Yale Psychiatry Grand Rounds: March 26, 2021

Transcript

• 00:00Just briefly, everyone's gotten
• 00:02sort of an introduction through
• 00:04the informal discussion here,
• 00:06but I'm really happy that we have doctor.
• 00:09I have a Gray Wolf here today, and.
• 00:14Invited through the.
• 00:16Thoughts and an wishes of a
• 00:20Stephanie Gilsenan Rea Crouch.
• 00:23Stephanie is a third year
• 00:25resident and forth your Sky Tree
• 00:27resident and she's one of the
• 00:30chief residents in the diversity,
• 00:32equity and Inclusion Committee.
• 00:34Anne Maria crouched is a predoctoral
• 00:37psychology intern at Yale,
• 00:38so let me turn it over to
• 00:42Stephane to start the day. Hi
• 00:46Bojati brush day my name is Stephanie
• 00:48Gilsenan because I'm in Walkerton Sue
• 00:51originally from Minnesota Massage which
• 00:53is also known commonly as Minnesota.
• 00:55Just going to do a brief land
• 00:58acknowledgement before passing it off
• 01:00to Doctor Maria Crouch who's going to
• 01:03introduce our wonderful speaker today.
• 01:05So, Elena knowledge Minton,
• 01:07it does not exist in the past
• 01:10tense historical context.
• 01:11Colonialism is a current and ongoing
• 01:13process and it's important for us
• 01:15all understand the long standing
• 01:17history and our place within it.
• 01:19So since we are yales is yo grand rounds,
• 01:23I'm going to name the indigenous people
• 01:25who stewarded this land thousands
• 01:27of years prior to colonization.
• 01:29And many of these tribes are still here.
• 01:33I just want to acknowledge the
• 01:36Mohegan Mashantucket Pequots Eastern
• 01:37Peak Watt Golden Hill Pasaquan,
• 01:39Niantic Quinnipiac and there were many other
• 01:42Algonquian speaking nations that were here.
• 01:44We honor and respect their relationship
• 01:46that can exist between these people
• 01:48and the land as Indigenous people.
• 01:50It's part of who we are.
• 01:53It's mature of our blood,
• 01:54our past,
• 01:55current and future.
• 01:56I'm going to put a link in the chat if you're
• 02:00curious of the world of what indigenous
• 02:03peoples land that you may reside on.
• 02:06And just one final point is Atlanta
• 02:11acknowledgement is not enough.
• 02:11We need to consider how to support our
• 02:15indigenous communities by donating
• 02:17your time or money to indigenous
• 02:19organizations support indigenous
• 02:21grassroots movements and consider committing,
• 02:23returning the land to indigenous people.
• 02:26So with that I will pass it
• 02:28off to Doctor Maria Crouch.
• 02:31Thank you, Boo.
• 02:34Thank you Stephanie.
• 02:36Adeia huts hello everyone,
• 02:37I am real Crouch my dad knock
• 02:40name is tovo my family is from
• 02:42the native village of Anvik which
• 02:45is in the lower Yukon in Alaska.
• 02:47Doctor Grey Wolf has been a mentor
• 02:49and supporter of not only me but many,
• 02:51many other indigenous people and
• 02:53I'm very happy to be here and
• 02:55also honored to introduce her.
• 02:57I have a Gray Wolf. PhD.
• 02:59Is Assiniboine an initial Nabi.
• 03:01She's a clinical psychologist with
• 03:0340 years of experience and has
• 03:05primarily served native peoples
• 03:07in rural and remote areas.
• 03:09She is committed to serving the
• 03:11underserved and is a trainer and
• 03:13consultant both nationally and
• 03:15internationally on a variety of health
• 03:18issues including complex trauma,
• 03:19Co occurring disorders, grief,
• 03:21clinical supervision,
• 03:22and indigenous resilience.
• 03:23Doctor Gray Wolf has served as a
• 03:26member and chair of the American
• 03:28Psychological Association.
• 03:29Committee on Ethnic minority Affairs,
• 03:31Anaza member and chair of the
• 03:35Ethnic minority affairs.
• 03:37She was a member and chair of the AP,
• 03:40a Committee on Rural Health,
• 03:41a commissioner of the Alaska Commission
• 03:43of Behavioral Health Certification,
• 03:45and on the Alaska Board of Psychologists.
• 03:48Doctor Gray Wolf is an AP,
• 03:50a fellow.
• 03:51She has served it on the AP,
• 03:53a Commission of ethnic minority recruitment,
• 03:55retention and training,
• 03:56and the AP a committee on
• 03:58Socioeconomic Status.
• 03:59She's currently the president of the
• 04:01Society of Indigenous Psychologists,
• 04:02which is an organization that
• 04:04promotes the advancement.
• 04:05Will being in holistic health of Alaska
• 04:08Native and American Indian peoples.
• 04:10I'd also like to highlight
• 04:12that she's a well respected
• 04:14elder teacher community member,
• 04:15and she's a fiercely intelligent,
• 04:17skilled and compassionate human being.
• 04:20Even in preparation for this ground round,
• 04:22she said, don't take time to talk about me.
• 04:25Let's talk about our people,
• 04:26which really highlights her heart to
• 04:28God and thank you for being here.
• 04:30Doctor Gray Wolf.
• 04:33Thank you all for that kind introduction.
• 04:36I realize that our time is very
• 04:38limited today and I know that we've
• 04:40probably all experienced zoom
• 04:42exhaustion and death by PowerPoint,
• 04:44but this is the only way that I could
• 04:47figure out how to squeeze in as much
• 04:49information as I possibly could,
• 04:51and so I would like to go through the slides.
• 04:55But I also want you to know that the
• 04:58slides are available if you want to
• 05:00check out any of the information
• 05:02that is presented in them.
• 05:04There's a lift list of references.
• 05:06At the end, and I also sent
• 05:09some optional kinds of.
• 05:11One is a traditional storyteller
• 05:13Lakota man that is telling a
• 05:16story in the traditional way,
• 05:18so it's an audio and a couple of
• 05:21DVD's that really have to do with
• 05:24colonization around the world,
• 05:26not just with our native populations.
• 05:29So let us begin.
• 05:33This first image is a bentwood box,
• 05:36and, as you can see from the
• 05:38left side of the screen,
• 05:39these slides have a very northwest. Kind of.
• 05:43Appeal this I spent many years in Alaska
• 05:47and particularly serving in Southeast Alaska,
• 05:50and things that were very valuable
• 05:53are stored in bentwood boxes.
• 05:55They're so watertight that they actually
• 05:57carried water in canoe trips and travel,
• 06:00and carried regalia in this particular story,
• 06:03the Raven is the trickster, and it's he.
• 06:07The character is used in multiple
• 06:09legends and ways of teaching the
• 06:12people about our human frailties.
• 06:14Well, in this particular story,
• 06:16Raven is a very curious little boy,
• 06:19and the Grand Father tells him not to go
• 06:22to the box that he can play with anything.
• 06:25He can have anything but not too
• 06:27bothered that particular box.
• 06:29And so of course,
• 06:30that was like a magnet for him and he decided
• 06:33he was tired of stumbling around in the dark.
• 06:37And so he got into the box and he stole
• 06:40the sun and brought light to the world.
• 06:43And in this presentation I'm
• 06:45hoping to honor that.
• 06:46Our tradition of the oral tradition
• 06:49of storytelling and also to
• 06:51bring us out of darkness.
• 06:53Many of you are probably very
• 06:55unaware because of our education
• 06:57system about an accurate history of
• 07:00indigenous people in the United States.
• 07:03So let us begin.
• 07:06Great diversity across Indian country.
• 07:09I am Nekota,
• 07:11which is Assiniboine with the
• 07:14way that it was translated and.
• 07:17As you can see, not it,
• 07:20just from our tiny little representation.
• 07:23Not all Indians look alike.
• 07:25We have over we have 574 federally
• 07:28recognized tribes in the United States.
• 07:31We have 63 state recognized
• 07:34tribes tribes in 11 states.
• 07:37We it is vastly shrinking from just
• 07:40a few years ago we had 200 / 200
• 07:44Indigenous languages still being
• 07:46spoken and now we only have 175.
