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After touring for years around the world with Nahko & Medicine for the People, Hope Medford decided to have a baby. In this episode, Hope and I discuss her journey of becoming a doula and midwife, what it has been like to attend over 450 births and her experience of performing in front of thousands as drummer for Nahko & Medicine for the People.

There’s something about being with a woman giving birth that just doesn’t even compare to performing on stage in front of thousands of people…

In this episode we discussed:

Hope’s first experience attending a birth at 19 years old
Her journey to becoming a midwife and experience of attending births
The benefits of water birth
How Hope first felt called to the drum
Hope’s journey to becoming a mother and giving birth to her daughter at home in water
Raising women’s voices and how we can lift each other up
The energy of the Big Island of Hawaii and MAnaFest, the festival she puts on each year there in honor of the sacred feminine

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Hope is a creative force.
Following spirit and serving humanity as her guides, Hope has walked many paths flowing from & returning to the same source.

Hands in the dirt, beating drumskin, brushing color across canvas, holding a newborn babe, or gathering the tribe; Hope thrives when steeped in raw, fresh energy pulsing around her. She is a visionary who sees the positive direction she wants the world to move toward, and takes the steps she can to manifest it.

Touring Internationally and playing drums with Nahko and Medicine for the People since they were first heard of, Hope and Nahko shared a chemistry and frequency which catalyzed Medicine for the People to catapult from busking in the streets to performing in front of well over a hundred thousand people in a few short years. Nahko's music has a message that served as a call to the global conscious community for justice, truth talking, and positive social change. We were a part of a very special movement. Our music was bringing people together who were healing and wanting to make the world better.
To Hope, that was one more step in her journey.

Before that, Hope was a midwife, assisting over 450 births, primarily holistic home and water births, in Africa, Bali, and the US. Protecting the next generation has always been sacred and close to her heart. Birth is the moment a fresh soul enters the world and a woman transforms though an extraordinary rite of passage to become a mother. Hope has always felt honored to spend endless hours by a woman's side in her most primal and powerful birthing moments. The humility and awe in holding humanity in its first breaths have given Hope a deeper connection, compassion, and grounding in life. This has inspired her to work to raise awareness about families' birth options and the importance of their choices. Hope created Artemis Healing Arts education program and taught natural birth classes in Peru, Brazil, Bali and at Findhorn Ecovillage, in Scotland, as well as in the US.

For Hope, the drum has always been a tool of spirit. Her first teacher was Babatunde Olatunje, who encouraged her to keep playing, and to always play with love. Drums have taken her around the world; Hope studied with teachers in Brazil, Peru, and West Africa. She shared the drum with children in India and taught rhythm to youth groups in Guatemala. Hope has taught over 2,500 students of all ages; she uses drums to facilitate empowering women's voices in workshops and confidence building with at-risk youth groups. Drums are a powerful connection to our ancestors. As ancient healers have always known, when infused with positive vibrations & intentions, drums are potent medicine.

Hope's connection to nature began as a child and continues to flourish. Hope co-founded an urban non-profit permaculture education site, Tryon Life Community Farm. Hope coordinated the education program for years, teaching sustainability techniques such as natural building, permaculture gardening, social ecology, and the arts. Hope participated in the Global peace walk for 8 years. She later served for 3 years on the Board of Directors of Honor the Earth, the environmental justice non-profit protecting indigenous lands in North America, founded by Winona La Duke and supported by the Indigo Girls. Most recently, Hope has allied with the protectors of Mauna Kea, who currently have been standing in peaceful protest for months to prevent development on sacred indigenous land in Hawaii.

Much of her passion is expressed in rich color and paint. Painting since she was a child, Hope has experimented with nearly every artistic medium she could get her hands on. As a result, many of her works are mixed media, often incorporating wood, feather, stone, metal, pencil, marker, watercolor, and acrylic - integrating them into delicate lines and powerful bold swaths of color to tell a story of women's power, strength and beauty. Creating images of empowered women has been a life long devotion; in response to being raised in a world where women have not been treated fairly or equally to men, and the earth has been ravaged due to this imbalance between masculine and feminine forces.. Her art is currently shown at the beautiful Wild Heartist Gallery in Hilo, Hawaii.

Hope's Musical Journey continues forward, she has recorded 3 solo albums, and her sound has been described as 'hypnotic world beat with maternal soul'. Recently when Hope evacuated Hawaii in the 2018 lava flow, she temporarily relocated to the Blue Ridge Mountains where she began a new musical project, a trio of women called CedarWing, described as 'world soul folk with a groove'. CedarWing recently recorded their first album which has not yet been released! ...wait for it!!

Hope co-founded MAnaFest music, arts & education festival in Hawaii in 2015, inspired by the transition from touring full time with Nahko, to giving birth to her daughter. While playing at festivals across the world, Hope recognized the imbalance of the number professional male performers to female. She is committed to helping women find their voice and share it! MAnaFest is a festival that honors the sacred feminine; it is run by women, featuring over 25 female performers, 25 workshops led by women, 5 female live artists, dancers, ceremony, red tent, grandmothers council and more- all on the beautiful grounds of tropical permaculture retreat center and spa! MAnaFest is inclusive of all people, everyone is welcome. There is a grandfathers council and purple tent to honor men and gender fluid community. 2020 Clear Vision is the theme of this upcoming 5th annual MAnaFest Jan 24, 25 & 26 - Join us! (manafestival.org)

Hope loves to teach and give back to her community. Join her on the Big Island of Hawaii for one of her upcoming juicy workshops: