The United States is a nation of great promise – of the opportunity of people to better their lives. This is a fantastic promise, but we often trip ourselves over the recurring challenge of how we treat others who are different. There is a need for an important national conversation on how we deal with our fear of each other and the pain it causes. This month, we share the experiences from a recent Community Learning Exchange relating how Native American communities are healing themselves by understanding community pain and transforming it into positive action. ~ Dale Nienow
Sharing Identity to Support Healing
Identity is often used by dominant cultures as a way to treat others differently. Identity can be used against people to deny them equal opportunities. In community healing work, the Center has found it powerful when people claim their identity, particularly around culture, as a core strength and asset.
At the Montana Community Learning Exchange on healing from historical trauma, the hosts introduced an identity box activity. Participants were asked to to bring three items from home to place in the identity box and to take time for self-reflection before decorating a box that visually suggested their personal identity.
During the gathering, participants had the opportunity to meet in groups to hear each other’s story of identity. In the telling of identity stories, people became clear about their most sacred aspects of identity. In hearing the stories, others could gain new understanding and deep appreciation for the person’s journey of identity. If we are to build strong communities and heal from past pain and injustice, we need to know who we are individually and together.
For more information about this activity, look into the book,Transforming Curriculum, Empowering Faculty: Deeping Teachers’ Understanding of Race. Class, Culture and Language by Alvarado, Edwards, Change, Pulido-Tobiassesn, and Lopez-Morgan.
Introduction:
The “Identity Box” activity was initially described in the book, Transforming Curriculum, Empowering Faculty: Deepening Teachers’ Understanding of Race, Class, Culture and Language by Alvarado, Edwards, Chang, Pulido-Tobiassesn and Lopez-Morgan.
Purpose:
Identity boxes encourage participants to take time for self-reflection and then decorate a box that visually suggests their personal identity. Our reason for using this type of sharing is to assist all of us to become better acquainted with each other in a more open fashion than is usually customary in workshop introductions.
Materials:
Boxes (one for each participant)
Magazines
Ribbon
Scissors
Markers
Other art materials
Materials to bring:
Bring 3 items or artifacts that can be put in your box that reflect your culture- your identity.
Process:
The inside and outside of the box will be decorated in a creative way that represents who you are as a person today. The box for example, may encompass pictures of your heroes or family, symbols of your strengths or vulnerabilities, images of your visions or fears, quotes or phrases for goals or desires, your culture, language, talents, roles, etc. We also encourage you to think about your role as an educator or community leaders, and how you might portray this role to others.
You will construct your identity box during the first day of the CLE by visually portraying how others (the outside world) see you and represent those images or impressions on the outside of our box. Inside the box, you will represent the personal you that the world does not readily see, and symbolize that identity by the images and or objects brought from your home.
Remember, there is no right or wrong way to creating your box.
Identity is often used by dominant cultures as a way to treat others differently. Identity can be used against people to deny them equal opportunities. In community healing work, the Center has found it powerful when people claim their identity, particularly around culture, as a core strength and asset.
At the Montana Community Learning Exchange on healing from historical trauma, the hosts introduced an identity box activity. Participants were asked to to bring three items from home to place in the identity box and to take time for self-reflection before decorating a box that visually suggested their personal identity.
During the gathering, participants had the opportunity to meet in groups to hear each other’s story of identity. In the telling of identity stories, people became clear about their most sacred aspects of identity. In hearing the stories, others could gain new understanding and deep appreciation for the person’s journey of identity. If we are to build strong communities and heal from past pain and injustice, we need to know who we are individually and together.
For more information about this activity, look into the book,Transforming Curriculum, Empowering Faculty: Deeping Teachers’ Understanding of Race. Class, Culture and Language by Alvarado, Edwards, Change, Pulido-Tobiassesn, and Lopez-Morgan.
Introduction:
The “Identity Box” activity was initially described in the book, Transforming Curriculum, Empowering Faculty: Deepening Teachers’ Understanding of Race, Class, Culture and Language by Alvarado, Edwards, Chang, Pulido-Tobiassesn and Lopez-Morgan.
