Carving continues on Kootéeyaa
Project Wellbriety totem pole
July 14, 2006
Friday
Sitka, Alaska - The Kootéeyaa Project Wellbriety totem
pole is taking shape at the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health
Consortium (SEARHC) Mt. Edgecumbe campus in Sitka, and all community
members are invited to take part in the carving of the pole.
The Kootéeyaa Project
totem will represent the Native journey to wellness, the SEARHC
substance abuse and prevention treatment programs, and the process
of transformation to and the continuing journey of "Wellbriety."
Wellbriety is part of a national movement that uses a Native
journey to wellness - one that links physical, mental, spiritual
and emotional health - as part of its process of healing the
total person.
Tlingit master carver
Wayne Price of Haines gets on his knees to work on the Kootéeyaa
Project Wellbriety totem pole on Friday, July 7, 2006, at the
SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) Mt. Edgecumbe
campus in Sitka. Community members are invited to participate
in the circles of healing for the Kootéeyaa Project, when
various aspects of wellness will be discussed and then community
members will be allowed to make their own mark on the pole.
Photo By CHARLES BINGHAM / SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium
"Wellbriety Kootéeyaa means healing, hope, unity
and forgiveness for Tlingit people and anyone who is working
on the healing of mind, body and spirit," said Kootéeyaa
Project chairwoman Roberta Kitka, a drug and alcohol treatment
specialist at SEARHC's Gunaanastí Bill Brady Healing Center
and Déilee Hít Safe Harbor House.
Kitka said all community members
are welcome to take part in the carving of the pole. The pole
currently is being carved by Tlingit master carver Wayne Price
of Haines in a shelter next to the Gunaanastí Bill Brady
Healing Center on the lower part of SEARHC's Mt. Edgecumbe campus.
During the carving process,
groups of about 10 community members will form several circles
of healing. The members of each circle of healing will meet to
discuss a particular aspect of Wellbriety, then each person will
get to carve a small part of the pole. Some of the topics that
will be discussed by the circles of healing include alcohol and
substance abuse, domestic violence, mental illness, suicide,
the methamphetamine epidemic, multi-generational trauma, hepatitis
C, HIV/AIDS, cancer, nicotine dependency, homelessness, Veterans
issues, eating disorders and diabetes. Other circles of healing
might be formed to discuss additional topics related to health
and wellness.
SouthEast Alaska Regional
Health Consortium (SEARHC) Gunaanastí Bill Brady Healing
Center and Déilee Hít alcohol and substance abuse
treatment program workers Roberta Kitka, Christeen Thomas-Eblin
and Denise Roy make their marks on the Kootéeyaa Project
Wellbriety totem pole after a healing circle Wednesday, July
12, 2006, at the SEARHC Mt. Edgecumbe campus in Sitka. Kitka
is the Kootéeyaa Project chairwoman. Community members
are invited to participate in the circles of healing for the
project, when various aspects of wellness will be discussed and
then community members will be allowed to make their own mark
on the pole.
Photo by JAMES DIFFIN / SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium
The Kootéeyaa Project's mission statement is "to
promote and demonstrate the natural partnership between health
and Alaskan cultures through the embodiment of wellness, community
collaboration and traditional values."
The pole is scheduled to be
raised on Oct. 14 at a location TBA on the SEARHC Mt. Edgecumbe
campus in Sitka. The Kootéeyaa Project received funding
from the J.M. Murdock Charitable Trust.
"This totem pole will
be a tremendous symbol of hope and inspiration for those working
to improve the quality of their and their families' lives,"
said Mark Gorman, the Vice President of Community Health Services
for SEARHC.
Source of News & Photos:
SouthEast Alaska Regional Health
Consortium
www.searhc.org
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