life
In our Lakota way, the medicine wheel represents the balance of life. Each direction teaches something. We apply this to our philosophy at Wozani, too. When we plant, harvest, or make medicine, we’re moving through that circle again and again — always learning, always giving thanks.
Our children remind us that this work isn’t heavy — it’s joyful. Their small hands press seeds into the soil, their laughter carrying over the garden as the first sprouts begin to rise. They remind us that hope can grow back, even after the ground has rested too long.
🌎 Community, Sustainability, and the Future
Replanting isn’t something we do alone. We work alongside community members who share the same vision — restoring native plant habitats and passing on traditional ecological knowledge.
It’s about sustainability, reciprocity, and cultural continuity — caring for the land so it can continue to care for us.
We see this work as part of a broader movement toward Native American environmental stewardship — rebuilding the connection between community and land, between modern life and traditional values.
That’s what Tokata really means to us: The medicine we plant today will care for someone’s grandchildren tomorrow.
The plants will remember that we cared enough to keep them alive and continue to help us. And the land, if we treat it gently, will keep giving medicine long after we’re gone.
🌿 For us, replanting isn’t a project — it’s a way of life. Our connection to the earth, to our community, and to the generations yet to come.