Calling Upon the Warrior Spirit to Heal Historical Trauma --A Conference on Creating Trauma-informed Tribal Communities and Using Traditional Practices to Address Historical and Childhood Trauma
On Saturday and Sunday, April 21-22, the Roundtable on Native American Trauma Informed Initiatives, supported by the Gila River Tribal Employment Rights Office, the Viejas Mission Band of Indians, Native Health Care Solutions LLC, the Van Ness Feldman Law Firm will be hosting a conference entitled Calling Upon the Warrior Spirit to Heal Historical Trauma on the Gila River Reservation. Studies have confirmed that the combination of historical trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) explain many of the problems Native American communities face – substance abuse, high school drop-outs, obesity, diabetes, domestic violence and others. Overcoming these problems will require that tribes implement comprehensive trauma-informed initiatives that make use of both traditional healing practices and Western approaches for addressing trauma, with both needing to be used on an individual and community-wide basis.
The Conference will focus on both of these issues. Traditional philosophers and healers will discuss the use of traditional practices to address trauma in Native communities. Speakers will describe how they took Western therapy practices, such as Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and adapted them to incorporate traditional practices. Members of tribes that have implemented comprehensive trauma-informed initiatives will describe how their tribes built such programs using both traditional and western practices. A distinguished former tribal chairman will discuss his work encouraging and assisting tribes implement such comprehensive programs.
On Saturday evening, interested participants will attend a sweat lodge ceremony.
Attached is a Fact Sheet, the Agenda, a Registration Form, and list of reasonably-priced hotels nearby.
The Roundtable is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization. It is seeking sponsorships to help cover the costs of the conference, including travel and honorarium costs for the traditional leaders, building the sweat lodge, food for the participants, and related costs. At the end of the package is a budget showing these costs and requesting support.
For more information contact Kenneth White Jr. at kgwhitejr@suddenlink.net 928 853 7835
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