Purpose:
Identity boxes encourage participants to take time for self-reflection and then decorate a box that visually suggests their personal identity. Our reason for using this type of sharing is to assist all of us to become better acquainted with each other in a more open fashion than is usually customary in workshop introductions.
Materials:
Boxes (one for each participant)
Magazines
Ribbon
Scissors
Markers
Other art materials
Materials to bring:
Bring 3 items or artifacts that can be put in your box that reflect your culture- your identity.
Process:
The inside and outside of the box will be decorated in a creative way that represents who you are as a person today. The box for example, may encompass pictures of your heroes or family, symbols of your strengths or vulnerabilities, images of your visions or fears, quotes or phrases for goals or desires, your culture, language, talents, roles, etc. We also encourage you to think about your role as an educator or community leaders, and how you might portray this role to others.
You will construct your identity box during the first day of the CLE by visually portraying how others (the outside world) see you and represent those images or impressions on the outside of our box. Inside the box, you will represent the personal you that the world does not readily see, and symbolize that identity by the images and or objects brought from your home.
Remember, there is no right or wrong way to creating your box.
- Reflect on your identity
- Choose a box
- Decide on a creative way to show others who you are – inside and outside
- Share you box during one of the designated times – limit your sharing to 5 minutes
- ENJOY!
Can We have the Conversation Necessary To Living Together as Americans?
The US is in the final stages of an intense political season as the 2012 presidential election nears. The national conventions of the major political parties promise a better future via their platforms. However, the solutions put forth are often too general and simplistic to be meaningful. Americans cannot figure out how to have honest conversations with each other about how to live together in this society. If clear and effective change is to occur, how should the pain and fear of the people be addressed? What are the honest conversations we need to have?
If the Center for Ethical Leadership were to recommend one conversation Americans need to have as a country, it would be: How will we all decide to live together, particularly with those we see as different from us? It is important to understand the negative consequences that come from separating ourselves from others. Tony Incashola, a Salish elder from the Confederated tribes of the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d'Oreille in Montana, shared a powerful insight. “When we don’t understand others, we have fear. Fear can lead to hate.” Americans know from experience that this hate can lead to violence and to the need to dominate and control others. Tony also said “whenever we dominate, we destroy. [The US government] tried to dominate other cultures and make everyone the same. It didn’t work. It almost destroyed [Native Americans].”
Today there is separation between many factions: conservative Christians and gay people; US-born workers and new immigrants; conservatives and progressives. But the problem is not that we see the differences. Rather, it is using those differences to justify treating others as less human and less deserving of equality, seeking to dominate them by institutionalizing inequity in our systems and relationships. Native Americans were forced onto reservations and the government sought to eliminate their cultures. African slaves were considered 3/5 of a person by slave holders and our constitution, and deemed not worthy nor to be trusted with citizenship, the vote, or basic human rights. The government and military leaders distrusted American citizens of Japanese descent and imprisoned them in deserts during WWII. For many years women were denied the right to vote or access to education and jobs by men in power.
A key to moving past our fear is to build deeper connections and relationships. Our Salish elder, Tony, offers hope for our ability to do this: “When we understand each other the fear goes away.” One day, our political parties may have the courage to host a national conversation on how this nation can let go of fears and open up to more mutual and interdependent relationships with one another. Let’s build our visions for how we can live together in the United States on understanding each other.
The US is in the final stages of an intense political season as the 2012 presidential election nears. The national conventions of the major political parties promise a better future via their platforms. However, the solutions put forth are often too general and simplistic to be meaningful. Americans cannot figure out how to have honest conversations with each other about how to live together in this society. If clear and effective change is to occur, how should the pain and fear of the people be addressed? What are the honest conversations we need to have?
If the Center for Ethical Leadership were to recommend one conversation Americans need to have as a country, it would be: How will we all decide to live together, particularly with those we see as different from us? It is important to understand the negative consequences that come from separating ourselves from others. Tony Incashola, a Salish elder from the Confederated tribes of the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d'Oreille in Montana, shared a powerful insight. “When we don’t understand others, we have fear. Fear can lead to hate.” Americans know from experience that this hate can lead to violence and to the need to dominate and control others. Tony also said “whenever we dominate, we destroy. [The US government] tried to dominate other cultures and make everyone the same. It didn’t work. It almost destroyed [Native Americans].”
