Healthy Children, Healthy Families – Our Journey Continues

By Ronya Hoblit, PCAND Intern

The 14^TH 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.

 

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. 

 

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. 

 

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.

 

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. 

 

"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 Alexander

The 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 20^th 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. 



 

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.