• 07:49And in this sense,
• 07:51is the latest census 2.9 million
• 07:54people identified as only as
• 07:56American Indian or Alaska Native?
• 07:59And I also think Maria has posted
• 08:01or is going to post a link to
• 08:05doctor Doctor Donald Warren's
• 08:08presentation and he does a very
• 08:11nice job of explaining terminology.
• 08:13American Indian Native American First
• 08:15Nations, Aboriginal native people.
• 08:17So that would be an excellent.
• 08:20Presentation.
• 08:23Review and we have 2.3 million identifying
• 08:26as being mixed with some other ethnicity
• 08:29and American Indian or Alaska native.
• 08:32The group that I am going to.
• 08:36Probably put the heaviest concentration
• 08:38on are the 22% that still live on
• 08:41reservations or in Alaska villages?
• 08:43And I think this is our most
• 08:45underserved population.
• 08:46We have underserved.
• 08:47Certainly in our urban areas,
• 08:49but the the reservation life in the village.
• 08:52Life is very different and so
• 08:54I'd like to spend as much time
• 08:56as I can highlighting that.
• 09:02I thought history was a great place to start,
• 09:05and as we went over the slides we decided
• 09:08that it might be more effective for us to
• 09:11start talking about what is successful.
• 09:14What helps a practitioner be successful in
• 09:16working in a native community and then to
• 09:19talk about the history and then to really
• 09:22emphasize it is all three branches of our
• 09:25government that impact native people today.
• 09:28And this is just a reference point.
• 09:31You're probably all very
• 09:32familiar with this about culture,
• 09:34and we're going to focus on the world view.
• 09:39And the cultural competence is really it's
• 09:42what our northern relatives talk about.
• 09:44Two I'd seen.
• 09:45In other words, you're taking,
• 09:47you're seeing through the
• 09:49eyes of your western trained.
• 09:51Mind all of those skills that you've
• 09:54been developing and you're also
• 09:56looking at what is traditional and
• 09:58what is has been working in that.
• 10:00Unity for a long period of time,
• 10:03so you're valuing both as you're
• 10:05approaching your services.
• 10:09Recognizing the traditional world
• 10:11views and concepts at one time,
• 10:13I taught a course called the
• 10:15Native ways of knowing and
• 10:17Alaska was very progressive.
• 10:19The University made that the
• 10:21first required course in their
• 10:23graduate program in psychology,
• 10:25and so you had to have this one to begin.
• 10:32This first one you may have heard
• 10:35before me talk Oh yeah, Oh yeah,
• 10:37I seen said it translates to we are
• 10:40all related and this isn't talking
• 10:42just about our human relatives.
• 10:44It is talking about our relationship
• 10:47with the land with the animals
• 10:50with all all living beings.
• 10:52And this is a constant reminder.
• 10:54Almost every prayer,
• 10:55if you're in the plain states,
• 10:57you will hear them.
• 10:58And with this praise or
• 11:00they will translate it to.
• 11:02We are all related.
• 11:05And when we're looking at.
• 11:08Self, it's a very different orientation
• 11:11and that we're looking at our history.
• 11:14It's looking 7 generations back
• 11:16and seven generations forward.
• 11:18So it's always at relationship.
• 11:21Acknowledge your ancestors and
• 11:23thinking ahead for your children,
• 11:25your grandchildren,
• 11:26and so on through the generations.
• 11:32As part of healing.
• 11:35It's incredibly important that
• 11:36we recognize our interdependence,
• 11:38and there is a very strong sense of
• 11:41community in healing ceremonies that it
• 11:43may be people that you don't even know.
• 11:46You may have seen them in the community,
• 11:49but you do not know them.
• 11:51That will come and support you,
• 11:54and in your healing experience there
• 11:56is very much that communal support.
• 12:03Oftentimes were sent back into
• 12:06nature to learn. To learn.
• 12:10I think part of it is humility.
• 12:13For example, even if we were to go
• 12:15out on what they call Humble Asia or
• 12:18crying for a vision that you fast,
• 12:21you have no food or water for it's
• 12:24usually three or four days and
• 12:26you're there to pray and that you
• 12:29are not harm any anything in any
• 12:31living being in that environment.
• 12:33And so while you're there with
• 12:36no food or no water, you maybe.
• 12:39Have mosquitoes that are bothering you,
• 12:41but it's important for you,
• 12:43not even to take the life not to
• 12:46spill the blood. Even of a mosquito.
• 12:48So very important that we are always
• 12:50looking at the gifts that we receive
• 12:53from nature and recognizing how very
• 12:55important each one of those gifts are.
• 12:57For example,
• 12:58if you're roasting in your in the
• 13:00bright sunshine in your fasting,
• 13:02just that little grease can mean so
• 13:05much to you so it keeps taking you
• 13:08back and realizing what a small speck
• 13:10we are in the whole scheme of things.
• 13:13We're nothing yet,
• 13:15we're everything.
• 13:17And the appreciation of spirit.
• 13:19This is one that it often takes people
• 13:22from a western perspective of back.
• 13:25For example,
• 13:26we have treated traditional healers
• 13:29that may have healing ceremonies
• 13:32and offered tease or other things
• 13:34to the person being healed.
• 13:37And it is gotten to the point
• 13:39where our elders are our people
• 13:41that carry the medicine stay.
• 13:43I will help you, but you must not tell.
• 13:48Any of your doctors about what I
• 13:49am doing and sometimes they will
• 13:51give you different directions,
• 13:53but this is a typical one.
• 13:55Because then the doctors want
• 13:57to analyze what is in the tea,
• 13:59what is in this and not understanding
• 14:02it is the prayer and it is the spirit
• 14:05that is the healing element for the
• 14:07person as well as that the teeth,
• 14:10the teacher, whatever is given,
• 14:12always appreciating the spirit
• 14:13of what is around us.
• 14:17And it's very important.
• 14:19Found the mindset that we don't look
• 14:21so much at the symptom as the source.
• 14:24We're constantly looking at.
• 14:25What is the deeper source
• 14:27of what is going on?
• 14:28Anna, part of that for all of us
• 14:31that are in this healing profession,
• 14:33is making sure that we have that
• 14:35kind of essential training on
• 14:37the impacts of colonization.
• 14:39And this is really not exclusive to
• 14:41native people here in the United States,
• 14:43this is around the world.
• 14:45It doesn't matter if it's Greenland,
• 14:47if it is New Zealand.
• 14:49Australia we see the same
• 14:51kind of dynamics happening.
• 14:56We have quite the legacy
• 14:58of violence and trauma.
• 14:59As native people we have a lot
• 15:02of government policies which I'm
• 15:05going to talk about at another
• 15:07later in the presentation.
• 15:09The you're probably quite familiar with
• 15:12this stories about boarding schools,
• 15:14and this was very disruptive because
• 15:16I have three grandparents that were
• 15:19essentially raised in boarding school.
• 15:21My grandparents were born in the late 1800s.
• 15:25And spent their young years in
• 15:28boarding school from about six years
• 15:30old until they were young adults.
• 15:33And of course,
• 15:34in a boarding school situation.
• 15:36You don't have that exposure to.
• 15:40The culture the traditional parenting.
• 15:42There are many things that
• 15:44are lost in this and so.
• 15:47We adapt and we fill in
• 15:49the best way possible,
• 15:50but we look at what has been learned and
• 15:53what is being passed to the next generation.
• 15:56We have a lot of unresolved grief and
• 15:58what has been termed generational
• 16:00trauma or historical trauma.
• 16:02And this is a piece that.
• 16:05If we're doing a good job,
• 16:07we cannot ignore.
• 16:08And so these each one of these
• 16:11things carry a burden.
• 16:13So if you can imagine in your
• 16:17mind a person with.
• 16:19A blanket like holding a blanket
• 16:21like a bag on their back.
• 16:24As you're carrying this bag,
• 16:25you can see that when we talk about trauma,
• 16:28each of these pieces going in that bag,
• 16:30and the burden that is carried.
• 16:34So we have ongoing negative responses
• 16:37that have been well documented and
• 16:39we have a lot of stereotypes that
• 16:42we are challenged by oftentimes
• 16:44will hear about the drunken Indian
• 16:47we hear about the extreme poverty.
