HEALING OF HEALERS WORKSHOP A SUCCESS
By Colleen Campbell, SDICA President
Pictured at the South Dakota Indian Counselors Association "Healing of Healers" Retreat/Conference are (Back Row) Mike Cutler, Ron Campbell, Clark Richardson, and Dorothy Kiyukan. (Front Row) Cynthia Charger, Gina Veo, Christine Spotted Elk, and Colleen Campbell. The retreat got off to a great start on Saturday evening with a meal and lots of discussion and "catching up" stories.
On Sunday morning, after a prayer by Ron Campbell, the SDICA members were enlightened about issues that Native American students face with their view of them-selves and the emphasis currently put on testing in schools in South Dakota and nation-wide. Dorothy Kiyukan, with the help of several Eagle Butte counselors surveyed 211 students regarding their plans for the future, preparation for testing, family support for testing, perceptions of their strengths and weaknesses in academic areas, importance of graduation, purpose of testing and attendance issues. The survey results were very significant. They will be presented to doctoral students at the USD Education Department for further study. It is hoped that the results will be presented to the SD State Board of Education within the next year.
There was discussion about the negative reflection of Native American students in the public view without an in-depth understanding of the reasons for the low test scores. There was also a discussion about what the SD Department of Education is doing to try to provide an understanding of the factors involved in the lives of Native American students that are effecting test scores.
On Sunday afternoon Mike Cutler, a doctoral student at USD, shared information about the research he is involved with regarding "Self- Efficacy and Resilience Among Adult American Indian Trauma Survivors". It was very interesting to hear about the process of gathering information through interviews and the different directions the interviews can take. His discussion with us was very helpful as we work with Native American individuals. He talked about the challenges to self-efficacy being: historical trauma, internal oppression, lateral oppression, unresolved grief, and a problem-saturated existence. We will look forward to Mike’s finished product and the new data he will be able to make available to those working with and for Native American progress and healthy life styles. A very good web-site to get information on resilience is http://www.apa.org/psychologists/resilience.html
On Sunday evening members of the SDICA traveled to Stephan and Crow Creek High School and participated in an Inipi/ Sweat. It was a wonderful healing experience for all. The hot tub at Cedar Shores sure looked inviting after we returned purified but damp and cold around the edges.
The Retreat/Conference concluded on Monday morning with a SDICA business meeting and a lengthy discussion about alternative education for high school students in South Dakota. Several participants in the retreat are working in alternative education programs in South Dakota. Ron Campbell is at Tiospa Zina’s Alternative School. Gina Veo is at Eagle Butte’s Eagle Center. Clark Richardson is at Rapid City with a program specifically for 9th graders with a history of educational struggles. The discussion was very timely and may result in a tour of alternative education sites in the near future.
We hope to see many of our members at the annual SDCA Conference in Pierre. We will plan on having our business meeting on Thursday evening after the specialty banquets as usual. We welcome everyone to stop by our booth at the conference and visit and maybe pick up a couple of raffle tickets for the awesome items there.
SDICA is open to any SDCA member or interested individual who believes in the mission of the organization and is interested in issues concerning the spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional healing of indigenous peoples of South Dakota.