Rev. Hiroko Matsuda was born in Tokyo, Japan. Her father was a priest in the Shinto Buddhist tradition and influenced her early spiritual training. She came into Lakota culture in 1999 when she began her Sundance way of life, which she has been practicing ever since. Rev. Matsuda facilitates ceremonies in the Native American Church as well as the Oshinka Mountain Sundance community in Japan, among many other sacred prayer services around the world along with her husband Chief Marvin Swallow. She has dedicated her life to being a peacebuilding bridge between the East and West, weaving Japanese and Lakota wisdom in service to the world. During her time living on the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota, Rev. Matsuda learned how to survive on the land without electricity or water, as well as witnessing the beauty of the Lakota teachings and traditions amongst the profound struggles of reservation life. This experience formed the initial vision for co-creating Lakota Small Farms, which she is also co-creating with her family’s food sovereignty land project in Karatsu Saga, Japan. Rev. Matsuda has a blended family of 6 children, 19 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren with her husband.