Honoring Tradition
Spirit of the Wind Serves Community…
For Daniel Pruett, bringing new life to Spirit of the Wind began with a drum. “My main focus was the kids. Last year we did a drum-making event where we had 15 kids, and it turned out beautifully.” According to Pruett, the project was about far more than making music. “The heartbeat is like a drum, so the first thing I thought about was getting drums to the kids. They’ve got to have something they can play.” This year, Spirit of the Wind is building on that momentum with a bead-making event. “So far, a lot of those same kids are coming back for the beadmaking event, so they’re bringing their drums with them. That’s going to be cool.”
Today, Pruett serves as CEO of Spirit of the Wind, a nonprofit based in Weed that focuses on Native American cultural education, purification sweat ceremonies and youth-centered programming. Since taking over leadership in January 2025, he has worked to expand the organization’s visibility while keeping its mission rooted in community, along with his wife, Fernanda, who works as
the marketing director. “The elders were needing help, guidance, social structure and media. As a Wintun Nomlaki tribal member, I had been watching everything from a distance for years, and it just came to the point where I knew what they needed. The elders asked for help, and I stepped up and provided it. I felt
my calling.”
As the organization has grown, so has community support. “The community has been awesome. I’ve reached out to businesses one by one and presented who we are, what we do, and what we’re trying to accomplish. What we’re really trying to do is bring the community together, especially for the kids.”
That sense of community extends beyond youth programs. Spirit of the Wind also hosts Native American purification sweat ceremonies that draw participants from across California and beyond. “We’ve had people fly in from back East just to come to the sweat. It’s an honor to show people what we do, and I want their experience to be worth what they see on our website. It’s a beautiful thing.”
The ceremonies take place outdoors in Weed beneath towering pine trees near the base of Mt. Shasta. Participants gather in a traditional sweat lodge for four rounds over the course of about an hour and a half. “It’s about going back into the womb of the mother. Inside, medicine is placed on the rocks, water is poured over them, and the steam rises. You breathe in the medicine and focus on why you’re there. Anything you don’t want to carry anymore, you offer it to the grandfather rocks and let it go.”
For Pruett, the ceremony is both physical and spiritual. “Everything you don’t want as a person, all that stress, all those things you’re carrying, you let go of them. You offer them to the stones and release them, and the steam carries them away. It’s physical and spiritual cleansing together.”
The experience resonates with both locals and visitors seeking the unique energy of the Mount Shasta region. “Mount Shasta is grounding place. People come here for different reasons, but I think it’s all the same reason in the end. They’re looking to grow. They’re looking for guidance. They’re looking for something inside themselves.”
It’s a search for connection that Pruett sees every day. Whether it’s a child returning with a handmade drum, a family attending a bead-making workshop or someone walking out of a sweat ceremony feeling lighter than when they arrived, he hopes each person leaves with something meaningful.
“Life is good no matter which way you look at it. We just need more ways to ground ourselves, and that’s what we’re trying to provide. Something positive. Something meaningful. A place where people can come together and grow.”•
www.spiritofthewind.org
