Meet Doug Good Feather

The artist and visionary behind this year’s Nomad 100 and Maiden 102.

This year we collaborated with Doug Good Feather—a Native American Lakota artist, veteran, author, friend of Icelantic, and founder of the Lakota Way Healing Center. A direct descendant of Chief Sitting Bull, Doug’s work blends sacred geometry, nature, and Lakota traditions. Founded in 2006, the Healing Center supports veterans and civilians through spiritual care, suicide prevention, and a blend of traditional and modern therapies for those facing PTSD, homelessness, and mental health challenges. 

This past summer, I got to visit Doug on his property where he does much of his healing work and non-profit work. Doug's ability to blend creativity into his work with his non-profit, with brands such as Faherty, and more, is nothing short of amazing -- getting to hear him talk about it first hand was even cooler. 

Our interview was long, so we've condensed it to include as much of Doug's story as possible. 

An Interview with Doug Goodfeather

Artist, Cultural Teacher, Founder of the Lakota Way Healing Center

Q: Before we begin, can you introduce yourself?

Doug Goodfeather:
Hello, my name is Doug Goodfeather. I am from the Hunkpapa Lakota Nation of the Standing Rock Lakota–Dakota–Nakota people. I come from the band of Grandpa Chief Sitting Bull, from a small village called Rock Creek. I greet you all with a good heart. That is how I greet, and I do so today in a good way.

Q: Thank you for that. I’d love to start with your background in art. You work across many forms, from visual and digital art to performance. How did that begin?

Doug:
As Lakota people, we are natural artists. Our art comes from our philosophies and our spiritual intelligence. Art is healing, but it is also teaching. It carries technologies, ways of understanding the universe and our place within it, though people don’t always realize that.

I’ve been drawing and dancing since I was a little boy. These teachings were passed down to me by my elders. They taught me our philosophies, what to fight for in this life, and how to live those meanings. My artwork is a way to help people feel better, to reconnect the mind, the heart, and the spiritual world.

Q: You often speak about spiritual intelligence and sacred geometry. What does that mean in your work?

Doug:
There is a sacred geometry that exists all around us. In Lakota, we describe this as the sacred movement of life. Everything is constantly moving, and in that movement there is always creation and rejuvenation.

Today, we need to think more about creating instead of destroying. My work is about inspiring creation: creation of life, community, healing, and balance. Much of what I create comes to me through dreams and vision quests. That spiritual intelligence shows me a roadmap for my life and guides me toward the work that needs to be done.

Q: You talk a lot about helping others. How does that show up in your work and life?

Doug:
Along that road, people come into my life who need help. Some come to learn and go on to do their own work. Some stay and help give back. Often, people come broken. They’ve been beaten down by society or made to feel unseen.

They don’t always ask for help. Sometimes they stand at the edges and watch until someone says, “I see you.” That’s when the work begins.

One of our teachings comes from the buffalo. The buffalo do not run from the storm. They walk into it. That’s what I teach. When times get hard, walk into the storm. That’s where you learn to love yourself, to heal, and to become whole again. And when you come out, there will be people waiting for you. Those are the people you help.

Q: Animals appear often in your artwork. What do they represent?

Doug:
They are not just symbols. They are relatives. The horse, for example, was our ally. They carried us into war and brought us home. They helped us hunt, protected our elders, and cared for our children. We made relatives of them.

The wolf represents balance. There’s a teaching about two wolves living inside us, one good and one bad. People say the strongest is the one you feed. But I believe we must feed both. If you starve one, it becomes dangerous. Balance allows us to live in harmony. The anger and the peace both exist within us, and we must acknowledge both.

Q: You often bridge spirituality with science. How do those worlds connect for you?

Doug:
In our language, the word for brain is núla, which means “seed.” The word for mind is kawáči, what you make. So the brain is the seed, and the mind is how you nourish it.

What people now call “manifestation” is something we’ve always understood. These healing modalities have existed in our culture for generations. When I work with people healing from addiction, depression, trauma, or PTSD, those teachings come from natural sources we’ve always used.

Take the sweat lodge. It represents the womb of Mother Earth. The heat has intelligence. Scientifically, heat activates peptides in the brain that help suppress depression and reduce cravings. I studied the stones themselves and had them analyzed. Inside them are ancient minerals, thousands of years old. When heated, those minerals are released as steam and absorbed by the body, helping restructure the mind and body naturally.

Sometimes you have to speak the language of science so people can understand the depth of what has always been there.

Q: Do you consider yourself a healer?

Doug:
No. I consider myself a teacher. I help people get unstuck. From there, I teach them how to heal themselves.

We are the only ones who stand in our own way. My role is to guide people toward self-actualization, to help them stay out of their own way and keep moving forward. I don’t have all the answers, but I believe I can help people reach that place.

Q: The Lakota Way Healing Center has been central to your work. Can you share its story?

Doug:
I founded the Lakota Way Healing Center in 2006, but the vision came in 2005 during a vision quest. I didn’t know how to start a nonprofit. I just started doing the work.

Over the years, the center has carried me as much as I’ve carried it. I studied psychology, but I didn’t find healing there. I found terminology, not transformation. So I returned to my culture and studied my own philosophies, and that’s what I brought into the work.

Everything I’ve gone through in life, including combat and the loss of my daughter and unborn grandchild, became a teacher. Instead of anger, I studied those experiences. Now they no longer control me. I use them to connect more deeply with others.

Q: What do you hope people take away from your work?

Doug:
Life is not meant to be perfect. It is meant to teach. Mistakes are teachers for the future. Life is not meant to be easy. It challenges us so we can grow stronger and more compassionate.

Our elders always say, “Take your time. You might miss something.” If we listen, we can learn compassion earlier in life instead of waiting for pain to force it on us.

Everything I create comes from that understanding. I don’t just draw designs. I think them, see them, dream them. My intention is always the same: to help people heal and to help us remember that we are all indigenous to this Earth, and that we have a responsibility to one another and to her.

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This year's Nomad 100 and Maiden 102 were designed by Doug Good Feather and we're incredibly grateful for the collaboration with him this season. 10% of sales from Nomad 100 and Maiden 102 products will be donated to support the center’s mission.