Native Pride: Living Compassionate Lives Through Culture

Monday, April 14. 2:00pm-3:30pm. Olympic Room.

Description 

In general, Native youth are dynamic, strong, and resilient. But sometimes challenging things happen in our families and communities to create unhealthy attitudes and behaviors. Our ancestors have left a legacy filled with “tools” for our use in assisting us to maintain balance in today’s world. Those include language, song, dance, stories, ceremony, shared belief systems and much more. Before we can fully understand our role and responsibility as a young Native person, we have to feel the pride of who we are in order to completely become the compassionate person we are meant to be. This fun and interactive session is intended for Native youth or other interested youth who want to learn more about Native wellness, Native pride and Native culture. Come prepared to shake, rattle and roll!

Presenter Bio 

Jillene Joseph, Native Wellness Institute

Jillene Joseph (Gros Ventre) is a single mother of four children and has also raised a nephew. She has a bachelor’s of science degree in community health education and is currently the Executive Director and one of the founders of the Native Wellness Institute, a national, non-profit organization providing wellness training to Indian tribes and organizations. For the past 20 years, she has traveled extensively throughout North America providing health, wellness and healing training to tribes and organizations.  She is the lead consultant trainer for the National Indian Child Welfare Association’s Positive Indian Parenting curriculum and their youth trainer. She has team-facilitated GONA trainings, provided strategic planning facilitation, has experience writing and managing grants and has visited hundreds of Native communities and organizations providing information as well as furthering her own knowledge and understanding of our People and the Indian ways. She prides herself in choosing to be a positive role model by being drug and alcohol free and by living a life that she knows is making her ancestors proud. Jillene’s personal mantra is “Living the Warrior’s Spirit: being positive, productive, and proactive.” Her passion and life’s work is dedicated to bringing wellness to individuals, families, places of work and communities throughout Indian country!