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Opioids in Indian Country

Opioid misuse is becoming epidemic throughout the country and across all ethnic, social, and age groups. Indian Country has been hit especially hard, however, and tribal communities are responding as quickly as they can to reverse this troubling trend. This four-part series will discuss best practices and how several native communities have responded.

• Opioids in Indian Country Part 1: Understanding the Problem (1 hour, 30 minutes)
  In 2014, 8.4 out of every 100,000 Native Americans died from an overdose of opioids. According to a 2016 National Council of American Indians Policy Research Center report, youth are the most likely to abuse prescription drugs. This webinar will examine how opioid use is affecting Indian Country, and what tribal communities are doing to combat this growing problem.
• Opioids in Indian Country Part 2: Promoting Treatment & Cultural Interventions (1 hour, 28 minutes)
  In Part 1 of our series, we discussed the Opioid epidemic and its effects on Indian Country. Representatives from tribal programs shared their responses to critical incidents in their community. In Part 2, we will look at treatment and what resources are available to tribes. Representatives from the Saginaw Chippewa and Ho-Chunk communities will join us and share what they are doing.
• Opioids in Indian Country Part 3: From Treatment to Recovery (1 hour, 30 minutes)
  Part 3 will provide a review of additional treatment resources available, followed by a discussion of recovery efforts used in tribal communities in Michigan and the Northwest. Digital storytelling and traditional ceremonies are both providing healing and support to tribal members in recovery.

Youth Empowerment

The SAMHSA Tribal TTA Center will join the Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) and members of their 2017 Champions for Change class for a series of three webinars focusing on youth empowerment in Indian Country.

• Youth Empowerment Part 1: Indigenous Food and Healing (58 minutes)
  We talk with Mariah Gladstone, a 23-year-old member of the Blackfeet Nation and founder of Indigikitchen, an online cooking show dedicated to the diets of indigenous communities. She will discuss her work and the growing understanding of food sovereignty and its connection to wellness in tribal communities.
• Youth Empowerment Part 2: Suicide Prevention and Social Media (55 minutes)
  A conversation with Faith Holyan, a 16-year-old member of the Navajo Nation. After losing a close friend to suicide, Faith started #codepurple, a social media-based suicide prevention campaign, to connect peers going through difficult times with friends and loved ones. As a former World Champion in the Indian National Finals Rodeo circuit, Faith uses her title and recognition to advocate for youth suicide prevention and mental health awareness. She also hosts local community events for her peers that serve as safe spaces for discussing mental health related issues.
• Youth Empowerment Webinar Part 3: CNAY Two-Spirit Project (59 minutes)
  The Center for Native American Youth (CNAY) has engaged in a project designed to strengthen the understanding of Native Two-Spirit youth perspectives by surveying current engagement in tribal and urban communities. This includes understanding the current landscape, needs, resources, and available services with a goal of increasing Two-Spirit youth voices in Indian Country. CNAY Senior Project Manager Josie Raphaelito will join Olivia Cook with St. Regis Mohawk Health Services in discussing these issues and providing an update on the project. Ms. Cook will also provide an overview of the work being done in the Akwesasne community for Two-Spirit Youth and wellness.
• Youth Empowerment Series Playlist

Celebrating Families

The Wellbriety Institute’s Celebrating Families! curriculum helps create balance and prosperity within families.

• Celebrating Families! – Part 1: Creating Balance in Our Lives (56 minutes)
  This learning community explores recent research about brain chemistry, education, risk and resiliency factors, asset development, and spirituality.
• Celebrating Families! – Part 2: Utilizing Cultural Healing Practices to Promote Healthy Native Families (1 hour, 21 minutes)
  This webinar explores how to use cultural healing practices to promote healthy family living skills.

Youth Wellness

Webinars on youth wellness and resilience in tribal communities explore bullying, suicide prevention, children’s wellness, and family substance use.

Youth Leadership

• Native American Youth: Champions for Change (1 hour, 19 minutes)
  This webinar describes the Center for Native American Youth’s Champions for Change program, a leadership development program for Native youth that supports youth who create positive change in their communities.

Generational Resilience

• Generational Resilience—Part 1: The Importance of Traditional Practices for Prevention (26 minutes)
  Gain a better understanding of youth perspectives to help address the issue of youth suicide in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
• Generational Resilience – Part 2: Exploring the American Indian Life Skills Development Curriculum for Suicide Prevention (1 hour, 25 minutes)
  Learn how the culturally appropriate and youth-friendly American Indian Life Skills Development Curriculum can be used as part of youth suicide prevention and cultural intervention strategies in schools and communities.
• Generational Resilience – Part 3: An Overview of Positive Youth Development and Project Venture (1 hour, 21 minutes)
  This webinar introduces Project Venture as an evidence-based model for positive youth development and highlights youth leaders of prevention efforts in their communities.

Substance Use

• Waybinigay: Releasing Our Addictions (1 hour, 4 minutes)
  This webinar examines the commercial and sacred uses of tobacco, and creates dialogue about the effects of tobacco use on youth and the community. Proven success strategies are based on culturally specific activities.
• After the Tears: Substance Use and the Family (1 hour, 26 minutes)
  Learn the characteristics of addicted and dysfunctional families and the struggles adult children of those families face. Discover the healing that strong cultural values and ceremony can provide.

Bullying Prevention

• Bullying – Part 1 (1 hour, 19 minutes)
  Explore the topic of bullying—characteristics, consequences related to suicide, myths, misdirection, and ways that resilience can combat bullying.
• Bullying – Part 2 (1 hour, 24 minutes)
  This webinar covers bullying and its consequences related to suicide. It explains common misconceptions and discusses the importance of resilience in combating bullying.

Suicide Prevention

• Impact of Suicide – Part 1 (1 hour, 26 minutes)
  Explore topics of suicide in Indian Country—the personal healing process following a family member's suicide; lessons learned about mental health, risk, and protective factors; community interventions; and communal resilience factors that support wellness.
• Impact of Suicide – Part 2 (1 hour, 30 minutes)
  Learn more about suicide and prevention among American Indian and Alaska Native youth. Topics include the impact of suicide on youth in Indian Country, warning signs, nonjudgmental listening strategies, stigma, intergenerational trauma, and healing.

Wellness in Children

• Children's Mental Health Awareness: Supporting Wellness in Our Families and Communities (1 hour, 8 minutes)
  Learn about efforts supporting wellness in children and families across Indian Country, including a brief discussion of resources offered by the Tribal TTA Center and the Suicide Prevention Resource Center.