About
Four Sisters Birth and Health Sovereignty is an Indigenous-led movement for generational healing.
Who we are
Our Story
Four Sisters Birth and Health Sovereignty (FSBHS) is a Native-led organization dedicated to revitalizing Indigenous birthkeeping practices and promoting health sovereignty within Native communities. Founded in 2024, FSBHS integrates cultural practices, intergenerational knowledge, and contemporary health approaches to strengthen Native families and communities through comprehensive, culturally grounded care. The organization is committed to addressing the systemic disparities that have long disproportionately impacted Native health outcomes and fostering intergenerational healing and community strength.
At the heart of FSBHS’s work are the Four Sisters—Corn, Beans, Squash, and Sunflower—central to our cultural and spiritual practices. These elements represent nourishment, protection, community, and healing, and symbolize interconnectedness, strength, and sustainability, guiding the foundation for FSBHS's programming and efforts in birthwork, lactation education, research, policy advocacy, and community engagement.
Our Mission and Vision
FSBHS envisions a future where Native communities are strengthened through health sovereignty, with birthkeeping practices at the heart of intergenerational healing and community vitality.
Our work is rooted in the recognition of Indigenous knowledge systems, prioritizing self-determination and honoring culturally responsive care systems. Through the training of birthworkers, advocacy for policies that protect Native health sovereignty, and support for community health education, FSBHS works to revitalize Indigenous health practices, which have long sustained Native communities.
Guided by the principles of cultural continuity, health, and sovereignty, FSBHS reinforces existing systems to address health disparities and promote sustainable health and survivance for Native communities, from birth to natural death.
We are stronger together
Founder
J. Lyons Echo-Hawk
Jasha Lyons Echo-Hawk (they/them) is a self-described Intertribal“ Love Song,” belonging to the Seminole, Pawnee, Iowa, Omaha, and Mvskoke Creek Nations. Identifying as Two-Spirit, Jasha’s work is deeply rooted in cultural sovereignty, and the revitalization of Indigenous birthkeeping practices as pathways to collective liberation and self-determination.
As Founder of Four Sisters Birth and Health Sovereignty, Founding Director of the Indigenous Milk Medicine Collective, and creator of Indigenous Milk Medicine Week, Jasha leads efforts to honor and strengthen culturally grounded health systems, particularly in lactation and birth, ensuring the preservation and visibility of longstanding care practices within Native communities.
As an Indigenous Lactation Counselor and Birthworker with early midwifery training and current graduate coursework in Indigenous Peoples Law through the University of Oklahoma College of Law’s MLS program, Jasha’s education and professional roles significantly shape their work to center intergenerational knowledge, interdisciplinary methods, and healing.
Jasha practices balance alongside their family through a “Run, Pray, Laugh” lifestyle.
“Birthworkers are protectors, healers, and advocates — returning care to the hands of the people.”
—J. Lyons Echo-Hawk (they/them)