Carolyn Hartness:  

¿In the early 90¿s, I worked as a Drug and Alcohol Prevention Specialist at United Indians of All Tribes Foundation¿s youth program, I Wa Sil. My position was funded by Seattle-King County Health Department. I taught parenting classes; coping skills to third and fourth graders living in alcohol and drug using homes; interacted with youth at the drop in center in downtown Seattle; and facilitated a group for Native youth incarcerated at Echo Glen, Washington¿s juvenile detention center. The goal was to help Native youth and their families understand the negative impact that alcohol abuse had on their lives. Many youth were of mixed blood and had identity issues relating to themselves as Natives. A major component of the therapy and education sessions was to introduce them to positive Indian role models, the truth about Indian¿s contributions to the advancement of our country and development of a positive sense of themselves as Indian people. The curricula helped them establish pride in their heritage through cultural activities such as the talking circle, powwow and sweat lodge. At Echo Glen, we sponsored powwows bringing families, friends and people from the community to drum, sing and dance. We built a sweat lodge with the youth and held regular talking circles. We knew there was healing when the group informed us that we, the adults, were no longer in charge. They created a Wisdom Council of the older youth, made us advisors, and decided that group membership was no longer voluntary. Youth interested in the group now had to be voted into the circle. This was the result of a powerful and healing talking circle the week before that allowed for deep disclosure and bonding between the youth. In the school district, we had been using a curriculum for working with the third and fourth graders called Kids Like Us Are Everywhere to help build coping skills. The curriculum was not culturally appropriate, so we introduced the talking circle and other activities to emphasize Native values and pride. The parenting classes were part of the Huchoosedah Indian Education Program, a Native American cultural program in the Seattle School District. In the context of beading and talking circles, we were able to break through the silence of mistrust, denial and shame and talk openly about the reality of the families represented in our circle. Most of the people in attendance were grandparents raising grandchildren because parents were unable to provide safe, nurturing homes for their children due to alcohol and drug issues. Indian people were severely traumatized when the United States Government implemented a misguided integration policy for Indian people by removing a generation of children from their families and reservations, sending them away to ¿Indian¿ boarding schools where they were taught to live, talk and think like the white man. The policy was very harmful to our people individually and to our cultural roots because children were not allowed to speak their native tongue or be reared with their birth parents, grandp...Expand for more