MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – NMU hosted a conference focusing on social services needed in Native American communities. The conference seeks to strengthen indigenous communities by restoring Native American cultural practices as it relates to social services to native peoples. Conference organizer Shelby Boggs explains the idea behind the event
“We want to really emphasize the ways that community and culture are both resiliency and protective factors for Native American people in response to the traumas and intergenerational traumas that we experience.” said Boggs.
Among the topics discussed were homelessness, intergenerational trauma from colonial oppression, and substance abuse, just to name few.
“We talked about trauma informed policing, and we also talked about the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women and people, and that intersectionality with human trafficking,” said Boggs.
Boggs went on to explain how trauma can be passed down through the ages and unless addressed can continue to effect native communities for generations to come. She believes that oppression by Colonial Europeans is directly linked to the constant state of war in Medieval Europe.
When the European settlers came here, they brought that intergenerational trauma of surviving and witnessing persecution, prosecution and also state sanctioned violence and brutality, and they inflicted that hurt onto indigenous people,” explained Boggs..
Boggs also relayed some disturbing statistics
“40% of Americans believe that Native Americans are extinct,” said Boggs. “So it’s really hard to bring awareness to the societal issues that we are experiencing when nearly half of Americans believe that we are extinct.”
This conference was also about resiliency, survival and the restoration of cultural identity
“We have survived 500 years of genocide, and our cultures have also survived genocide and forced assimilation,” said Boggs.
The two day conference was presented by the NMU Social Work Department and The Center for Native American Studies.