• 16:49We have a lot of blaming people
• 16:52for the condition that they're in,
• 16:55and so these are all things
• 16:57that we keep in mind.
• 17:03This I like this term.
• 17:05Actually this colonial trauma response
• 17:07that is in bold because it is you
• 17:11have a current event that connects you
• 17:13to what is happened in the past and
• 17:16it's much like going to a funeral.
• 17:19And even though it may be it's.
• 17:23Someone elses child that you're going
• 17:26to that funeral all of a sudden when
• 17:28you're in that funeral situation,
• 17:30you start thinking about the losses
• 17:32that you personally have experienced.
• 17:34It's a normal reaction.
• 17:36And as you think about that,
• 17:38you transfer that to.
• 17:39What is this like for a native person
• 17:41who witnesses all of these different
• 17:44kinds of things happening on an ongoing
• 17:46basis with the history that they carry?
• 17:49And as I go through the history of me,
• 17:52become more clear.
• 17:55I think what is really important to remember.
• 17:59Is that we have a tremendous
• 18:01number of challenges,
• 18:02like many groups of people.
• 18:04But we remain.
• 18:05There are many of us that remain
• 18:07optimistic during this adversity,
• 18:10and we are able to.
• 18:13Keep going and we are able to thrive
• 18:15and this is related to our spirituality
• 18:18on the compassion for all living
• 18:21beings that empathy and humor.
• 18:23And sometimes you think.
• 18:24How can it be humorous?
• 18:26But in the darkest times we find
• 18:29something to laugh about and this
• 18:32communal kind of strength where
• 18:34they're calling it friendships
• 18:35with fam family and I think it
• 18:38is that larger sense of community
• 18:40that really keeps us going.
• 18:47So helping us heal.
• 18:48I think the first essential
• 18:50piece is having that the knowing
• 18:53the history are US education
• 18:55system has done a very poor
• 18:57job in educating us about the.
• 19:01The realities of what we
• 19:03have done as a country.
• 19:07Understanding the history helps
• 19:09you give that context and put the
• 19:14current situation gives it meaning.
• 19:17One the thing that is off putting is
• 19:20that people have had rotating providers
• 19:23come through our small communities.
• 19:26And there is a lot of mistrust.
• 19:28A lot of white. Should I really be?
• 19:31Why am I disclosing these things
• 19:33that are so close to my heart when
• 19:36this person is going to leave?
• 19:38This person isn't going to be here.
• 19:40Sometimes it comes across as being
• 19:43angry and really understanding that.
• 19:45That kind of response may have protected
• 19:48that person in another situation,
• 19:50but it it can be something different
• 19:52now and we oftentimes will model.
• 19:55How do we handle when people
• 19:57throw their anger at us?
• 19:59We have that. Opportunity to model.
• 20:01How do we respond to that in a good way,
• 20:04in a healthy way?
• 20:09We oftentimes aren't hearing about
• 20:11the resilience among native people,
• 20:13and I I told I mentioned the
• 20:16drunken Indian stereotype.
• 20:18We also have a very high number
• 20:21of people that are completely
• 20:23abstinent and I think that's
• 20:25also to be acknowledged so.
• 20:28There's a study out of Arizona
• 20:31that talked about.
• 20:33We actually had higher rates of
• 20:35abstinence then needed women,
• 20:36then some of the non native women.
• 20:41K, that's how and why did it
• 20:44then behaviors are learned.
• 20:46This last part is no one is
• 20:48asking anyone to convert to take
• 20:50on someone elses belief system,
• 20:53but it is asking that you respect
• 20:55that and understand that that the
• 20:58healing rituals ceremonies may be
• 21:00things that are very helpful to the
• 21:03individual that you're serving.
• 21:05And we have had some of our doctors
• 21:08go through Sundance with us,
• 21:10so this isn't an unusual thing that
• 21:13people that are non native come in
• 21:15and become a part of the community.
• 21:18And that actually is the best
• 21:20way to be accepted is to come in
• 21:23with that attitude that we can
• 21:25learn and become a part of.
• 21:28Roll up our sleeves and help out.
• 21:35This one remember you are the
• 21:37guest came from one of our allies.
• 21:40We had a psychiatrist that was going
• 21:42to set us straight and going to tell
• 21:45us what we needed to do and had been
• 21:49in the community only three months.
• 21:51And one of our white allies on other
• 21:54psychologist said you have to remember that
• 21:57when you're a guest in someone elses home,
• 22:00you don't come in and start
• 22:02rearranging the furniture.
• 22:04And I thought, beautiful,
• 22:05beautiful and that really is the way it is.
• 22:09Even though I'm what they call
• 22:11in Alaska or Lower 48 Indian.
• 22:14When I'm in Alaska and I go to a village,
• 22:18I always remember I am the guest.
• 22:21I am there at their invitation to learn.
• 22:28We hear an awful lot about what is wrong,
• 22:31and I think that being strength
• 22:33base is one of the keys to to it.
• 22:36Is that progress, not perfection,
• 22:38so we're always looking at what
• 22:40can be built on what is going
• 22:43right in that person's life.
• 22:45And I emphasizing that
• 22:46reflecting that back to them.
• 22:51An I say respectful of the protocols and
• 22:53you might not understand what that is right
• 22:55off the top of your head. But Oh well.
• 22:58One of my jobs when my younger years was
• 23:00to take great grandma to the doctor.
• 23:03And she was always I would.
• 23:05I would even classify her as jollet.
• 23:07She was always a very happy person.
• 23:10And. I took her to a new Doctor Ann.
• 23:14She wouldn't talk to him and when we left
• 23:17and I I said, grandma, what's wrong.
• 23:19You wouldn't even talk to him.
• 23:21She said he did not even have the
• 23:23courtesy to introduce himself.
• 23:25And he never. Ask me about me.
• 23:29He said she said I have nothing
• 23:32to say to him.
• 23:33And so the protocol of what is.
• 23:37How can we be respectful in that
• 23:39community that we are serving or visiting?
• 23:45And it is relational supportive.
• 23:49Kind of relationship.
• 23:50I know that this goes contrary to
• 23:53so many of us that have these timed.
• 23:55You have so many minutes with the
• 23:58patient and then you move on and
• 24:00so this gets to be a real challenge
• 24:02the whole time. Management.
• 24:04And how can we respond and really
• 24:06listen and be there for the person
• 24:09and in our small communities.
• 24:10How do we greet the person
• 24:12outside of those offices?
• 24:17And again, the spirit. This is one that.
• 24:23Oftentimes people are put out
• 24:25when they go to a traditional.
• 24:28A non native, it can be put out when
• 24:31they go to a traditional gathering
• 24:34because so much time is spent in
• 24:37prayer and people feel like, well,
• 24:39that that's I kind of feel that's being
• 24:42pushed on me and I take it back to I
• 24:45can go into someone else's church.
• 24:48I can go into other ceremonies as a guest
• 24:51and I don't question their belief system.
• 24:54I'm there too.
• 24:57Share that experience and be
• 24:59and be there in a good way.
• 25:04Individualized, we talked about 570 some
• 25:07federally recognized tribes in our state.
• 25:09Recognized tribes.
• 25:1080% about of our population being
• 25:13urban and we really need to see what
• 25:16is the truth for that individual.
• 25:19As I'm going to talk about in a few minutes,
• 25:23the number of kids that have been adopted
• 25:26out and it is truly heartbreaking.
• 25:29When you have someone come back
• 25:32to the reservation and say.
• 25:34I only know that my grandmother's
• 25:37name is Red Eagle.
• 25:39Can you help me find my family?
• 25:41I was adopted out and raised in Chicago.
• 25:45And so it's individualized.
• 25:46Some of us have been raised in it,
• 25:49immersed in it, and others are.
• 25:52Just now discovering it for themselves.
• 25:56Community based interventions.
• 25:57These tend to have tremendous
• 25:59power when the community decides
• 26:00what it is they're going to do.
• 26:03I'll give you an example and I'm
• 26:05sorry I'm being such a Clock watcher,
• 26:08but I also wanted to have some
• 26:10time for questions at the end so
• 26:12the community based interventions.
• 26:14There was an example way up,
• 26:16and then one of the northern villages.
• 26:18They were having an issue with.
