On April 21-22nd, a group of about 60 representatives of tribes, non-profit organizations, reservation schools, and others gathered at the Wellington Ranch, a lovely oasis in the middle of the Gila River Reservation in Arizona, to discuss and experience traditional and western practices for healing historical and childhood trauma. The agenda nourished both the brain and the spiritual side, the combination that is needed in order to combat historical and childhood trauma that pervades so many Native American communities.
The participants saw an exhibition of equine assisted psychotherapy by Andy Miritello from the Gila River TERO, participated in a men’s and woman’s sweat lodge ceremony organized by Prosper Waukon also of the Gila River TERO , and heard elder Mary Lou White talk about the central role of prayer and faith in traditional practices. Elders from the Gila River Reservation shared their views on the need to address trauma in their community and a traditional religious leader from the Viejas Band of Kumayaay Indians offered prayers and burned cedar. Alex Laky of the ARCHSOL Architecture firm and Kenneth White Jr. spoke about the benefits of including a traditional healing circle in any health care facility so patients can have the benefit of both western and traditional medicine.
They heard former Viejas tribal chairman for 26 years, the Honorable Anthony Pico, describe his own battles with trauma, how the life expectancy on some reservations is now lower than that in Haiti, and why he believes every tribe needs to implement a comprehensive trauma informed program. (The speech he used in the presentation is available on YouTube.) I spoke about the kind of structures a tribe or community needs to put in place on order to develop and implement a comprehensive trauma informed program – one that must involve all of the institutions on the reservation working in a coordinated manner. Julie Taylor and her team from the Umatilla Tribe, which is in the process of implementing a comprehensive trauma-informed program, went about it and the key role the tribal leadership must play.
Attorney Theresa Yanan from the Native American Disability Center briefed the participants on a very recent federal court decision holding that historical and ACEs trauma is a disability under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the implications of that decision for a range of federally funded services and programs being provided to Indian country, including the need insure the decision is implemented in a sensitive manner.
Dr. Joseph Martin, Navajo and professor of Education at Northern Arizona University, laid out the steps a school administrator needs to take to create a trauma-informed school. Dave Cross from the Kathryn Purvis Center at Southern Methodist University spoke about the Trust-Based Relational Intervention approach which has been used around the world and is now being used on a reservation to address historical trauma. A team from the Center for Mind-Body Medicine talked about their approach and how it parallels traditional healing practices and then had the audience engage is a series of mind-body exercises. Dr. DeCoteau, co-founder of the Roundtable, spoke about the danger of secondary trauma for those working with traumatized populations and the need for self-care by those so engaged.
The two-day conference was MC’d by Kenneth White Jr. who with a combination of humor, prayer and insightful observation kept the agenda moving and the participants engaged. The planning committee for the conference consisted of Ken White, Andy Miriello, Prosper Waukon, Dr. Tami DeCoteau and me. It was made possible by generous donations from the Casey Family Foundation, the Van Ness Feldman Law Firm, the ARCHSOL Architecture firm, the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, the University of Arizona Center for Mind-Body Medicine, and the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice.
Our time at the conference was enhanced by the gracious hospitality of our hosts, Norman and Loraine Wellington owners of the Wellington Ranch, a treasure of a location for small conferences.
The success of the conference will ultimately be judged by how many tribal communities take the information provided and begin to establish comprehensive trauma-informed programs, tapping the experts who presented at the conference as needed. The Roundtable for Native American Trauma-Informed Initiatives is available to put on similar conferences in other regions of the country. However there will be a need to identify sources of funding since the Roundtable is an all-volunteer organization with no funding of its own. For more information, contact Kenneth White Jr at kgwhitejr@suddenlink.net; Dan Press at dsp@vnf.com; or Dr.Tami DeCoteau at tamidecoutea@yahoo.com.
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