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A scene from the 7 Trainings event in Pocatello
Photo courtesy of T’cha-Mi’iko |
The White Bison 7 Trainings Program is a 3-day Wellbriety
workshop presented in a conference format. The Program
gets its name from seven simultaneous learning tracks
taking place in the local community over a three-day
period. A conference participant chooses the one most
interesting and answering his or her needs at the time
of the event. Here are 7 simultaneous tracks from which
a participant from which may choose:
1-Firestarters (The Medicine Wheel and the 12 Steps)
for Men
2-Firestarters (The Medicine Wheel and the 12 Steps)
for Women
3-Firestarters (The Medicine Wheel and the 12 Steps)
for Al-Anon
4-Sons of Tradition (Addictions prevention and wellness
for Native American boys ages 13-17)
5-Daughters of Tradition I & II (Addictions prevention
and wellness for Native American girls ages 8-17)
6-Strengthening our Families (For family healing)
7-Children of alcoholics (For youth whose families
are affected by alcohol abuse)
A complete 7 Trainings brochure can be downloaded
from the web by going to: http://www.whitebison.org/trainings/community.html
and clicking on:
Welcome! to the Grassroots Wellbriety Curriculum
Download Grassroots Wellbriety Curriculum (7 Trainings)
PDF document
We are delighted to present the summary of a 7 Trainings
event that took place in Pocatello, Idaho from August
18-20, 2005. 7 Trainings may be just what your community
is asking for. For more information please contact
the coordinator of the Idaho event, Laverne Beech,
at shocree@hotmail.com to get first hand information
about how the event went in Idaho. Then contact Kateri
Coyhis at kateri@whitebison.org to talk about scheduling.
The Grassroots Wellbriety Seven Trainings Conference
in Pocatello, Idaho, August 18-20, drew more than 80
people from throughout the West to learn about the
teachings of the Native American Medicine Wheel as
it relates to individual, family and community healing
and wellness.
The local host tribe, the Shoshone-Bannocks, issued
a Declaration of Wellness in support of the conference
and also granted administrative leave to tribal employees
interested in attending the three-day event.
“This is a program that ties into the spiritual
ways of the tribe,” said Councilman Wesley Edmo
at the July 12 meeting where the Shoshone-Bannock tribal
council voted unanimously to support the conference. “We’re
trying to get a better support system here for those
in recovery and for prevention and we need to bring
in community members to help.”
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| The way of the future! |
Many of those attending the conference
voiced the importance of utilizing traditional spiritual
values in recovery and offering support systems for
those who choose alcohol and drug free lifestyles.
“This is a much needed training from Indian
tribes. It is an awakening of our ancestral teaching
and provides power and strength to our people,” said
Delson Suppah, Sr., a member of the Warm Springs Tribe
and staff member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes Early
Intervention Program. Delson’s son Noah played
the flute at the closing ceremony of the conference
along with Grammy award-winning flutist Hovia Edwards,
of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.
The conference included seven tracks. Participants
chose to attend one of these tracks during the three-day
conference based on their areas of interest: Medicine
Wheel and 12 Steps for Men; Medicine Wheel and 12 Steps
for Women; Medicine Wheel and 12 Steps for Al-Anon
and Adult Children of Alcoholics; Daughters of Tradition;
Sons of Tradition; Families of Tradition; and Children
of Alcoholics.
About half of the participants came from communities
as far away as Alaska and Oregon. The Yavapai Tribe
of Fort McDowell, Arizona, brought a contingent of
14 staff members.
The foundation for the Wellbriety Movement is a return
to the Medicine Wheel teachings and the use of talking
circles to support those in their recovery process,
to prevent relapse and to support youth through culturally-relevant
prevention programs.
The Seven Trainings Conference was hosted by White
Bison, Inc, an American Indian non-profit corporation
that provides culturally-relevant resources to tribal
communities for substance abuse prevention, treatment,
recovery and community change. Funding for the conference
was provided by the Partners for Prosperity, a non-profit
organization addressing poverty in Eastern Idaho, and
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(SAMSHA).
The more than 35 participants of the
conference from Eastern Idaho plan to get together
in September to share their learnings and to create
healing circles in the region to support recovery efforts.
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The Grassroots Wellbriety
Seven Trainings Conference
