Two Feathers Native American Family Services

We kicked off some ACORN Flower Dance Programming in Hoopa last week and hosted a Flower Dance Overview Workshop for some of our girls. It was awesome to see a few new faces, and a few faces of youth that have been a part of the program for 6 years! We talked about what a Flower Dance is, the importance, the regalia, and we were able to dress some girls for the first time which is always a special moment that helps us build long lasting relationships with our youth. After the workshop, we were able to take 3 youth and their families to a Flower Dance in Hoopa. Thank you Vader family for being open to us bringing some of our youth! A huge thank you to Charlena Tello, Shanley Masten, Shaylynne Masten and Renee Doolittle for bringing regalia and being open to let us use it for moments like this. We would also like to give a huge shoutout to one of our former Youth Ambassadors and Senior Youth Ambassador, Renee Doolittle, for coming and talking with the girls and sharing her story on preparing for and having her Flower Dance. It was awesome to see you! Finally, thank you Shanley Masten for taking our photos! You had a way with making our girls feel comfortable and beautiful in their identity as young Native girls.

Two Feathers is excited to bring you all the first of a series of personal stories from our youth who were in the short film "The Healing Journey” These are more in depth stories from each youth speaking about their experiences with substance use and how they have found their way to healing. We are so proud of their courage and know that our community will also feel uplifted by their braveness.

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A few weeks ago, our Cultural Programs Department hosted a Cultural Humility and Protocols training for our Two Feathers staff members. With some of our staff being invited by families and youth to attend ceremony with them, we made it a goal to ensure our team members knew and understood ceremony protocols as it relates to Brush Dance Ceremony. We also hoped to help our staff get an overview about how ceremony influences our youth's world view and how that might help our staff work with our youth on a deeper level. The first day of training was spent in the "classroom", having discussions and going over logistics of ceremony. The second day, we were invited to Sue-meg during rest day to do some place-based learning with some of our cultural mentors. A huge shout out to the ceremonial leaders for being so welcoming to our team and a special thank you to Rachel Sundberg for hanging out with us and sharing some of her knowledge.

Two Feathers Native American Family Services Our ACORN Youth Wellness Flower Dance Programming started back in the summer of 2019 with "Regalia Day" and we have been implementing Flower Dance workshops and groups every year to prepare us for this amazing accomplishment that has come out of this program. Throughout the years, our girls have learned about dress making materials, steps and considerations in making their own dresses, sang songs, ate good food, designed dresses, and built relationships. This year, we gathered together with the goal of creating a young girls ceremonial dress. In October, 2023, we met to design the dress and this last week, the dress was completed AND she was able to dance for the first time at the Sue-Meg Brush Dance. 40 youth and 6 staff members put their medicine into this dress and we are so proud of all of you. The hours it took to braid bear grass, grind clamshells, clean pine nuts, design, bead, and sew shows and the love that was put into the dress can be felt. A huge thank you and hug to our cultural consultant, mentor, friend, and auntie Rachel Sundberg for helping us make this happen. You have been instrumental in creating a safe space for our youth and staff! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us! We love and appreciate you so much! Shout out to Key-se-loh Reed for being our model for this dress. As you can see, she really grew since October! Key-se-loh was able to be the first girl to wear this dress in the girls round Sunday morning at Sue-Meg! GREAT JOB, KEY-SE-LOH!

Two Feathers is excited to share our short film: Chími nu'aráriihkanheesh: The Healing Journey. It is now available for the public to view for free on YouTube. In this powerful film, Two Feathers Youth Ambassadors share their stories of how substance use has impacted their lives and how, with the help of Two Feathers, they have embarked on their own healing journeys. We invite you to watch the film, share it with your community, and let us know how it has impacted your life.

A new film, Chimi Nu’ Arariihkanheesh: The Healing Journey, highlights the impacts of substance abuse on native youth. “The creation of this film began because Two Feathers has recognized that many of our youth are impacted by substance use through family, community or their own personal youth,” Amy Mathieson said. “And so we felt that it was really important for our youth to be able to share their stories with the community and to also share about how they’ve been able to heal and go on a healing journey with the support of Two Feathers.” The word is Karuk word meaning “in this way we heal together” which emphasizes the candid nature of talking through their experiences with drugs, alcohol, and other substances. This film will be released online soon.

With over 100 participants and 13 community partners, Rainbow Extravaganza 4.0 kicked of June Pride Month. The Rainbow Extravaganza is an inclusive community PRIDE event held annually in Hoopa, California. For the past four years, this event has taken place in June, coinciding with Pride Month, and has become a cherished tradition for the community and visitors. It is a day dedicated to education, celebration, and community building, offering a unique opportunity for individuals to come together in support of diversity and acceptance. For more information: https://lnkd.in/efuKZ4Bw #CommunityBuilding #Pride #MentalHealth #Wellness

And that's a wrap! On May 18th, Two Feathers Youth Ambassadors completed a year of cultural engagement, community building, and learning leadership and employment skills. This year alone, Two Feathers employed 58 youth from the ages of 15 to 21. These youth started in June 2023 and throughout the year they spoke on multiple advocacy panels, presented at local and state conferences, supported Two Feathers summer camps and community events, built positive relationships with their peers and adult mentors, and attended many cultural workshops and classes. We are incredibly proud of these youth, and are excited to watch as they continue to grow into our community's next Native leaders. #NativeYouth #Leaders #MentalHealth #OurFuture

On May 10th, ten Two Feathers Youth Ambassadors toured the future site of the Two Feathers Wellness Village in Hoopa, California. These youth were provided with blueprints and site maps so that they could envision the proposed plans for the site. They were able to ask questions and offer suggestions while on site, and then afterwards, the youth shared with Two Feathers staff what they believe are the most important resources their community needs in a wellness space. Among the many insightful ideas they shared were laundry facilities, a kitchen for preparing healthy meals, hygiene products, safe spaces for youth to gather, quiet study areas, and trained supportive staff on site. This group of youth will be actively involved in the design and implementation process as members of the Hoopa Wellness Village Youth Council. A big thank you to these amazing youth and our funding partners: California Institute for Behavioral Health Solutions, California Department of Health Care Services, and Heluna Health.