Conference gives support to survivors

Page 17

For three days in April, the Circles of Strength conference in Yorkton will be a place to reach out for support, understanding, confidence and strength.

Starting out as a two-day workshop six years ago, the annual event has grown into a residential school wellness conference that looks at many of the issues that stem from the residential schools, said conference organizer Leonard Keshane.

"We have about five workshops going on all at the same time and we usually keep up four (sessions) a day."

He explained that the workshops are held in circles where men and women come together. "It's time that they started healing together," he said. "We use circles instead of just one presenter doing all the talking right through . . . we found people want more input, they want to be more involved, so then we tried the circle approach and people really loved the circles. They come, and they share, and they get support within the circle. That's why we call it Circles of Strength," said Keshane.

The circle themes include grief and suicide, survivors of trauma, sexual abuse, family violence, fear and anger, problem gambling, relationships, healing humor, high-risk youth, and Elders.

"We try to make people aware of what took place in the residential school, and why certain things in our lives might be," Keshane said.

"This is the first time we're talking to the media. In the past, media have tried to come in and talk, and take pictures, and do interviews . . . and we wouldn't allow it. We had different lawyers wanting to come in and do presentations so they can get clients out of all the workshops. But we wouldn't allow it either because we were here for the healing part, not for the publicity . . . we're just here to try get support for people."

Keshane said he came up with the idea for the conference when he was an AADAC co-ordinator for Keeseekoose First Nation about seven years ago.

"When I was working with drug and alcohol problems on the reserve, I realized that . . . there were all kinds of different issues, like the grief and the fear, the anger, the family violence, sexual abuse. All these played a part in why these people are using the drugs and the alcohol. I kept looking further and further and then found out that most of them come from the residential school that was situated on our First Nation in the 60s," he explained.

"I figured if I am going to try to do anything for the drug and alcohol problems within my community I have to deal with deeper issues. A group of our people in Yorkton got together, sat down and talked about having a workshop on residential schools, so a lot of our people would come to realize what took place. Even the ones who went to residential school, they were in denial that things happened to affect their lives in negative ways," he said.

"We decided to form a group and take this healing adventure on ourselves. We didn't want to be political in any way, so we didn't want to fall under any First Nation administration. We didn't want to fall under the tribal council or FSIN. So we'd do it ourselves and then nobody can tell us what we are limited at doing, what we can and can't do."

The reason the decision was made to hold the conference in Yorkton was because there were five residential schools within a 100 miles of the community. Keshane said it was costly for the First Nations in the area to send people to the conference in Saskatoon.

Usual conference attendance is about 200 people every year, he said. About 50 per cent of those are returning attendees from previous years. "We also bring new ones on board and we try keeping the circles where the people that are coming for their fifth year can still get something out of it."

Normally, the circle sizes vary from 15 to 40 people. "We don't want to get too large, we don't want too many people, otherwise a lot of people feel left out if the circles get too big," he said.

The conference is open for anyone aged 18 and older, but Keshanesaid he wants to encourage more young people to come out and listen to the stories of the Elders. "That way they understand why their parents or their grandparents are the way they are."

People wishing to attend are responsible for their own accommodation. Registration before April 4 is $180, and $200 after April 4. The fees cover three days of lunch and coffee, information kits, and presenters' honorarium. "We are not funded by anywhere at all, we started from scratch," Keshane said.

The Men's and Lady's Residential School Wellness Conference - Circles of Strength will take place at the Holiday Inn in Yorkton on April 15, 16 and 17. For more info or to register phone Leonard Keshane at 782-1697 or 542-7314.