• 26:21Suicide young people and so they the
• 26:25elders got together and they told.
• 26:29University staff we need to be
• 26:31like the Musk ox and you can look
• 26:33up Musk ox if you aren't familiar
• 26:35with that animal in the far North,
• 26:38that what the Musk ox will do when
• 26:40there is danger is that they gathered
• 26:43the young ones in the center and
• 26:45then they all put their rear ends
• 26:47tored the young ones and they face
• 26:50the danger that is from the outside.
• 26:52And they said that is what we
• 26:54need to do for our young people.
• 26:57So listening to the people is.
• 26:59One of the ways that we can
• 27:01make a difference.
• 27:03Stage based First things first,
• 27:04and it's kind of like doing
• 27:06any kind of that safety first.
• 27:09What is it that we need to do and then
• 27:12help the person through to prioritize?
• 27:17And we can't do it alone.
• 27:19We honor the. The education,
• 27:22the experience that is brought into
• 27:25our communities and we understand when
• 27:27we're working in our communities.
• 27:29We need others and so for
• 27:31us it is working with.
• 27:33Oftentimes it is the different churches
• 27:36in our communities because there
• 27:38aren't a lot of other providers there.
• 27:43Evidence based practices
• 27:44you're very familiar with.
• 27:46Practice based evidence is one that
• 27:48you're you may see more and more of.
• 27:50It's about what has worked in our
• 27:53communities an what is valued by the people,
• 27:56and I'm not going to go too much into this.
• 27:59But because this is kind
• 28:01of the content anyway.
• 28:04Well known traditional ways of
• 28:05healing are not to be discounted.
• 28:07I guess I should have put that one in bold
• 28:10because that one speaks to the people.
• 28:13If the people, if that is their path.
• 28:16If they are on what is called the Red Rd,
• 28:19it is really important to respect that.
• 28:26Indigenous interventions doctor
• 28:27Joseph gone is over at Harvard.
• 28:30Ann is doing a lot of research
• 28:33on historical trauma.
• 28:34An indigenous interventions.
• 28:35Lots of good work coming from him.
• 28:38The solutions and answers come
• 28:40from the community themselves.
• 28:42Doctor Mohatt did the People awakening
• 28:45project and that was looking at
• 28:48what help people native people.
• 28:50Achieve long term sobriety,
• 28:52and I think the criteria for that
• 28:55one was 15 years of sobriety.
• 28:57And so they looked at,
• 28:59looked at that,
• 29:00interviewed many of the people
• 29:02all across Alaska,
• 29:03and what they found is that it was.
• 29:08That they gave back to their community.
• 29:12Interesting Lee, and maybe they
• 29:14weren't there was an employment,
• 29:16but maybe they cut wood for an elder
• 29:19or they brought fish to an elder
• 29:21or some other game and so it was
• 29:24giving back to the community and they
• 29:27had a strong spiritual component.
• 29:29And that doesn't mean traditional.
• 29:31It doesn't mean Christianity.
• 29:33The point of it was they had a strong
• 29:37spiritual belief system in practice.
• 29:39So it was just two of the
• 29:41highlights on there.
• 29:41It was called the people awakening.
• 29:45So when we look at this.
• 29:47G 36% of US adults use complementary
• 29:50or alternative medicine along with
• 29:53the traditional medicine.
• 29:54So you look at this.
• 29:57This is what they have going on.
• 30:00Now I want to look at it
• 30:02for native communities.
• 30:04We also have things that are going on.
• 30:08These are all. Options in almost
• 30:12every community and what I think
• 30:14is really interesting is that
• 30:16we have 80% approximately of
• 30:19our population in urban areas.
• 30:21But about 30% of them report they
• 30:23go back for ceremony or for healing
• 30:26to a reservation, and so I think
• 30:29this is something to really keep in.
• 30:32Keep in mind that it is being kept alive.
• 30:37I could talk about each one of these.
• 30:40In an hour. So this is like it's
• 30:43almost kind of painful to go through
• 30:45so quickly, but we must. OK.
• 30:47This native people are often triggered
• 30:50because of those traumatic experiences,
• 30:53and I'd like you to go
• 30:55down to the bottom one.
• 30:57You can go back through these slides,
• 30:59but a native woman's response to
• 31:01this situation isn't just based on
• 31:03her own experience like an assault,
• 31:05but also on the experiences of
• 31:07generations of her female ancestors.
• 31:09Ann, I think that we're sharing with Maria
• 31:13and Stephanie that one of my daughter said.
• 31:17You know, I realized I am the 1st.
• 31:20Female in our family and seven generations.
• 31:24That hasn't known abuse.
• 31:28And on one side I was very happy.
• 31:32On one side I was very sad that that pain.
• 31:36Has been present for so long.
• 31:41The doctrine of discovery.
• 31:42If you aren't familiar with this,
• 31:44I hope you do get take
• 31:46the time to get familiar.
• 31:48This was used as a justification to take
• 31:50the land and enslave the native people.
• 31:53Anybody that was non Christian was
• 31:56considered an enemy of the faith and
• 31:58this is really important because it
• 32:00was used by our Supreme Court later to
• 32:03justify some of the actions that the
• 32:05US had taken against native people.
• 32:09So this was and some of the churches now are.
• 32:15Are standing up and saying no, we do
• 32:18not support the doctrine of discovery.
• 32:24These are probably things that you have heard
• 32:26about the extermination policy's relocation.
• 32:29We even have our most recently
• 32:31relocation policy from the US government,
• 32:34was in the 1950s, where essentially,
• 32:36you got a one way ticket into
• 32:38one of the major cities,
• 32:41and were there to find work to blend in,
• 32:44to assimilate and. It didn't work.
• 32:47We created new pockets of poverty in cities.
• 32:52Segregated assimilation OK.
• 32:55Let's go on.
• 32:57If you went back through the
• 33:00correspondence from some of our
• 33:01people that were in charge way back,
• 33:04this is even the 1700s.
• 33:05They talked about the Spaniard
• 33:07using hounds to hunt Indians and
• 33:09they consider that as an option,
• 33:11but there weren't enough dogs available.
• 33:13Then they considered smallpox infected
• 33:15blankets as a strategy to exterminate
• 33:17the native people in North America,
• 33:19and this is outbreak of smallpox, the image.
• 33:24The forced relocation.
• 33:26Trail of Tears.
• 33:27You may have heard about 100,000
• 33:31about began this thousand mile March
• 33:34and about 15,000 died along the
• 33:37way from cold starvation disease.
• 33:40And we have many of these people
• 33:42that are still.
• 33:46Suffering app from having relatives
• 33:48that were in the Trail of Tears.
• 33:51The Long Walk is another one that
• 33:53many people haven't heard of,
• 33:55but it was following the
• 33:57scorched Earth campaign kit.
• 33:58Carson's against the Navajo or the Dinnet,
• 34:01and they were also forced.
• 34:03Depending on their location,
• 34:04anywhere from 250 to 450 miles.
• 34:06An If people couldn't make it,
• 34:08they were left on the
• 34:11sides sides of the trail.
• 34:13And they were prodded along in a very harsh,
• 34:17harsh manner.
• 34:19And then they were speaking it basically
• 34:21in an internment camp after that.
• 34:25The environmental trauma we come from.
• 34:27I come from the Buffalo people and.
• 34:32We sing to the Buffalo.
• 34:33Many of us will still have like Buffalo
• 34:35skulls on our around our homes and we
• 34:37sing to them and they say we sing.
• 34:40This is where we live now
• 34:42come and live with me. And.
• 34:46General Sheridan said the way to
• 34:47kill a SU is to kill the Buffalo.
• 34:50And then this is that other famous quote
• 34:52is the only good Indian is a dead Indian.
• 34:58So this 1870s slaughter was horrible,
• 35:00horrible for the people,
• 35:01because then we became dependent
• 35:03on the government for food.
• 35:04An I look back at some of our old writing.
• 35:08Some of our leaders saying don't take
• 35:10from them, even if they offer it to you.
• 35:13Don't take for them,
• 35:14but many of them were in the places of
• 35:17starvation and they had to take that.
• 35:19And when I was a girl I remember being in
• 35:22the commit what was called commodities.
• 35:24At that time the commodity line.
