The Seeds of Wellness

I recently attended The Seeds of Wellness in Indian Country Conference in Blue Lake, CA. This conference was put together to enhance culturally appropriate approaches to better serve American Indian Crime Victims and their families. The conference was hosted by The Northern California Tribal Healing Coalition Members that include local Tribes and Native agencies.

The agenda comprised of Suicide Prevention, Human Trafficking in Indian Country, Native American Hate Crime Prevention, Domestic Violence and Advocacy for Tribal Families from a Tribal Perspective. I was very impressed with the workshop titled Mindfulness as a Suicide Prevention Tool. This workshop was given by Dr. Michael Yellowbird, MSW, Ph.D., who is a professor at Humboldt State University. A topic that he was adamant about is the contrast of the left brain and right brain relationship and the affects that this relationship has on the mind and body. He emphasized that there needs to be a balance in the brain to strengthen the brain to prevent suicidal thoughts. The most difficult workshop was attending the Elder Abuse workshop because it had an actual case of a grandmother going through a traumatic experience. We watched a video about the incident which included the actual 911 call. An interesting session was given by Elizabeth Lara-O’Rourke, Hupa/Yurok/Chilula, telling cultural stories with a moral at the end of the story.

Northern California Indian Development Council (NCIDC) sent me to this conference. These types of community events are important approaches to serve our Native communities.

Submitted by: Denise Richards-Padgette