Bringing together like-minded individuals under one roof is an effective way arm health professionals with new tools to address the intergenerational trauma and resiliency for First Nations, said one of the organizers of Igniting the Spirit: Recovery-oriented Practices and the Journey to Reconciliation.
The gathering drew at least 250 people to the Holiday Inn for a day filled with sharing and learning, said Angela Recollet, of Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre. Participants are people who support others on a journey of recovery to mental wellness.
“This is a fabulous gathering,” Recollet said. “It brings together different voices on what colonization looks like, which has impacted lands right across the globe. Everyone has been given so much knowledge through this, and it will provide them with new tools to help them.”
She said the goal of Igniting the Spirit was to have each participant leave with new opportunities to implement innovative approaches to program and service delivery, as well as tools, resources and personal stories to support their efforts and those of their community and organization's work in mental wellness.
Igniting the Spirit featured keynote Indigenous speaker Dr. Martin Brokenleg, an expert on intergenerational trauma and resiliency, who has led training programs throughout North America, New Zealand, Europe, Australia and South Africa. He has co-authored the book “Reclaiming Youth at Risk: Our Hope for the Future” and cofounded the Circle of Courage model.
“To talk about what intergenerational trauma looks like through the expert lense of Dr. Martin Brokenleg has been absolutely phenomenal,” Recollet said.
For his part, Brokenleg said his main message to participants at the conference is to look at the diversity of cutlure, and to learn all they can in order to better deal with their clients.
Culture, he said, is very complicated and dynamic. It's about much more than simply food and architecture. It has to do with values and social patterns, and if you're a professional, it requires a whole lot of knowledge, he said.
“Anyone who does any kind of work in the world should meet with like-minded people, because it reinforces your profession, your goal and your focus,” he said of the benefits of events like Igniting the Spirit. “For these folks, it's important to maintain that momentum, because there's still a lot of work to be done.”
He said Canada has made great strides following the completion of the six-year study by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which found rampant physical and sexual abuse in residential schools.
Other than physical, sexual and mental abuse, the Commission found about 6,000 children died while in care because of malnourishment or disease.
“It's important to remembers, however, that, while the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has come to an end, we're not done with the process, and there's a lot of work that needs to be done in the years to come,” he said.
“Right now, though, we're at the point where the work will become more interpersonal. I think we'll see smaller groups of people come together, spend time together to get to know each other and appreciate one another for who we are.”