• 35:28It was a long wait hot sun moon.
• 35:31We get get that we would get like
• 35:33a bucket of lard and we would get
• 35:36flour and cornmeal and my job as
• 35:39a kid was to sift the cornmeal
• 35:42because it had weevils in it,
• 35:44and oftentimes the lard because it hadn't
• 35:47been kept cool enough with rancid and so.
• 35:50That was, you know,
• 35:52coming from a very poor environment.
• 35:54I never felt poor.
• 35:55Everyone around me was in the
• 35:58same boat and we didn't have that
• 36:00mentality that we were poor.
• 36:02We knew that. Food was hard to come by.
• 36:05We shared what we had.
• 36:09This is Red Cloud an I see you
• 36:11see this around the world.
• 36:13In 1868,
• 36:14men came out and brought papers we
• 36:17could not read and they did not tell us.
• 36:20We see this in treaties around the world.
• 36:24They made many promises,
• 36:25but they kept only one.
• 36:27They promised to take our land and they did.
• 36:34I couldn't figure out how to put
• 36:37quotes on discovered. Let's see.
• 36:41We were here, but we were discovered
• 36:44so I did not put quotes on that.
• 36:47And this is 1790. We had already lost
• 36:51this northeastern eastern seaboard.
• 36:541830 was the pushback.
• 36:56An anything beyond that Mississippi
• 36:59was considered Indian country.
• 37:02And this is where the Trail of Tears
• 37:05when they forced them to walk.
• 37:071860 then they is.
• 37:08This also has to do with legislation about
• 37:12taking the land, opening it up for settlers,
• 37:16and also the discovery of gold,
• 37:18and so pushing further and further West.
• 37:22This is 1890.
• 37:24And we're even smaller today.
• 37:26This is all that's left.
• 37:29Up in the northeastern corner
• 37:31of Montana near the Canadian and
• 37:33North Dakota border is actually
• 37:35where my mom's reservation is from.
• 37:38My father's is in northern
• 37:40Wisconsin and we over here.
• 37:43Shrinking
• 37:46the battles to take the lands and exterminate
• 37:50the natives throughout the United States.
• 37:52You probably heard the Victor side of this,
• 37:55and we often would say that if it was.
• 38:00A massacre. That means that the Indians won
• 38:04that particular one and it was a battle.
• 38:06If the cavalry won.
• 38:09But in the descriptions.
• 38:11Lots of massacres.
• 38:14We were sent to reservations and we could not
• 38:17leave the reservations without permission.
• 38:21Today we can we move in and out in and out,
• 38:24but at one time we had to stay
• 38:26there in order to control to
• 38:29minimize the threat of violence.
• 38:31From the government's perspective.
• 38:33These, I thought, were incredibly important,
• 38:35and Maria, I think you're you're
• 38:37doing a time watch for me, right?
• 38:41These are incredibly important
• 38:43decisions that have been made
• 38:46that have an impact on us today.
• 38:49This even in 1823 they supported
• 38:52the doctrine of discovery.
• 38:53the US Supreme Court and said
• 38:56American Indians don't own land.
• 38:58This was landed.
• 39:00We've been on for.
• 39:02Very thousands of years,
• 39:03but they said we do not own the land,
• 39:06the Removal Act,
• 39:07the ex parte Crow dog is a huge huge
• 39:10case in Indian country and the reason
• 39:12for this is this was one Indian man
• 39:15that killed another Indian man and
• 39:17this is in South Dakota and they said,
• 39:20well if they're going to kill each other.
• 39:22This is also the time of discovering gold.
• 39:25What would they do to us?
• 39:28You got to control them.
• 39:30So in this particular situation
• 39:33they had traditional.
• 39:35Their traditional way of making restitution,
• 39:37so he had because he killed,
• 39:39he had to support that other man's family
• 39:42for the rest of his life and treat
• 39:45them just like he would treat his own family.
• 39:48And he had to do other things
• 39:50besides that to make restitution.
• 39:52And that was his sentence within the.
• 39:56Within the tribal system and they said no,
• 39:59they have to be more civil.
• 40:00Lies and so they sentenced him to hang.
• 40:04So that was the non Indian
• 40:06way of handling it.
• 40:07And then the Supreme Court
• 40:10stepped in and said.
• 40:12No Indian against Indian on the reservation.
• 40:15They can take care of their own business.
• 40:19Then the Major Crimes
• 40:20Act came in and no more.
• 40:23If it was anything that was a felony,
• 40:26Indians could no longer handle it.
• 40:28It went to the federal court system and
• 40:31today you see Indians overrepresented
• 40:33in the federal court prisons and
• 40:36the federal prisons because of this.
• 40:39The Dawes Act of 1887 took more
• 40:42land away from the Indians and gave
• 40:44us a allotments an if you refuse
• 40:47to take part in this,
• 40:49you could not become a citizen.
• 40:52Which you didn't become a
• 40:53citizen anyway until 1924,
• 40:55and in some states you weren't allowed
• 40:58to vote until much later than that,
• 41:00like in the middle of last century.
• 41:03So it was.
• 41:04There have been a lot of things that
• 41:08have had had an impact on us today.
• 41:11The relocation Act of 1956.
• 41:13Many of that's how we got 80% of our
• 41:17population approximately and cities.
• 41:18So then you look at 1978.
• 41:21I was a young woman.
• 41:23My kids were young and they finally
• 41:26passed this and we could practice
• 41:29our ceremonies in the open.
• 41:34And then we going now into
• 41:36cultural appropriation.
• 41:37So he's going like oh boy,
• 41:40so now you see people having sweat lodges
• 41:43or and then serving wine afterwards.
• 41:46Charging for it is all kinds of things,
• 41:49and the appropriation another huge one here.
• 41:53This Oliphant decision is huge when you think
• 41:56of missing and murdered indigenous women.
• 41:59This is a problem area for us
• 42:02because essentially, was it?
• 42:03What it says is you can treat Indian
• 42:06to Indian decisions on the reservation.
• 42:08But if it involves a non Indian,
• 42:11you can't do anything.
• 42:12So if they **** if they physically
• 42:15assault if they steal.
• 42:17If there are, if they go off reservation.
• 42:20There is no nothing legally that can be done,
• 42:23but Oliphant decision is a krippler.
• 42:26And for many of our people,
• 42:28Indian Child Welfare Act so many
• 42:30children were removed in order to
• 42:33give them a better chance in life
• 42:35to civilize them to assimilate them.
• 42:37So the Indian Child Welfare Act is
• 42:40another one to be very familiar with.
• 42:44Nagpra oops I was skipping around here.
• 42:48Nagpra is the Native American Graves
• 42:50Protection and Repatriation Act huge, huge.
• 42:53To get back, healing. Remains of humans or.
• 42:59Sacred objects from museums.
• 43:01It's huge.
• 43:04So these little handcuffs were actually
• 43:07used at Haskell Haskell Institute,
• 43:09which is now the University.
• 43:13And one of the.
• 43:16Ancestor decided to they found that
• 43:19in grandparents kind of collection
• 43:21and gave it back to the school.
• 43:24Sad.
• 43:27And Mrs Carlyle.
• 43:32And as you can see, we aren't going
• 43:34to have a lot of personal attention,
• 43:37a lot of nurturing,
• 43:38a lot of the things that we
• 43:40require for healthy parenting.
• 43:42When you have this many children
• 43:44and what do you taught,
• 43:46you're taught to doubt your parents,
• 43:48your grandparents, their religion.
• 43:50You're taught to obey.
• 43:52You're taught physical
• 43:54and Corporal punishment.
• 43:56Lots of sadness there.
• 44:01This is what it was.
• 44:02This picture was labeled 7.
• 44:04Indian children of uneducated parents.
• 44:05Before they entered boarding school,
• 44:07I'd like you to look at these two
• 44:10little girls on the end because if
• 44:13you know anything about regalia.
• 44:15That is an incredible amount
• 44:17of work that went into dressing
• 44:19these children and this finery.
• 44:21These are gentilium shells.
• 44:23This is incredible. Her pipe.
• 44:27They're very highly valued,
• 44:28but all of it taken from them
• 44:30when they went to school.
• 44:33These are different kinds of oppression
• 44:35and I'm skipping and you need to
• 44:38tell me when I need to stop, OK?
