Annual Grief Conference helps heal community
Grief Rocks were painted to be used to honor loved ones at the 20th Annual Grief Conference on March 21.
By ROSELYNN YAZZIE
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — The 20th annual Grief Conference theme was “Healing with our Ishé (wolf) spirit,” which reflected on strength, resiliency and the importance of community through loss.
The event was sponsored by the Behavioral Health Programs on Tuesday, March 21.
A welcome was given by Miss Shoshone-Bannock Kaycee Dixey who said it was good to see everyone show up for one another. Her heart went out to families who’ve lost loved ones. Dixey reminded the people to lean on their cultural teachings and beliefs to help them get through hard times.
Fort Hall Business Council member, Ladd Edmo, offered the opening prayer.
Words were given by fellow tribal leaders Donna Thompson, vice chairwoman, who said she was glad to see so many in attendance as it showed the community cares for one another. Secretary Claudia Washakie thanked the programs who put on the event for the last 20 years. She said grief has no timeline and it’s not something that’s unhealthy as it can be therapeutic.
Treasurer Roland Marshall said we all lose someone in our life but he knows they’re still guiding and to be grateful for them.
Behavioral Health Manager, Jason Butler, composed a special memorial song for the event, which he hoped would remind people of their important role as community members and to all help one another and let others know they’re not alone.
Butler said, “You know it’s part of our tradition that we’re naturally a helping people and you know the way that our people lived in the past. We all had roles and we all had things that we had to do and we helped each other. Nobody ever went without. When people needed help they got it. I think today we kind of get away from that, just living in the society that we live in, but you know I think the direction that our program is going with the integration we really want to get back into that community based approach in trying to create community ownership to some of the issues that we face.”
Butler said going back to the traditional aspect of grief, it’s something everyone goes through and there are ways to overcome these things.
An icebreaker activity demonstrated the importance of community at the annual Grief Conference.
An icebreaker activity was done by the Recovery Support Service Providers where all participants were assigned an animal on a badge and encouraged to mingle with one another and find their matches. The exercise was meant to show how they can support each other in a community.
In relating animals to grief, Sho-Ban Tribe’s Fish & Wildlife’s Claudeo Broncho talked about the healing properties of the wolf. He said the wolf showed resiliency through struggles. In the early 1900s wolves were almost extinct and were considered predators by humans for eating cattle and smaller animals. He said the wolf, like other important animals is significant to the tribal people and have stories about them showing their spiritual value.
Broncho said all animals are here for a purpose and they need to be taken care of.
He encouraged youth to learn their traditional ways and to ask elders if they don’t know them. He said it was important to know who their relatives are and to learn their language because it will be their responsibility to carry on the teachings in the future.
Shantel Stone did a presentation on grief and addiction. She is a Recovery Coach who is driven to help people heal. She talked about her journey with sobriety and went over the seven stages of grief, which are shock; denial; anger; bargaining; depression; acceptance and hope; and processing.
The renaming of the program contest details were unveiled with “Wappi Kani” (Cedar House) by Bailey Dann selected for the Mental Wellness & Recovery Services.
After dinner was served, a slideshow presentation paying tribute to those who passed away from mid-February 2022 to February 2023 was played. Some participants became emotional and Behavioral Health staff were on standby for support.
Onatay Longoria shows the hoodies given to participants.
Annie Bacon, LCSW, a Behavioral Health Clinician with Wappi Kani led an activity with “grief rocks.”
The grief rocks honor loved ones and can be made to be placed on graves or wherever is significant.
She made one for her late son and painted it green, which is a color that represents him. The words, “It’s not how long you lived, but how you lived it,” are written on it.
“I’ve always wanted to say that because I seen it on his poster and I wanted to put something like that on his grave,” she said.
She had another rock she called a “rock hug” which she made to carry in her pocket when she feels lonely and grief coming on. She gives it a hug to ground herself.
Bacon said this event is important because as a Behavioral Health Center they see a lot of unresolved grief in the community.
“We just wanted to give people some tools to help them heal,” she said.
The Language & Culture Preservation Department’s Tribal Archivist, Velda Racehorse, explained the process of traditional grief, giving details of both pre-reservation to current day protocol.
An open mic gave participants the opportunity to speak about their grief experience.
The Grief Conference was closed with a prayer and round dance signing by Spring Creek drum group.
