November is Native American Heritage Month!
This month, let’s make space to celebrate the culture and resilience of the many diverse Native American communities across the United States. American Indians and Alaska Natives currently have the highest rate of substance use disorder among all races and ethnicities in the United States, but Native communities are working hard to change that statistic.
“Many of our Native people are returning to the cultural orientation and attitudes of their own traditions as a way to implement intervention, treatment, recovery, and prevention of addiction and other harmful behaviors. They are doing this even as they live as part of the wider, dominant society. They are learning to integrate the best of both worlds. They can do this because our cultural ways activate the innate knowledge of how to live as a well person, which is inside each of us.” – Don Coyhis, Mohican Nation and Richard Simonelli
Please join us in celebrating Native American Heritage Month by getting involved with some of the great organizations below, or by attending one of the many events across Washington.
Events
Online Events (all times are in PST):
- November 12 – 18: On Demand Movie Streaming: The National Museum of the American Indian’s Native Cinema Showcase
- November 16, 17 and 23: American Democracy’s Indigenous Roots and Future Webinar
- November 16 at 7pm: Matrilineal Matters: Contemporary Tlingit Artists & Beading Legacies with Dr. Megan A. Smetzer
- November 18 at 5:30pm: Historical Trauma and the Native American Boarding School Experience
- November 30 at 11am: American Indian and Alaska Native Addiction Technology Transfer Center’s Tribal Opioid Response Webinar – Stories of Our Heritage
King County Events:
- October 7 – November 27 at Stonington Gallery in Seattle: Luminosity: Northwest Native Glass Art Show
- November 10 – 21 at Daybreak Star Cultural Center in Seattle: Native Art Market
- November 20 – 21 at Northwest Film Forum in Seattle: “Beans” Movie Screening
- November 26 at 8pm at High Dive in Seattle: Indigenous Heritage Day Celebration Featuring: Khu.Éex’ & More
- November 26 – 28 at the Duwamish Longhouse & Cultural Center in Seattle: November Native Art Market and Holiday Gift Fair
Okanogan County
- November 23 in Nespelem: Colville Tribes 2021 Pie Fundraiser
Stevens County
- November 18 at 2pm at War Dance Hall in Wellpinit: Spokane Tribe of Indians Fall Festival
Snohomish County Events:
- November 20 at the Hibulb Cultural Center in Tulalip: Rattle Making Workshop
- November 20 at the Hibulb Cultural Center in Tulalip: Kids Cedar Mat Making Workshop
Whatcom County Events:
- November 27 at 7pm at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship: Native American Heritage Day Concert
Resources
Washington State:
- Didgwalic Wellness Center
- Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians qʷəlút Healing Center
- Spokane Tribe of Indians Wellbriety Meetings
- Cowlitz Indian Tribe Substance Use Disorder Program
- Washington Tribal Opioid Solutions
- Catholic Community Services’ Native American House
- Chief Seattle Club
- Daybreak Star Cultural Center
- Real Rent Duwamish
National:
- Wellbriety Movement
- White Bison
- Native Wellness
- Native American Rehabilitation Association
- Indian Health Service Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: American Indian & Alaska Native Coordinating Committee
- National American Indian and Alaska Native Addiction Technology Transfer Center