Today there is separation between many factions: conservative Christians and gay people; US-born workers and new immigrants; conservatives and progressives. But the problem is not that we see the differences. Rather, it is using those differences to justify treating others as less human and less deserving of equality, seeking to dominate them by institutionalizing inequity in our systems and relationships. Native Americans were forced onto reservations and the government sought to eliminate their cultures. African slaves were considered 3/5 of a person by slave holders and our constitution, and deemed not worthy nor to be trusted with citizenship, the vote, or basic human rights. The government and military leaders distrusted American citizens of Japanese descent and imprisoned them in deserts during WWII. For many years women were denied the right to vote or access to education and jobs by men in power.
A key to moving past our fear is to build deeper connections and relationships. Our Salish elder, Tony, offers hope for our ability to do this: “When we understand each other the fear goes away.” One day, our political parties may have the courage to host a national conversation on how this nation can let go of fears and open up to more mutual and interdependent relationships with one another. Let’s build our visions for how we can live together in the United States on understanding each other.
Reclaiming Education as a Tool for Healing
How do you heal a community? The recent centuries have been harsh to Native American tribes and they have suffered great trauma. Most people in the United States know that Native Americans were forced to give up ancestral lands and move onto smaller reservations. Fewer people know how education was used as a tool for destroying traditional Native life through the boarding schools movement. From 1861 to 1984, many Native American children were separated from their families and brought to residential schools. The purpose of this education was to assimilate these youth into the dominant US culture. In the process Native identities were destroyed including languages, traditions and families. The resulting historical trauma and collective grief passed from one generation to the next.
At the Community Learning Exchange (CLE) in Montana, Penny Kipp from the Salish Kootenai nation shared letters her grandmother wrote to the Chemawa Indian School in Salem. Along with her brothers, Penny’s mother was sent to the Chemawa Indian School when she was nine years old. In one exchange, Penny’s grandmother asked the Chemawa school superintendent to send the children home for the holidays using the money she sent. She was told by the superintendent that the money was already spent by the school and there was “no possibility of enough money remaining to send the kids home.” These letters told the painful story of the separation of a mother from her children, and how the US system disrupted the flow of love and relationship in a family, a community and a culture. Penny’s mom, like many Native American children, thought her mother did not want her at home, when the truth was she was desperately trying to bring her home.
When a community is separated from its culture and the relationships among people are broken, it takes the heart out of the community. Sending Native American children to boarding schools took the parenting role away from parents. It disrupted the traditional role of elders in transmitting oral traditions and practices. Denying children the opportunity to learn their Native language and customs clearly conveyed the message that “being Indian” was not valued. For generations, US officials banned sacred ceremonies. It was not until 1978 that Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, allowing open practice of Native American religion and culture.
Stopping the cultural assimilation and dissembling of Native American culture has not stopped the negative impact. This trauma and pain of past US policies continues to ripple through the 565 registered tribal nations in the United States, as well as those tribal communities not officially recognized by the government. The trauma is manifested in high levels of poverty, broken families, unemployment, domestic violence, substance abuse, and suicides. The suicide rate in some Montana tribes is ten times the national average. To reverse this situation, Indian communities are reclaiming their culture as a base for restoring their communities and rebuilding their nations.
To support this work, Salish Kootenai Tribal College in Montana partnered with theCenter for Ethical Leadership and its national network to host a CLE in Pablo, Montana. This gathering was a step forward on the journey of healing for these communities. We explored the roots of the traumatic relationship between the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille people and western education, and learned how Indian communities and tribes are now reclaiming education as a tool for healing and leadership within their communities. The CLE gathered teams from tribal communities including: Lummi and Quinault from Washington; Dakota from Minneapolis; Laguna and Acoma from New Mexico; and Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille from Montana.
