Talking about culture to living with culture

By Tallerita Tunney Rogers (Dine’), MSW MPA MBA

 

I’ve been working within the suicide prevention space for nearly five years. The many and varied conversations I’ve been fortunate to have, including how heavy and scary the concepts are for many people. This is especially so because I come from a people (the Navajo, the Dine’) who value life and whose very belief system foundationally believes that life is sacred, that as people we are sacred beings. We were helped into this world respecting not only human life, but also the natural world and order, and were provided a belief system with the abilities and practices to live in harmony with the natural world.

I moved back to Arizona mid-June after spending about two years feeling such major disconnect at a variety of levels in Denver. This disconnect was more than not being to hear my language, eat our foods, it was also being able to smell the smells. When we pulled into our hotel driveway in Santa Fe after a rainstorm on our drive home, I immediately recognized the beautiful scent of wet juniper. It pulled me back to my grandmother’s home near Monument Valley. It also pulled me back to the scent of a healing ceremony or the boiling of juniper for medicinal purposes. I am wealthy in culture in ways many others aren’t, and being so far away from my family and culture was challenging for my family and I.

In mental health, we talk about prevention and resiliency factors that can help minimize or prevent substance use or mental health challenges. For many Indigenous cultures, this centrally means the incorporation of culture and cultural factors. For far too long in this country’s legacy and foundation, we have faced the ongoing assault on our culture and existence. Just as verbal and physical abuse can cause trauma, the experiences we faced and continue to face create a trauma called Intergenerational or Historical Trauma, or as termed by some academics, a “Soul Wound”. Just like other traumas and grief, Indigenous people need to acknowledge this trauma and grief in order to begin the process of healing. This is why Via Linda Behavioral Hospital created the position I currently hold, to acknowledge that Indigenous People have unique healing needs to begin the process of addressing mental health and substance use needs. The collective Intergenerational Trauma underlies the current mental health and substance use needs of our people, even if there is no direct connection to the specific and individual challenges a patient may present with to our hospital.

Our work within our hospital for the Indigenous population then becomes about starting the healing work by incorporating culturally relevant programming for those who wish to start their healing journey. For others, acknowledging the hurt is simply more difficult than can be put into words or action, and there are still other community resources that can start to chip away at the soul wounds. These organizations also understand and support the cultural need for connection and support. I encourage all mental health organizations to familiarize themselves with the resources and connections available at:

Native American Connections

Native Health, Inc. 

Phoenix Indian Center

Native Americans for Community Action

Tucson Indian Center

Native American Fatherhood and Families Association

Scottsdale Recovery Center

 

Meanwhile, for Via Linda Behavioral Health, I hope you’ll share about our amazing team who has embraced the journey to healing in support of our Indigenous relatives, because at the end of the day we share this land and country and our wellbeing is supporting another community’s wellbeing.

We are currently accepting patients who want the cultural support and will have additional news to share over the next few months as to how that will continue to expand. Please follow our social media to receive the latest updates as they become available. For myself, I will continue to have conversations to share how talking about living can be just the reframing all communities can benefit from!

 

Tallerita Tunney Rogers (Dine’), MSW MPA MBA. Integrated Partner Liaison at Via Linda Behavioral Hospital.

vialindabehavioral.com