• 44:40Hold up your fingers or something.
• 44:44Stop don't go anymore OK because one
• 44:47out of every four native kids under
• 44:49the age of 1 was removed and adopted,
• 44:53usually by a non native family.
• 44:55That was one of the pushes to get
• 44:58the Indian Child Welfare Act.
• 45:00So many kids were being farmed out
• 45:02and they were being measured that
• 45:05because housing is in short supply,
• 45:08their being measured by a Western standard
• 45:11of how much space is needed for child.
• 45:15So these.
• 45:16Lots of reasons he probably heard
• 45:17about the forced sterilizations
• 45:19that uninformed sterilizations.
• 45:21And this was the Indian Religious Freedom
• 45:24Act and I kind of quickly went over that.
• 45:28So we'll go this is it?
• 45:30We still try to protect our sacred sites
• 45:33and even with our in the last few years,
• 45:37we're still trying to protect
• 45:39sacred sites from the government,
• 45:41from them being taken defiled.
• 45:44And I actually have to carry a paper.
• 45:48With me that says that I'm Indian an I
• 45:52have permission to carry eagle feathers.
• 45:56So these are these are things that other
• 45:58people don't have to do for their faith,
• 46:01but we we still have to do that.
• 46:04So you're probably wondering
• 46:06about health care.
• 46:07It isn't that easy when you look
• 46:09at the amount of expenditures per
• 46:11capita for these different programs,
• 46:14you can see that we only get a fraction
• 46:16through the Indian Health Service.
• 46:19People are trying to do the best they
• 46:21can with very limited funds and is
• 46:24Stephanie O'Malley or Doctor O'Malley.
• 46:26Could speak to the trying to get in it
• 46:29something like no trucks own on the
• 46:31formulary of IHS is extremely challenging.
• 46:33Oftentimes they want to go
• 46:36with the least expensive.
• 46:38Medication option to save money and
• 46:40so when we look at this spending you
• 46:43can see that it's very underfunded
• 46:46and has been historically.
• 46:50So the losses are not confined
• 46:53to a single catastrophic period.
• 46:55They are ongoing, and that's when
• 46:57I said when you have that blanket,
• 47:00that bundle of stuff on
• 47:02your back of the burdens.
• 47:04This is what I'm talking about.
• 47:07It's continual persistent.
• 47:09And even now, with social media,
• 47:11it's even more present for many of us.
• 47:16The reality is that we're more likely
• 47:18to be assaulted than any other ethnic
• 47:21Group One in three native women raped.
• 47:2530% of the this statistic is based on
• 47:2930% of women who reported the rapes.
• 47:32And because we have different
• 47:34law enforcement and different
• 47:36jurisdictions on different reservations.
• 47:38It's not inclusive of rapes of women
• 47:41on reservations and 64% of native
• 47:44women will be physically assaulted.
• 47:46We do not even have good information on the
• 47:50magnitude of this problem of ****** assault.
• 47:55This is an old report,
• 47:57but I wanted to give you a taste of this.
• 48:00This is the garden of Truth report
• 48:02and they interviewed 100 Indigenous
• 48:04women who were trafficked in the
• 48:06Midwest and this is out of Minneapolis.
• 48:08And as you can see from these statistics,
• 48:12these are women,
• 48:13women that were known to our
• 48:15social service system.
• 48:17But somewhere we dropped the ball.
• 48:21We were familiar.
• 48:22We see the same thing with suicide.
• 48:25These aren't strangers to
• 48:26the helping professions,
• 48:27but somewhere we dropped the ball.
• 48:34The work ahead.
• 48:36We have layers of grief work.
• 48:39We have the erosion of the family.
• 48:42The seeds of doubt were the worst,
• 48:44I think the worst thing that could have
• 48:47happened in the boarding school to have
• 48:49you doubt about your own your own value.
• 48:52Your family spiritual beliefs,
• 48:55your ways of parenting.
• 48:58All of those things,
• 49:01so those layers and.
• 49:03Multiple traumas?
• 49:09Physical assaults, ****** assaults,
• 49:11the historical traumas that have
• 49:14taken place and each community has
• 49:16their own history and I think that's
• 49:18part of when we serve in a community
• 49:21is to learn from the local people.
• 49:24One of the things that they have
• 49:27experienced because there are
• 49:29unique tribal histories and we
• 49:31oftentimes are lumped together.
• 49:33And the ongoing traumas.
• 49:36It hurts to see others hurt.
• 49:40I like this image because do
• 49:42you see this quite often young?
• 49:45Native art, the transformation mask,
• 49:48and for me.
• 49:51That is oftentimes what we're doing
• 49:53is that we're looking for that
• 49:55transformation in our field that
• 49:57we're constantly looking about.
• 49:59How do we uncover? How do we expose?
• 50:03That other part?
• 50:06This is from a graduation high
• 50:09school graduation in Juneau, AK and.
• 50:13To me it just embodies that happiness
• 50:16that they are still embracing their
• 50:19culture and it's a celebration.
• 50:22It's a real celebration and so
• 50:24not buying into the stereotypes.
• 50:26No, we don't get monthly checks.
• 50:29No, we don't all look like no,
• 50:31we don't have the same faith traditions.
• 50:35When they divided our reservations,
• 50:37they oftentimes divided them
• 50:39between churches as well,
• 50:40and so we have now divisions
• 50:42in some of our communities,
• 50:45and some of our families that are
• 50:48very devout Catholic for example,
• 50:50or Presbyterian,
• 50:51and on the other side they
• 50:53have the members of the family
• 50:55that are very traditional,
• 50:57and so we still have ongoing
• 51:00kinds of different views.
• 51:01And then we have those that
• 51:04walk in both worlds so.
• 51:06I would like to open it
• 51:08for questions I'm gonna.
• 51:09Stop the screen share and I
• 51:12hope I can see some people.
• 51:14Oh yes I can, yeah. Alright.
• 51:19Maria or Stephanie, do you want it?
• 51:23Give me a questions can be sent to the chat.
• 51:26And.
• 51:31I'll let you go ahead
• 51:32and ask me the questions.
• 51:41Oh, where'd you go?
• 51:44So I have a question.
• 51:49So I I know you're very involved
• 51:52in the American Psychological
• 51:54Association and. Ann, are you?
• 51:56What are your thoughts about the training
• 52:00opportunities or foci that should be?
• 52:04Included in an internship programs or this,
• 52:07you know, training for psychologist
• 52:10may apply to Santa psychiatrist too,
• 52:13but you've talked a lot
• 52:16about checking so important.
• 52:18Historical overview.
• 52:20Being knowledgeable,
• 52:21but I wonder if you have any
• 52:22additional thoughts about that.
• 52:24One of the things that I'm currently
• 52:27working on is a research project
• 52:29about serving the the lower income,
• 52:32lower SES, poverty, poverty level,
• 52:34and I think that's another area that.
• 52:38We're very weekend. I it is.
• 52:42It's really, you know,
• 52:44when you look at the small
• 52:46number of Native American Indian,
• 52:48Alaska native psychologists,
• 52:50many of them are working in
• 52:52University systems are working
• 52:54in research and there are very
• 52:56small population that are working.
• 52:58In our most underserved areas,
• 53:00which is where my heart is.
• 53:02That's where my passion is.
• 53:05And.
• 53:05I was once invited to give a
• 53:08keynote address because for an
• 53:10Indian organization and they were
• 53:13looking for a nobody he called me.
• 53:16OK, and they said, well,
• 53:17you know what we mean and they said
• 53:19we want somebody that has actually
• 53:21been working in the trenches.
• 53:23That hasn't written a book or
• 53:25anything and I'm going like,
• 53:26well,
• 53:27I guess that's a I guess that's
• 53:29kind of nobody that I am so.
• 53:31But I think that we.
• 53:34It's easy to go for the low hanging fruit.
• 53:37The work is still can be enriching.
• 53:40It can be challenging,
• 53:42but I think that I would love
• 53:44to see more people drawn to
• 53:46serving our most underserved.
• 53:49And if we aren't doing that,
• 53:51at least to become aware of that
• 53:53high need out there and how we can
• 53:56better address that and the research
• 53:59project that I'm currently working on,
• 54:02it is a series of interviews of people
• 54:04who've had long term success in delivering.