The overall story of this learning exchange was not solely of trauma and pain. Rather, it was a story of remarkable strength and resilience that tribal communities have, not only in surviving, but in finding ways to become healthy. Tribes are incorporating their ancient culture into their system of education and each component of culture rebuilds another aspect of the community. Language helps people remember their collective values; games teach respect between men and women; traditional dance connects the community across generations; song, poetry and prayer bring deep connection to spirit and ancestors; and stories teach lessons of how to live together in the world in a good way.
It is testament to the strength of Indian people that, according to the 2010 census, 5.2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives have survived generations of harsh treatment and attempted annihilation of their culture. Healing from past injustice is unfinished business in our country. As we support Indian communities in healing, we will ultimately support healing the United States as well.
How do you heal a community? The recent centuries have been harsh to Native American tribes and they have suffered great trauma. Most people in the United States know that Native Americans were forced to give up ancestral lands and move onto smaller reservations. Fewer people know how education was used as a tool for destroying traditional Native life through the boarding schools movement. From 1861 to 1984, many Native American children were separated from their families and brought to residential schools. The purpose of this education was to assimilate these youth into the dominant US culture. In the process Native identities were destroyed including languages, traditions and families. The resulting historical trauma and collective grief passed from one generation to the next.
At the Community Learning Exchange (CLE) in Montana, Penny Kipp from the Salish Kootenai nation shared letters her grandmother wrote to the Chemawa Indian School in Salem. Along with her brothers, Penny’s mother was sent to the Chemawa Indian School when she was nine years old. In one exchange, Penny’s grandmother asked the Chemawa school superintendent to send the children home for the holidays using the money she sent. She was told by the superintendent that the money was already spent by the school and there was “no possibility of enough money remaining to send the kids home.” These letters told the painful story of the separation of a mother from her children, and how the US system disrupted the flow of love and relationship in a family, a community and a culture. Penny’s mom, like many Native American children, thought her mother did not want her at home, when the truth was she was desperately trying to bring her home.
When a community is separated from its culture and the relationships among people are broken, it takes the heart out of the community. Sending Native American children to boarding schools took the parenting role away from parents. It disrupted the traditional role of elders in transmitting oral traditions and practices. Denying children the opportunity to learn their Native language and customs clearly conveyed the message that “being Indian” was not valued. For generations, US officials banned sacred ceremonies. It was not until 1978 that Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, allowing open practice of Native American religion and culture.
Stopping the cultural assimilation and dissembling of Native American culture has not stopped the negative impact. This trauma and pain of past US policies continues to ripple through the 565 registered tribal nations in the United States, as well as those tribal communities not officially recognized by the government. The trauma is manifested in high levels of poverty, broken families, unemployment, domestic violence, substance abuse, and suicides. The suicide rate in some Montana tribes is ten times the national average. To reverse this situation, Indian communities are reclaiming their culture as a base for restoring their communities and rebuilding their nations.
To support this work, Salish Kootenai Tribal College in Montana partnered with theCenter for Ethical Leadership and its national network to host a CLE in Pablo, Montana. This gathering was a step forward on the journey of healing for these communities. We explored the roots of the traumatic relationship between the Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille people and western education, and learned how Indian communities and tribes are now reclaiming education as a tool for healing and leadership within their communities. The CLE gathered teams from tribal communities including: Lummi and Quinault from Washington; Dakota from Minneapolis; Laguna and Acoma from New Mexico; and Salish, Kootenai and Pend d’Oreille from Montana.
The overall story of this learning exchange was not solely of trauma and pain. Rather, it was a story of remarkable strength and resilience that tribal communities have, not only in surviving, but in finding ways to become healthy. Tribes are incorporating their ancient culture into their system of education and each component of culture rebuilds another aspect of the community. Language helps people remember their collective values; games teach respect between men and women; traditional dance connects the community across generations; song, poetry and prayer bring deep connection to spirit and ancestors; and stories teach lessons of how to live together in the world in a good way.
It is testament to the strength of Indian people that, according to the 2010 census, 5.2 million American Indians and Alaska Natives have survived generations of harsh treatment and attempted annihilation of their culture. Healing from past injustice is unfinished business in our country. As we support Indian communities in healing, we will ultimately support healing the United States as well.
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