Saturday, January 30, 2010
What Can I Do? ...Do What You Can
With so much resistance to change and hopelessness in the face of challenges, we all need a little inspiration from time to time. I share this video with the hope that it will speak to you and give some imagery as to why WüNüT’ was formed with a small coalition of committed volunteers who understand the importance of individual action, and the power of that action when it is combined with others with a similar vision and commitment. Each of us is strong, but we are much stronger when we are working together.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead
WüNüT’!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Thought of the Day
Food for thought:
"Do the right thing. Even when no one's looking."
(Thanks to Blaine "Woody" Woods)
"It's a love supreme, I know we all do foolish things.
Would you die for the candy things? Stand up or fall for anything."
-U-N-I "A Love Supreme"
WüNüT’
"Do the right thing. Even when no one's looking."
(Thanks to Blaine "Woody" Woods)
"It's a love supreme, I know we all do foolish things.
Would you die for the candy things? Stand up or fall for anything."
-U-N-I "A Love Supreme"
WüNüT’
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday Night G2G @ Elders'
Our 1st G2G @ Elders event...we were six people strong!
One week later...see for yourself:
Good to see everyone there!!
Night in Review...
We opened with a prayer and emphasized the importance of respecting the Elders’ building and each other and to pick up after yourself. There were 25 people present, including young children, parents, teens and young adults. Throughout the evening, we had simultaneous games of monopoly, dominos, scrabble, cards, memory, and chup-tuu-ee. Someone brought an xbox, while other activities included watching a documentary on Jim Thorpe and playing handgame. Toward the end everyone came together and laughed hard while playing Guesstures. We closed with a prayer and sent people home safely around midnight.
What worked:
-Enough games, options of activities
-NO ONE was watching tv, except kids playing xbox.
-Everyone was respectful
What we could do better next time:
-have fruit, veggie, healthy snacks, juice
-more group interaction early...icebreaker(s)?
-invite Elders
...Thanks to all who came out and especially to those who brought food! This was only our second Friday night event...the sky is the limit. Stay posted for more movement, and please comment for improvement.
WüNüT’!
One week later...see for yourself:
Good to see everyone there!!
Night in Review...
We opened with a prayer and emphasized the importance of respecting the Elders’ building and each other and to pick up after yourself. There were 25 people present, including young children, parents, teens and young adults. Throughout the evening, we had simultaneous games of monopoly, dominos, scrabble, cards, memory, and chup-tuu-ee. Someone brought an xbox, while other activities included watching a documentary on Jim Thorpe and playing handgame. Toward the end everyone came together and laughed hard while playing Guesstures. We closed with a prayer and sent people home safely around midnight.
What worked:
-Enough games, options of activities
-NO ONE was watching tv, except kids playing xbox.
-Everyone was respectful
What we could do better next time:
-have fruit, veggie, healthy snacks, juice
-more group interaction early...icebreaker(s)?
-invite Elders
...Thanks to all who came out and especially to those who brought food! This was only our second Friday night event...the sky is the limit. Stay posted for more movement, and please comment for improvement.
WüNüT’!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Warrior Down
WüNüT’ was well represented at this week’s Warrior Down Recovery Coach Training that took place at the Paiute-Shoshone Cultural Center on Jan. 19-21. The training was conducted by Blaine "Woody" Woods (Cherokee) who came down from Idaho. Woody is the Executive Director of Wellbriety for Prisons, Inc and a strong representative of White Bison’s Wellbriety Movement. During the three day program, community members made great strides in becoming better prepared to welcome back our relatives who are incarcerated or in rehab.
On Day 1, we opened up with a group prayer and talking circle, allowing everyone present to speak their hearts and build understanding. It was a powerful circle that revealed we have many invaluable relatives who have gone through recovery and ready to work towards healing our community and many who are doing their best to become well again. For those who’ve never experienced a path of addiction, much awareness was gained and compassion shared.
We then learned about and discussed the root causes and inter-generational effects of historical trauma on a people. The group discussed the conflicts and forced removal of our ancestors from the valley and numerous relocations as we transitioned from our traditional ways to sedentary life on various reservations throughout the valley. The people have gone through huge changes that caused an entire way of life to be altered. Our community continues to suffer from the effects of these traumas today.
On Day 2, we got right down to business. The day was spent assessing the resources that are currently available (both on and off rez) to support returning relatives in areas such as housing, economic development, health and human services, cultural resources, as well as what resources are currently missing. We then organized these brainstorms into something that can be made into a resource handbook. The day ended with a team building exercise that demonstrated how we are all connected and affected by the unseen world as much, if not more than the things we do see. This was effective at showing how our current path determines our eventual destination. Our present reality is the result of a perfect plan created by the path we are on.
Day 3 brought practical application of the tools we learned the previous two days. Community members were given the task of role playing individuals in need, while others were challenged to give the individual a needs assessment and provide assistance setting up a recovery plan.
The training concluded with laying out a plan for next steps to build a support system that will be self-sustaining in our community, as well the group honoring an individual for their personal healing and commitment to help others who are on that path. Many good words and blessings were offered to this inspiring individual. May all good things come on the next steps of your journey.
Overall, the training brought many people together and provided us the tools and motivation to know we have everything we need to heal our community RIGHT HERE. A big THANK YOU goes out to Woody for traveling all this way to share his story and help us to help each other.
WüNüT’!
On Day 1, we opened up with a group prayer and talking circle, allowing everyone present to speak their hearts and build understanding. It was a powerful circle that revealed we have many invaluable relatives who have gone through recovery and ready to work towards healing our community and many who are doing their best to become well again. For those who’ve never experienced a path of addiction, much awareness was gained and compassion shared.
