Making the Invisible Visible: A US Nonprofit Network Grounded by Indigenous Values (part 1)

Historical trauma can also be “the nexus of . . . communitywide transformation and resilience” (Mohatt et al., 2014). Resilient responses to historical trauma have been documented among American Indians (Denham, 2008; Fast and Collin-Vézina, 2010). The National Urban Indian Family Coalition (NUIFC) advocates for US American Indian families living in urban areas, creates partnerships with tribes and American Indian organizations and conducts research elucidating the barriers, issues, and opportunities facing urban American Indian families. The national network includes 38 American Indian organizations in 32 US cities, actively embodying dignity, unique social relationships, respect for the environment, and is premised on identity, culture, narrative change and connection with place. NUIFC elevates a national voice for American Indians and Alaska Natives living in urban communities, sustaining Indigenous values and culture through a strong network of Indian organizations.
This presentation highlights the importance of context, identity, environmental mastery, and narrative change through the integration of embodied practice across the network. Member organizations operate from a cultural lens grounded in indigenous worldview and cultural practices. The network is rooted in the power of Indigenous wisdom, knowledge, and traditions, engaging all members of the collective Indigenous community, with hundreds of cultural programs and events.. We will discuss network operations and programs.
Social science has argued for decades that concentrated poverty produces distrust, apathy, alienation, and social isolation resulting in dismantling of social capital. However, NUIFC does not equate material poverty with poverty of spirit. Rootedness, the value of kinship ties, history, and a collective worldview endures. Social capital flourishes amid centuries of oppression, othering, and exclusion. NIUFC intentionally changes the narrative. Indigenous pedagogy is the foundation of service delivery. Teaching Native languages and, elders visiting foster homes grounds Native children in their heritage. We will discuss the attributes of this generative network.

Making the Invisible Visible: A US Nonprofit Network Grounded by Indigenous Values (part 2)

Culture, Power, and Collective Mattering: Building the Beloved Community

At the heart of the socio-ecological perspective and the social determinants of health framework lie the dynamic interplay of context, identity, narrative, and environmental mastery (Marmot, Bronfenbrenner, Ryff, 2014). Collective strengths and capacities enable individuals to thrive and are foundational to community psychology. The recognition of the inherent dignity of all people builds the beloved community.
This session highlights the centrality of context, culture, narrative, and identity in healthy communities and healthy development exploring these psychological influencers. Our communities, neighborhoods, and daily lives are inherently informed and influenced by our legacy, as shown by epigenetics. Historical trauma, the trauma(s) inflicted upon a group of people who share an ethnic, national, or religious identity (Evans-Campbell, 2008) includes both “the legacy of numerous traumatic events a community experiences over generations and ... the psychological and social responses to such events” among later generations (Evans-Campbell, 2008, p. 320). This kind of trauma can reach across generations, “such that contemporary members of the affected group may experience trauma-related symptoms without having been present for the past traumatizing events” (Mohatt et al., 2014, p. 2).
The discussion will emphasize the vital importance of culturally embedded frameworks in the struggle for traditionally marginalized populations to flourish. The collective environments of our lives are inextricably linked; social identities, cultural influences, systems, and policies ground self-perception, behavior, and interactions with others are essential for wellbeing. Collective efficacy promotes individual efficacy. Community building emphasizing the value of the aggregate serves as a means toward both collective and personal empowerment. Traditionally marginalized communities in the US will exemplify the power and integrity various racial and ethnic groups bring to the fore embodying collective empowerment. This session will use case studies as an example of the ways systems, organizations, and networks promote wellbeing at scale (Prilleltensky, 2014).

Addressing Inequity from a Critical Perspective: An interdisciplinary community engagement model.

Inequity has been addressed as a worldwide issue as well as a final outcome for living and working in non-equitable environments. Moreover, it is common knowledge that addressing inequity needs committed stakeholders from different sectors of society and empowering communities. However, the evidence for those who have worked in public policy or community work is that this issue has not been considered in the curriculum for future professionals.
The University of the Americas´ in Chile has developed since 2012 a five stages implementation framework that connects over 7000 students from the Health, Social and Architecture Sciences with neighborhoods from seven municipalities over the course of eight semesters (4 years). Inspired by the work of Amartya Sen, David Harvey, Henry Lefebvre, Maritza Montero, Robert Putnam, Tomás Villasante and implementation science; this framework aims to develop a deep rooted civic responsibility, professional ethics, knowledge and action on inequity as well as community empowerment to move towards social cohesion, community organizing and community health.
Freshman students are assigned a specific neighborhood with active community leaders for four years. Together, they build a trusting and collaborative relationship, design participatory research on social conditions as well as participatory interventions. Data is gathered in three main areas: 1. Implementation data 2. Participatory research data for informing community interventions, and; 3. Students learning experience and learning outcomes.
After seven-year of implementation, two cohorts of students have graduated and over 39 neighborhoods have been working together with the university. The results have shown that community engagement helps students learn about Inequity; participatory research keeps stakeholders engaged and involved. Institutional support, long term vision and commitment as well as clear values and principles function as motivators for addressing inequity. Our results strongly suggest that participatory methodologies are key to combine and balance knowledge, expectations, and political pressures.