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The Wellbriety Tree of Hope
Celebrate Recovery and Wellness with Pride
This Holiday Season
The Wellbriety Tree of Hope
In Your Native American Community This November and December,
2002
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| Mary
Beth Lewis (L), and C.J. Wright, of Louisville,
Kentucky, in front the of Wellbriety Tree of Hope
during the Wellbriety Powwow at Circles of Recovery
2002 in Billings. |
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We
can celebrate our sobriety, recovery and Wellbriety this holiday
season by decorating a Wellbriety Tree of Hope in our communities.
As Native people, we are proud of our Wellness Journey and
want to be visible as people who are excited to discover our
spiritual, emotional, mental and physical health. We are proud
to take the Red Road to Wellbriety by using our own Native
cultures in our Journeys. We want our children see how many
of us are in recovery. Putting up a Wellbriety Tree of Hope
is one way to do this.
Read the story about the Wellbriety Tree of Hope to
get some ideas about this new cultural addition to the holidays.
The main idea is to write how long you've been on your own
personal Healing Journey on one of the white buffalo ornaments
that you can get by contacting White Bison, Inc. at 1-877-871-1495
We'd love to see how the Wellbriety Tree looks in your community.
Send us a photo with all the details of "who," and
"where" and "how many ornaments" and we'll
include your community in a group photo in 2003.
Happy Wellbriety Journey!
White Bison, Inc.
Fall, 2002
| If
you are proud of your recovery and your wellness, we invite
you to write your name on one side of the buffalo or bison,
and on the other side, the number of years of recovery
or wellness that you have. Then hang the ornament on the
tree and together we'll be able to see how much wellness
we represent |
It
was Christmas in September at the White Bison Circles of Recovery
Conference in Billings, Montana this year in 2002. Not only
did over 450 participants at the conference receive many different
wellness resources and gifts, but right next to the registration
table stood a bare Christmas tree. It wasn't bare for long.
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| The
Wellbriety Tree of Hope stands next to the registration
table at Circles of Recovery 2002 in Billings |
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A
bag of white buffalo ornaments and some words of instruction
completed the picture. "If you are proud of your recovery
and your wellness...," said Don Coyhis at the start
of the conference, "...we invite you to write your
name on one side of the buffalo or bison, and on the other
side, the number of years of recovery or wellness that you
have. Then hang the ornament on the tree and together we'll
be able to see how much wellness we represent."
Red, Yellow, Black and White hangers were tied onto 5000 white
buffalo ornaments by Native women in the nearby Montana Women's
Prison and delivered to the Conference. Many found their way
onto the Wellbriety Tree of Hope and the rest all went home
with attendees who committed to make a Wellbriety Tree of
Hope each Christmas with the 5000. None were left when the
conference ended.
Individuals, families, and communities proud of their Journey
to Wellness can have a Wellbriety Tree of Hope at Christmas
this year. Here's how it works:
Put up a Wellbriety Tree of Hope at some location in your
community that is a center for healing. It could be at a treatment
center, at an IHS hospital, or in an appropriate spot in your
Tribal administrative offices. Then get the word out to the
whole community that anyone and everyone who is working on
their own sobriety, recovery and wellness can come down and
write their name and the length of time that they have been
in healing onto one of the white buffalo ornaments.
| Put
up a Wellbriety Tree of Hope at some location in your
community that is a center for healing. Then get the word
out to the whole community that anyone and everyone who
is working on their own sobriety, recovery and wellness
can come and write their name and the length of time that
they have been in healing onto one of the white buffalo
ornaments. |
Communities
or neighborhoods can organize a Community Walk for Wellness
in order to decorate a community tree. Ask those who have
the wellness or Wellbriety vision in their hearts to gather
for a one-mile Walk from around the community to the Wellbriety
Tree. Where will you get the ornaments? Call or e mail
the White Bison office to obtain the ornaments in packets
of 25 for your community. Each year we want our children
to see the recovery community visible and proud of our wellness
and sobriety. The idea is to show that wellness is not just
a good idea--it's happening and it's growing.
| Where
will you get the ornaments? Call or email the White Bison
office to obtain the ornaments in packets of 25 for your
community. 1-877-871-1495 info@whitebison.org. |
During
the first year your recovery community and people supportive
of recovery can walk just one mile for wellness. Then,
during the Christmas season of 2003, walk two miles.
During 2004 take a three mile walk to show that the
movement is growing. How will we know that we are getting
well? It's easy. Just count the number of Wellbriety Trees
of Hope that spring up year by year. Count the number of White
Bison ornaments that are sent out across the nation.
| Make
plans now and put up a Wellbriety Tree of Hope this Holiday
season. |
The
100 Eagle Feather Hoop brings the four gifts of Healing, Hope,
Unity and Forgiveness. By beginning to keep a Wellbriety Tree
of Hope each and every Christmas season we can realize the
Vision of having 100 Communities in Healing by the year
2010. We can get ourselves ready for a new National
Native American Forgiveness Day that is being planned.
Make plans now and put up a Wellbriety Tree of Hope this Christmas
season.
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