The 14TH
Annual ND Indian Child Welfare & Wellness Conference, sponsored by the Native American Training Institute (NATI), took place on February 18-20,
2015, in Mandan, ND. Here is Ronya Hoblit's account.
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| Ronya Hoblit and grandchild |
"In every conceivable manner, the family is the link to our past, the bridge to our future." -- Alex Haley
For three days, a
contingent from across the state, representing federal, tribal, state, county, and private providers, met in
Mandan. Their common goal was to share
personal experience and formal research on what works when serving children and
families. Each morning included an opening
prayer and a flag song, and the ND Indian Child Welfare Proclamation was read.
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| Darius Sparks |
The three keynote speakers were varied in their emphasis. The first was about the personal experiences of Darius Sparks within the foster care organization and as an adoptee and how those events shaped his life.
The second, Relationships Matter by Dr. Tami De Coteau, spoke to the importance
of positive interaction with children in the first months and years. Their interpersonal, physical, and
intellectual development depends on it.
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| Linda Thompson |
On day three, the keynote was titled A
Hopeful Tomorrow by Linda Thompson, the Director of the First Nations
Women’s Alliance. Her message
acknowledged the range of care that is happening regarding the children of ND
and that although there is the component of domestic violence, there is also a
great deal of “hope and positive
activity happening in and around Indian Country” (NATI Conference booklet,
2015).
Other speakers to the
general assembly included Judge William Thorne who presented on the basics of
Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). Lenny Hayes talked about mental
health issues (i.e., sexual assault, historical trauma, foster care, adoption)
within the Two Spirit/LGBTQ community. Kathy
Deserly introduced the new Capacity Building Center for Tribes. The conference ended with a wrap-up session
led by Cheryl Demmert Fairbanks, Esq.
Breakout session tracks
for each day were as follows: Child Welfare, Culture, Mental Health &
Wellness, and Juvenile Justice, with one session addressing ethics in Social
Work. Focus areas were human trafficking, healing, transition, community,
family, marriage, incarceration, success, addressing the justice system,
training, strategies from micro to macro.
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| Diversity Tipi by Ronya Hoblit |
The presentation utilizing
the Diversity Tipi Model, which I was honored to offer, was grounded in the research
of Maslow and Erikson and the writings of Joseph Marshall III regarding the
twelve Lakota values described in “The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for
Living.” The tipi encompasses all living beings, Mother
Earth, air, water, the Sun, moon and stars, and the consistent presence of
values (tipi poles) used to support the structure of the tipi. It provided
representation of the traditional, cultural, and spiritual structure.
On Thursday evening, Supaman
(Apsaalooke) was in the house. His inspirational message was punctuated by jokes that, by now, must have been
retold in several middle schools in our area. Dressed in his fancy dance regalia, he used his hip hop skills to talk
to the young people while still engaging older members of the audience. It was clear, however, that his main message
was for the youth. He engaged with them and left them with words of
encouragement to live a drug and alcohol free life.
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"Supaman not only raps, but he's funny, too! Before and during some of his songs he cracked jokes and made the whole crowd laugh. He called on some volunteers to come on stage and help him write a new song. I think I can speak for all of my fellow volunteers when I say he made us feel very comfortable and did not feel judged. I would have liked to get a CD, but he didn't have any!" -- Michaela AlexanderThe 2015 Darice Baker Clark Memorial Scholarship Award was presented to Ina Olson. It is an award given by her family to commemorate the good work done in the field of social work by Ms. Baker Clark and to honor the recipient for being dedicated and proactive as a social worker in North Dakota.
NATI is in its 20th year of existence and partnership with the ND DHS Children and Family Services, ND Indian Affairs Commission, Casey Family Programs, and the four ND tribal welfare agencies to address their common training needs and to enhance their capacity to improve outcomes for Native children and families they serve.
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| Many thanks to Sandra Bercier, dedicated conference organizer |
As the conference ended, I
knew that despite all the things that can go terribly wrong in the raising and
care of children, there are many more ways to win the day. Hope lies in
the micro and macro worlds. Every person attending this conference represents so many more who
could not attend and they are all on the side of the children. Our motivation
to advocate remains as we are inspired by these words from Albert Schweitzer: "Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."
Ronya Hoblit, MIS, is a social work student at Minot State University and has been interning at PCAND since January. She can be reached at intern @ pcand.org.