• 54:08In the most poverty stricken areas,
• 54:10and I think that's one that I would
• 54:13really like to see Appa and others,
• 54:16of course.
• 54:18Address.
• 54:19Because there is a different so you
• 54:22come into the office and even what
• 54:24we have around us in the office?
• 54:27Is it off putting to those
• 54:29people that we're serving is it?
• 54:31Is it a welcoming environment?
• 54:32Are they going to have some sense of
• 54:35comfort there that we might possibly
• 54:37understand where they're coming from?
• 54:39What their situation is?
• 54:42So it's the temptation of not
• 54:44having all of your vacation pictures
• 54:47posted and that kind of thing,
• 54:49so it's a it's a different
• 54:53world and an recognizing.
• 54:55How we might better meet them
• 54:57where they're at so they can open
• 54:59up so they can feel comfortable
• 55:01with us and not judged?
• 55:05Now at the same time,
• 55:07when I have one last question and I
• 55:09don't and then maybe I could step back,
• 55:12but I'm curious when you talked
• 55:15about practice based evidence.
• 55:17Are you finding or do you think that there
• 55:20are support in this country Department?
• 55:23People here are very focused on
• 55:25evidence based practice, right?
• 55:26And are you?
• 55:28Are you finding that there are certain?
• 55:31Evidence based practices that
• 55:33you think are really ripe for
• 55:35adaptation or adoption,
• 55:36or I think adaptation for the
• 55:39communities that you serve.
• 55:42I was really on.
• 55:44They had the curriculum.
• 55:46Martin Seligman yeah,
• 55:47and did a curriculum and he was
• 55:50known for positive psychology
• 55:51and I got very excited about that,
• 55:54so I thought, oh,
• 55:55this is the ticket and I I took
• 55:58the assessment tools and it turned
• 56:00out according to that assessment
• 56:02tool that I wasn't an optimistic
• 56:04person and I thought how can it
• 56:07be an so I'm going like wow,
• 56:09so I looked at the questions
• 56:11an all of the questions that
• 56:14fit into that had to do with.
• 56:16Uh.
• 56:19I am a successful because my
• 56:22team because of my team or
• 56:24because of my leadership and you
• 56:27had to choose an if you chose.
• 56:30It was because of me.
• 56:31Then you rated higher on that that
• 56:33scale and I thought isn't that
• 56:35interesting because that would be
• 56:37the way to get yourself run out of
• 56:40town and an Indian community is.
• 56:41It's not all about me.
• 56:43You don't go insane, I'm doctor.
• 56:46Whatever doctor you are.
• 56:49So I think that looking at that closely
• 56:52and looking with our partners in our
• 56:55indigenous communities and saying,
• 56:56does this make sense to you?
• 56:59And taking it to the elders,
• 57:01the people that are trusted.
• 57:03And once you get one of my favorite
• 57:06things to do is to go to elder centers
• 57:09when I go out to villages because.
• 57:12If you can get them laughing and playing,
• 57:15you're gonna get the referrals and you're
• 57:17gonna get the acceptance and the connections.
• 57:20And so I'm a firm believer in.
• 57:22I would take silk scarves into the into
• 57:24the senior centers and they would be
• 57:27totally goofy and laughing and having
• 57:29a good time and and all they were
• 57:31getting her simple range of motion.
• 57:33But it got that range of motion.
• 57:36Got them talking.
• 57:39And if we can get them laughing and get
• 57:42them talking. We build relationship.
• 57:45It's a shorter way to build relationship and
• 57:49so I think running it by the people because
• 57:52it's one of the heart breaks that I have is.
• 57:56So many of our people now have been raised
• 58:00in the city away from their culture that.
• 58:05Their last and they read about it in a book.
• 58:09And we've had young people come to
• 58:12meetings and interrupt the elders until
• 58:13the elders how it's supposed to be done,
• 58:16because they've read about it in a book.
• 58:19Missing missing that connection that?
• 58:24The elders hold the their the wisdom keepers,
• 58:27and so we need to.
• 58:30Pay attention to what is.
• 58:31What is being told to us,
• 58:34and we're used to having this formula.
• 58:37And a lot of times this storytelling.
• 58:41It takes this.
• 58:42Kind of a long way around,
• 58:44and we've things back and forth and
• 58:46they don't tell you the message
• 58:48you're supposed to get from it.
• 58:49It is for you to sit with and to.
• 58:53Come up with that answer.
• 58:55Thank
• 58:55you, I think we have one.
• 58:57We have a couple of questions
• 58:58now from other people.
• 58:59I'm going to thank you very much.
• 59:03You're welcome.
• 59:07Does someone want to tell me what the
• 59:10questions are? Stephanie,
• 59:11do you want to handle the questions?
• 59:14Sure, sure, yeah. Do
• 59:18you anticipate improvement in mental
• 59:19health services to native peoples from the
• 59:21Pandemic Relief Fund that was recently
• 59:23passed by Congress?
• 59:27I remain hopeful. I remain hopeful,
• 59:30and one of the things that we're doing
• 59:33in this Society of Indian psychologist
• 59:36is that we're trying to make sure that
• 59:40we have representation from the DNA,
• 59:42the Navajos that were hit so hard
• 59:47by the pandemic as as a group and.
• 59:51I think that it it's going to
• 59:53vary by tribe and that's I.
• 59:56That's why I say I'm hopeful
• 59:58and then I have a pause because.
• 01:00:02We have had some people that have said
• 01:00:05immediately that their tribe helped him,
• 01:00:07that it was great that they got
• 01:00:10support and that they're working on
• 01:00:12new ways of communicating with people,
• 01:00:15and some of our reservations
• 01:00:17don't have Internet connection.
• 01:00:18You know, it's not broad.
• 01:00:20It doesn't matter if you have money in
• 01:00:23some areas of the Navajo reservation,
• 01:00:25you're not going to have running water,
• 01:00:28period.
• 01:00:28It's not a matter of money, so connectivity.
• 01:00:32Things like that are.
• 01:00:34The infrastructure isn't there for them,
• 01:00:37and so how do we get the
• 01:00:39messages out to them?
• 01:00:41And one of our Navajo psychologist said
• 01:00:44we need to use the radio and Alaska.
• 01:00:47We use the scene.
• 01:00:48Guess it was called a CB in
• 01:00:51the Little Village radio,
• 01:00:53so it's it's it's going to be gathering
• 01:00:55the people together afterwards.
• 01:00:58An I think that we're going to.
• 01:01:00We're going to see some good things happen
• 01:01:03from that because people have been.
• 01:01:06Isolated for so long and one of the
• 01:01:10challenges is the losing people and
• 01:01:12not being able to go to the usual.
• 01:01:16Grieving kind of ceremonies.
• 01:01:18I think that there's going to be a lot
• 01:01:22of community healing kinds of events
• 01:01:24that are going to be taken place and
• 01:01:27how much actually whittles dribbles down.
• 01:01:29To the hands that are going to
• 01:01:31use it responsibly as a question
• 01:01:34throughout our United States.
• 01:01:35You know, so I might.
• 01:01:37I remain hopeful though.
• 01:01:46Another question from Doctor Robot.
• 01:01:47Thanks so much for your presentation.
• 01:01:49You spoke briefly about the concept of
• 01:01:51the Red Road and wondered if you could
• 01:01:54speak more about what that entails and
• 01:01:56how do you think about incorporating
• 01:01:57that perspective into clinical care.
• 01:02:02I think it's an easy fit.
• 01:02:04The Red Rd is. Is.
• 01:02:08When you, it doesn't necessarily mean
• 01:02:11that you're following a traditional path.
• 01:02:14That doesn't mean that you've
• 01:02:16left Christianity behind.
• 01:02:17If that's your, you know.
• 01:02:19If that's your your faith tradition,
• 01:02:22it doesn't mean leaving that behind
• 01:02:24what it may mean is encompassing more,
• 01:02:27and it's about being a responsible
• 01:02:30member of the community.
• 01:02:32It is about sobriety and.
• 01:02:35This is Zach.
• 01:02:36I was told a long time ago that you're
• 01:02:39at the point now where you decide
• 01:02:41if you're going to be on this path.
