Smoke signals., April 01, 2018, Page 10, Image 10

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S moke S ignals
APRIL 1, 2018
Organizers met monthly to plan event
TILLIXAM continued
from front page
has existed for 18 years and orga-
nizers have facilitated hundreds
of community healing gatherings
throughout North America, Exec-
utive Director Jillene Joseph said.
“I am most excited for individual
and collective healing,” she said.
“Healing is the answer to trauma
and my personal purpose as well as
my organization's purpose is to help
people realize that they can heal
themselves, and we do this by facil-
itating opportunities for healing.”
The institute has been involved
with numerous events, trainings
and camps at Grand Ronde over
the last several decades, such as
youth retreats, youth leadership
trainings, staff training and com-
munity gatherings.
For the past five years, the insti-
tute has collaborated with the Tribe
to offer the Veterans Summit and
last year offered a youth Wellness
Warrior Camp, which will occur
again in June.
The “Gathering of Native Amer-
icans” curriculum model was de-
veloped between 1990 and ’94 by
several founding institute mem-
bers. Organizers say it has stood
the test of time as an effective heal-
ing and planning model for Tribal
communities addressing effects of
historical and intergenerational
trauma.
The community gathering event
is set for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednes-
day through Friday, April 11-13, at
the Tribal gym. It is free and open
to the first 100 Tribal employees,
Tribal members and/or spouses to
sign up.
“NWI is honored to have such a
great working relationship with
the Tribe,” Joseph said. “That rela-
“It’s an opportunity to grow through
sharing with others, recalling who we
were as a people, how our
history impacted us and finding
support to become stronger for
ourselves and our community.”
~ Tribal Social Services Manager Dana Ainam
tionship is based on personal and
professional friendships that have
grown and developed over the years
and on the Tribe’ s progressive view
on the need to heal the community
from the impacts of intergenera-
tional trauma.”
Organizers, which include staff
from a variety of programs and
community members, have been
meeting monthly to plan for the
event and working closely with the
Cultural Education program.
“(They have) all the historical
wisdom and items available to help
us through the process,” Ainam
said.
Cultural Education Coordinator
Jordan Mercier has been attending
the planning meetings for the last
few months. He has assisted in
identifying topics and themes for
various activity sessions during
the event, and finding potential
speakers willing to come and share
about each topic.
“I have offered support from the
Cultural Education program to
provide speakers at the event, as
well as coordinate some of our con-
tractors to share traditional arts
and lead some break-out session
activities,” he said.
The event will be split into three
portions: “Who We Are,” “Historical
Trauma” and “Resiliency.”
Classroom
Law Project
“ ‘Gathering of Native Americans’
is a nationally supported model and
we understand that the traumatic
experiences we share as Indi-
an people and specifically Grand
Ronde people have impacted our
lives and community today,” Ainam
said. “Also our resiliency through
that time can help us recall those
strengths to use today.”
Depending on community re-
sponse, this may become an annual
event. So far, approximately 30
people have signed up.
“It’s an opportunity to grow
through sharing with others, re-
calling who we were as a people,
how our history impacted us and
finding support to become stronger
for ourselves and our community,”
Ainam said. “As a planning team,
we have shared so much going
through old photos, historical doc-
uments, listening to recordings and
talking about old ways.”
She hopes the hard work will pay
off by encouraging lots of sharing
during the three-day gathering.
“Also Native Wellness Institute
is so amazing at trainings,” Ainam
said. “NWI has done a lot of work
with our community and staff over
the years. They have developed
many relationships in the commu-
nity and built trust already with
many.”
Ainam said their facilitators
provide a “good mix of learning
and fun.”
Joseph said that the relationships
of trust built during the years
You’re invited to an informative Round
Table Discussion on Special Education FAQs
Parents/guardians and those who are supportive of children with
disabilities are all welcome.
•
April 5, 2018
7:30AM-4PM
Multnomah County
Courthouse
Join us on April 5 th at the Multnomah County
Courthouse for a day to learn about the judicial system.
Our next stop will be the Justice Center, where we will
observe arraignments, parole violations and
Community Court; then on to the courthouse to watch
trials.
All 6-12 grade Native Youth are welcome!
We will be leaving YED at 7:30am and returning by 4pm.
Please sign up at Youth Education
working in Grand Ronde will help
facilitators during the event.
“The greatest benefits are that
we know the community very well
yet are visitors to the community
and able to navigate situations
in a different way,” she said. “We
know the impacts of trauma very
well and we are skilled facilitators
of collective healing, so we are able
to facilitate a process for Tribal
members and staff in partnership
with the community.”
Mercier said that the group is
working on a timeline to put up
on the wall at the gym, which will
consist of photographs and other
pictures that cover the major eras
of Tribal history: pre-Reservation,
early Reservation, Termination and
Restoration.
“We will be encouraging attend-
ees to bring their own pictures and
add to the timeline as the event
goes on,” he said. “We will also be
encouraging people to write notes
on the wall to help add any infor-
mation they want to share to the
timeline.”
This includes identifying people
in photographs who are currently
unknown or offering their own in-
sight regarding photos.
Additionally, Cultural Resources
may include an employee from its
collections program to assist with
the event and spread awareness
of the services available to Tribal
members within the Cultural Re-
sources Department.
“We all heal in different ways and
from different things — unresolved
grief, shame, cultural pain, addic-
tions, divorce, violence and more,”
Joseph said. “The gathering will
include lectures, small and large
group discussions and activities,
an Elders’ panel and more. Partic-
ipants will connect to themselves,
each other, the culture, land and
together they will experience a pro-
cess that will ignite something deep
inside. The community will not be
the same after this gathering.” n
Support for the struggle involved in the IEP process and
beyond
•
Information about special education law
•
Question/Answer time for specific scenarios
•
Parent and school district rights
Where:
Youth Education
When:
April 19
Time:
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.,
Lunch provided
Become a stronger voice of advocacy.
Reserve your spot by calling Audra at x2069 or Elaine at x2095