Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Northern Advocate
For the second year in a row, the Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB) is set to host a family wellness gathering.
This year’s gathering will take place from July 14 to 16 at the La Ronge Urban Reserve. Community members are invited to participate.
The event will include several keynote speakers, hands-on cultural workshops, youth and family activities along with entertainment for all ages. Returning activities from last year include the Cultural and Healing Village where participants took part in moosehide tanning, birch bark crafts, fish net making, traditional medicine, beading and art therapy alongside daily meals and family programming.
LLRIB chief Tammy Cook-Searson says the band was eager to have another gathering after the success last year.
“The first one went really well. It was right after the fires when we had the major evacuations last year. It was a really nice way to come back and just have a healing conference. We have a lot of different social issues in our communities that we’re just trying to give hope to families that there’s a better way.”
According to a press release by LLRIB, the gathering will look to address four main issues affecting the band and other communities up north: mental health, addiction recovery, intergenerational healing and resilience.
Cook-Searson says offering a safe space for those who are struggling to hear from others and to receive the support that they need can be crucial in the healing process.
“We struggle like any other community across Canada with mental health, addictions, and we wanted to make sure that we’re providing a safe space for families to come together and then hearing from others that have gone through similar struggles. We have an elders panel. We have a youth panel. We have breakfast, lunch, and supper every day. We have speakers lined up for morning, afternoon, and then we also have entertainment every evening for the three days, and then on Wednesday morning we have the Lance Run. We have mental health therapists on standby, and then we also have our elders on standby for anyone that needs support in the event that they’re triggered from any of the speakers.”
The gathering will be hosted by LLRIB Child and Family Services and the LLRIB Prevention Program. One speaker at the gathering will be Billy Mills, a former Olympic gold medallist at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Mills is the only American to win the 10,000 m Olympic gold. He grew up on the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation in South Dakota and was an orphan at the age of 12. He was considered a major underdog in the race and was burdened with hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) at the time.
Cook-Searson says the gathering will look to meet families where they are at.
“We’re just really grateful for the opportunity to be able to host a family wellness gathering. It gives us an opportunity and a space to be able to get together, connect with our community members, and just to bring speakers from all walks of life, from local to national to international speakers that we’re bringing in to our community, just to bring hope and encouragement and inspiration to our families that are struggling.”
editorial@paherald.sk.ca
