Premium
Teaching Tradition: Diverse Perspectives on the Pilot Urban American Indian Traditional Spirituality Program
Author(s) -
Gone Joseph P.,
Blumstein Katherine P.,
Dominic David,
Fox Nickole,
Jacobs Joan,
Lynn Rebecca S.,
Martinez Michelle,
Tuomi Ashley
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1002/ajcp.12144
Subject(s) - spirituality , indigenous , health psychology , ceremony , sociology , public relations , medical education , nursing , psychology , gerontology , public health , medicine , political science , alternative medicine , geography , ecology , archaeology , pathology , biology
Many urban American Indian community members lack access to knowledgeable participation in indigenous spiritual practices. And yet, these sacred traditional activities remain vitally important to their reservation‐based kin. In response, our research team partnered with an urban American Indian health center in Detroit for purposes of developing a structured program to facilitate more ready access to participation in indigenous spiritual knowledge and practices centered on the sweat lodge ceremony. Following years of preparation and consultation, we implemented a pilot version of the Urban American Indian Traditional Spirituality Program in the spring of 2016 for 10 urban AI community participants. Drawing on six first‐person accounts about this program, we reflect on its success as a function of participant meaningfulness, staff support, mitigated sensitivities, and program structure. We believe that these observations will enable other community psychologists to undertake similar program development in service to innovative and beneficial impacts on behalf of their community partners.