We then learned about and discussed the root causes and inter-generational effects of historical trauma on a people. The group discussed the conflicts and forced removal of our ancestors from the valley and numerous relocations as we transitioned from our traditional ways to sedentary life on various reservations throughout the valley. The people have gone through huge changes that caused an entire way of life to be altered. Our community continues to suffer from the effects of these traumas today.
On Day 2, we got right down to business. The day was spent assessing the resources that are currently available (both on and off rez) to support returning relatives in areas such as housing, economic development, health and human services, cultural resources, as well as what resources are currently missing. We then organized these brainstorms into something that can be made into a resource handbook. The day ended with a team building exercise that demonstrated how we are all connected and affected by the unseen world as much, if not more than the things we do see. This was effective at showing how our current path determines our eventual destination. Our present reality is the result of a perfect plan created by the path we are on.
Day 3 brought practical application of the tools we learned the previous two days. Community members were given the task of role playing individuals in need, while others were challenged to give the individual a needs assessment and provide assistance setting up a recovery plan.
The training concluded with laying out a plan for next steps to build a support system that will be self-sustaining in our community, as well the group honoring an individual for their personal healing and commitment to help others who are on that path. Many good words and blessings were offered to this inspiring individual. May all good things come on the next steps of your journey.
Overall, the training brought many people together and provided us the tools and motivation to know we have everything we need to heal our community RIGHT HERE. A big THANK YOU goes out to Woody for traveling all this way to share his story and help us to help each other.
WüNüT’!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr...
Though his birthday has passed, this video is to share why we do what we do on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Commitment, action and service to the community. This is what the Cemetery Clean Up was all about. It's only one of many more things to be done to make our community a better place for us all. Always remember, we all have something to offer.
On that note...the Cemetery Clean Up showed us that there is much work to be done. Thank you to all the people in the community who showed up and did good work in the cold and rain. One thing that was evident was that this needs to occur on a regular basis. With so many plastic flowers and mementos on the graves, there were many, many small pieces of plastic to be picked up. Please be mindful of how you pay your respects and how such decorations will not decompose like real flowers or plants. A way to pay respect to our relations is to keep their resting place clean. Please stay posted, as we would like to do this event again in the not-too-distant future.
Once again, much respect and appreciation goes out to all who participated on that chilly day.
WüNüT’!
Great Turnout at Youth Meeting and Cemetery Clean Up Event
Welcome to all our new members!!! It has been one busy weekend and I hope you had time to recoup for the coming week. The participation levels from the youth and the community have been exceptional! The Sunday Youth meeting had its highest attendance with 20 participants signed in and others who dropped by but didn't come in...a good sign that interest is there!! This is a Thank you going out to Rebecca for all her work in coordinating the Cemetery Clean-up event with breakfast burritos! Please send comments back on what your perspective was on the events.
Sunday Youth Meeting
Cemetery Clean-up
It is important to hear from everyone on how we can improve and what concerns that may have come up beyond our understanding. All in all, things had went good with several new members both to our G2G and WüNüT groups.
WüNüT’!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Who we are
WüNüT’ is a group of young adults dedicated to the health and well-being of our tribal community. The mission of WüNüT’ is to provide guidance, encouragement, leadership and moral support to the positive choices made by the youth in our community.
Translating as a command to “stand up” in the local Nüümü (Paiute) dialect, members of WüNüT’ are committed to stand up for each other, our youth, our elders, our language, culture, beliefs, our Mother Earth, and for community wellness. We also stand up against what is hurting our community such as substance abuse, historical trauma, welfare dependency, infringements on tribal sovereignty, stereotypes, ignorance and apathy. It is the goal of WüNüT’ to mobilize the youth to voice what they see as problems and issues in their community, potential solutions to those problems, and to assist in setting and achieving goals that positively affect their generation. WüNüT’ strives to rebuild bridges where our community is fragmented through serving the people, learning from our elders, and leading by example for younger generations to follow.
WüNüT’ is open to anyone who shares our aspirations and wants to help bring about meaningful change in our community.
Translating as a command to “stand up” in the local Nüümü (Paiute) dialect, members of WüNüT’ are committed to stand up for each other, our youth, our elders, our language, culture, beliefs, our Mother Earth, and for community wellness. We also stand up against what is hurting our community such as substance abuse, historical trauma, welfare dependency, infringements on tribal sovereignty, stereotypes, ignorance and apathy. It is the goal of WüNüT’ to mobilize the youth to voice what they see as problems and issues in their community, potential solutions to those problems, and to assist in setting and achieving goals that positively affect their generation. WüNüT’ strives to rebuild bridges where our community is fragmented through serving the people, learning from our elders, and leading by example for younger generations to follow.
WüNüT’ is open to anyone who shares our aspirations and wants to help bring about meaningful change in our community.
Community Talking Circle
Last night we had a Community Talking Circle at the Tribal Community Center. It was a humbling, healing and motivating experience. People expressed their desires to see a healthy, hopeful and prideful community with their neighbors and relatives. We shared about our struggles and our dreams. We spoke about the need for personal responsibility and to step up our efforts to make a better place for our babies, youth, adults and elders. The feeling of change was in the building. We are going somewhere. Are you with us?
With healing in mind...prayers go out to the people of Haiti. They are in much need right now and we ask the Creator to be with all those affected.
Here are photos before the earthquake: http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2010/01/haiti_a_photographers_reflecti.html
and after: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122512392
WüNüt’!
With healing in mind...prayers go out to the people of Haiti. They are in much need right now and we ask the Creator to be with all those affected.
Here are photos before the earthquake: http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2010/01/haiti_a_photographers_reflecti.html
and after: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122512392
WüNüt’!
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