• 01:02:43Then it means a total abstinence for me.
• 01:02:48That's what it meant in the.
• 01:02:50In the tradition where I was from,
• 01:02:53and so that was the path that I chose.
• 01:02:55Numbers.
• 01:02:56No going back from that.
• 01:02:57And the Red Rd is kind of.
• 01:03:01It kind of gives you the structure
• 01:03:04of how to conduct your life on a.
• 01:03:07On a daily basis of being a
• 01:03:10compassionate individual and it
• 01:03:12isn't a something that is like you,
• 01:03:14go to church on Sunday kind of thing.
• 01:03:17It is a daily practice.
• 01:03:19It is a daily practice.
• 01:03:21And isn't that what we really
• 01:03:24want for people is that they have
• 01:03:26something that they engage in that is
• 01:03:29healthy on a regular basis and where
• 01:03:32they choose to find their faith is
• 01:03:35their personal decision. But it is.
• 01:03:39Being a good relative, we have a.
• 01:03:44We have a tradition that is
• 01:03:46called home coffee and that means
• 01:03:48a making of relatives,
• 01:03:50and I think this isn't a very
• 01:03:53important concept and what that
• 01:03:55means is that we don't leave people
• 01:03:57behind an when we've had adoptions
• 01:04:00and death that that we may have
• 01:04:02people that no longer have a mom
• 01:04:05or no longer have a sister or
• 01:04:08brother and so who copy means that
• 01:04:11you will take someone as your son.
• 01:04:14As your mother and that you treat
• 01:04:16them as you would your own,
• 01:04:18and that's called the making of
• 01:04:20relatives along time ago it was
• 01:04:22used to make peace between different
• 01:04:24tribal groups and I have three what
• 01:04:26they call Hunke daughters might
• 01:04:28have three adopted daughters and
• 01:04:30I'm the only grandmother that some
• 01:04:32of them have ever known.
• 01:04:34Because it's that strong from the
• 01:04:37time that they are living in my home,
• 01:04:40Mary have children.
• 01:04:43And so that that those kinds of things
• 01:04:46are part of being on the Red Rd it is.
• 01:04:49Not just talking about it, it's doing it.
• 01:05:05That's very powerful, thank you.
• 01:05:09Welcome if there's one thing
• 01:05:11that I would dash through this
• 01:05:13because I so wanted to make sure
• 01:05:15that I covered the the topics.
• 01:05:17If there's one thing that I
• 01:05:20would encourage you to do,
• 01:05:21it would be to go back and understand
• 01:05:24that all three branches of our
• 01:05:26government have done things in the past,
• 01:05:29and I and currently that are impacting.
• 01:05:32Indigenous people and we oftentimes
• 01:05:35will get this kind of like.
• 01:05:41They call it the risk triangle where you
• 01:05:44get people that have suffered abuses and
• 01:05:47then in order to relieve some of that pain
• 01:05:52they self medicate and. Then they are.
• 01:05:55Then they engage in risky behavior
• 01:05:57while their high while they are musing.
• 01:06:00And then they are blamed.
• 01:06:02And so it is like that.
• 01:06:05That we keep blaming the people instead of
• 01:06:08looking at the source of what is going on.
• 01:06:11I don't mean that people aren't
• 01:06:13accountable for their actions,
• 01:06:15but I also believe that we need to.
• 01:06:18Celebrate our small victories
• 01:06:20when we see people.
• 01:06:22In that now trucks and stuff.
• 01:06:25Honey, you know it was like
• 01:06:27somebody drink seven days a week,
• 01:06:29but they only drink 5 days last week.
• 01:06:32That's that's progress, you know,
• 01:06:33and so it's acknowledging that it may take
• 01:06:36small steps to get to where we want to go.
• 01:06:39But if you know that you have.
• 01:06:43It's kind of like your cheerleader.
• 01:06:45Somebody there that is supporting you.
• 01:06:47It makes a big difference when you have been.
• 01:06:51Trying to figure things out on your
• 01:06:53own for so long and many of our
• 01:06:56folks because of these disruptions.
• 01:06:57Don't know their own history.
• 01:07:01And that to me,
• 01:07:02is heartbreaking to not know
• 01:07:04your own history.
• 01:07:14Are there any other questions or?
• 01:07:18Comments.
• 01:07:24Well, I want to thank you so
• 01:07:26much for this really very
• 01:07:28informative and heartfelt and talk.
• 01:07:30And I think you've really provided
• 01:07:33a lot of information to us about
• 01:07:36the historical contributions to
• 01:07:37where Indigenous people are now
• 01:07:39and how we might be more effective.
• 01:07:42And I think it's great to have
• 01:07:44you kind of talk to our community.
• 01:07:47We're very interested in this.
• 01:07:49I don't know if Maria or Stephanie
• 01:07:52wants to add anything or.
• 01:07:54And when I said get some comments
• 01:07:56in the chat thanking you for
• 01:07:58your presentation too.
• 01:08:01I appreciate that I would like to say just
• 01:08:04a little bit about Alaska native villages.
• 01:08:07Annemarie is probably better versed
• 01:08:09than I am to speak to this, but.
• 01:08:13I think many people don't realize that
• 01:08:15we have Third world living conditions
• 01:08:18in many of our communities in Alaska,
• 01:08:21in particular because of its unique
• 01:08:23geography, there is no connecting Rd
• 01:08:26system on the main part of Alaska. I.
• 01:08:30So you have to get in by boat or you
• 01:08:34have to fly in so it's very expensive.
• 01:08:38And if you were to go to one
• 01:08:40of the village stores,
• 01:08:42if you were to buy a block of cheese,
• 01:08:45it might be $27.00 a gallon of gas
• 01:08:47might be $12.00 fifteen dollars
• 01:08:49depending on your location,
• 01:08:51because everything has to be brought
• 01:08:53in by barge or has to be flown in.
• 01:08:57And so when we talk we have
• 01:08:59food deserts where we're saying,
• 01:09:01well, people just need to.
• 01:09:03Eat healthier,
• 01:09:03they just need to do this or that.
• 01:09:06It's looking at what is the real
• 01:09:08life condition that that the
• 01:09:10folks are living in and it is.
• 01:09:12I'll give you an example.
• 01:09:14This not even Alaska.
• 01:09:15My great grandma about I said
• 01:09:17I took to the doctor.
• 01:09:18We had a young doctor Kim come
• 01:09:22in and she had.
• 01:09:24Congestive heart failure
• 01:09:25is essentially what it was,
• 01:09:26but he wanted to wear support pantyhose.
• 01:09:29Keep in mind this Grandma is like 200 pounds.
• 01:09:34And I asked the Doctor Who we
• 01:09:37thought was going to wrestle.
• 01:09:39Those on grandma.
• 01:09:40You know,
• 01:09:41it's like the unrealistic recommendations
• 01:09:43that can sometimes be made.
• 01:09:45Just because we aren't thinking
• 01:09:47ahead about what is unique to that
• 01:09:50individual and what will work for them.
• 01:09:53We don't have running water in some of
• 01:09:56those communities that are in permafrost,
• 01:09:59it's permanently.
• 01:09:59Frozen.
• 01:10:00And so they have what they call a washateria.
• 01:10:04During the pandemic it was the wash.
• 01:10:07Your hands keep social distancing,
• 01:10:08but if you've been there,
• 01:10:10you know that you have maybe eight people
• 01:10:13living in this very small structure.
• 01:10:15And so it's constantly looking at.
• 01:10:20What is the truth for that person?
• 01:10:23What is their life like?
• 01:10:25The living conditions?
• 01:10:26And so I just like?
• 01:10:29I hope.
• 01:10:31Hope you have the opportunity to
• 01:10:33actually go out and live in that kind
• 01:10:36of environment for awhile just to
• 01:10:39understand some of the challenges and
• 01:10:41then to see some of the strengths.
• 01:10:44Some of the beautiful things that
• 01:10:46happened in spite of those hardships.
• 01:10:58Well, thank you. I think we're
• 01:10:59at the end of the time and again,
• 01:11:02thank you so much for your
• 01:11:04presentation today and it's
• 01:11:05so great to see you again so.
• 01:11:08Take care, thank you. Goodbye.