Several local organizations are coming together next week to offer in-person community workshops focused on healing and “building mutually respectful relationships.”
Mending Relationships
One of the workshops was organized as part of a collaboration between the recently formed Wind River Faith-based Aspiring Allies organization and the Wind River Community Alliance.
The Mending Relationships in Communities Workshop begins at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 24, at Wind River Community Alliance, 1202 S. Federal Blvd. in Riverton.
Organizers said the workshop “engages participants in the understanding of the collective trauma that has impacted Indigenous peoples for generations throughout the United States and Canada.”
Cherokee Brown will facilitate the “simulation exercise,” which is meant to help non-Native participants “better understand how the boarding school era impacts our community today.”
The workshop ends with lunch at 12:15 p.m.
There is no charge to attend, but participants are asked to register here to help with planning.
For more information, visit windrivercommunityalliance.org or email chesie@vcn.com.
Mending Broken Hearts
The three-day Mending Broken Hearts Workshop, led by certified peer specialists from White Buffalo Recovery Services at Wind River Cares, is scheduled to take place next week as well, providing “culturally based healing from grief, loss and intergenerational trauma” for Indigenous community members.
Organizers said the program “explores strategies for reconnecting with our loved ones … even with family members who have made their journey home.”
“The foundation for this healing process is based in traditional cultural ceremonies and teachings, and on the importance of forgiveness,” an event description states. “The goal is for the individual to reconnect with the culture, with their identity as a Native person, with family members (living and deceased), and to complete those relationships where important things were left unsaid or where important things were left undone.”
The workshop is restricted to 20 individuals committed to attending all three days of training from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 24, through Friday, July 26, at the Riverton Branch Library, 1330 W. Park Ave. in Riverton.
The event is free, but participants are asked to register here.
For more information, call 856-8090 or email luke.brown@whitebuffalorecovery.org.