The Barbara Schneider Foundation
Report date
August 2018
What has been most instrumental to your progress?
Community conversations in: Rapid City, SD; Fargo, ND; Rosebud, SD; Pine Ridge SD; and Minneapolis, MN were the most instrumental. Rapid City Community Conversations, RCCC, moved to a new level of community engagement with community innovation teams working to transform Rapid City justice, education, business and community relations.Fargo Moorhead Indigenous Community Circle moved immediately to form a 501(c)(3) organization and is partnering with Prairie St Johns Hospital, local government and busness partners to create a new initiative to support Native cultural, community and healing practices. Rosebud moved through a conversation on healing in their community and is now working with RCCC on food sovereignty, youth activities and health initiatives. Pine Ridge focuses on the work of the Oglala Lakota Childrens Justice Center to bring cultural assets to assist youth and families in healing. Our work in Minneapolis involves de-escalation trainings for community members and professionals in the Native community and those who work there, we also partnner with Minnesota Chippewa Tribe on training and with law enforcement from Minneapolis PD and other Metro PDs on trauma issues.
Relationship development is key to the success of our work. Our facilitator is a well known Sicangu member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe with good connections with traditional leaders as well as professionals and other leaders in tribal government and services provided on the reservations and in the urban communities. Having 4 years of Bush funded work has enabled us to develop strong ties and not be seen as interlopers with a short term interest, but rather as allies who are interested in long term relationships. This enables deep connections with extended family groups and traditional healers which helps us see the real texture of the community and to find concrete ways to partner with and assist those from the community who are involved in innovative transformational change as well.
We have seen develpment of strong relationships across the Native/non-Native divide as well. Our conversational model fosters deep meaningful interactions and joint work on innovative projects. Our partners in the communities have learned our conversational approach and use it in their own work when we are not there. In addition we have had the opportunity to assist them in team development training, long term planning and have also provided facilitation to resolve differences that have arisen and in some cases become personal conflicts.
Key lessons learned
Non-Native communitiy members need the guidance of Native community members to bridge the gap between the two. In Rapid City, it has been the Native participants in RCCC who have provided leadership to the broader community on how to strengthen relationships among the Native and non-Native communities. The initiatives that emerged in our conversational process were adopted by the city officials and they have invited Native leaders from RCCC to participate in a variety of policy and programatic processes in the city. This has been a huge breaktrough for Rapid City.
Spirituality is a fundamental part of community life and paying attention to spiritual wellness is essential. Prayer at the begining and end of our conversations set a tone for the gathering. A tone of openness, respect for others and self and helps particpants move into a listening mode in their conversations. Spiritual assistance from traditional Lakota practitioners has helped guide the broader forms and direction of the work as well. It has helped maintain the focus on the future, and the strong values that guide the best of the community processes. The disruption of Lakota spiritual life has been a deep injury to the communnity, and nurturing the spiritual element is helping with the healing process for all.
Family is the fundaental unit of the traditional Indigenous community and family relationships in this work are a foce multiplier. The family is a basis of the traditional Indigenous government form. Traditonal government is built on this foundation. Although the family was assaulted by the the boarding school and other US government initiatives, it remains an important organizing force within the community. Repecting the family and working with family groups is an important part of healiing the community and the individuals in the community.
Reflections on the community innovation process
We really appreciate the emphasis on innovation. We use this model to inspire the teams and keep them thinking big and long term. The Community Innovation Teams that emerged from our process embody the concepts in the diagram.
Progress toward an innovation
Rapid City is moving toward the creation of a new Native community asset some call the He Sapa Otipi, others use the name Indigenous Embassy. They are working with city and county government and with business and civic leaders on this. They are also initiating conversation with the Tribes about possible related partnerships. They are already partnering with civic leaders and community allies to create new initiiatives to address homelessness, disparities in law enforcement, the courts corrections and health care. Fargo is moving toward the creation of a new Native community asset that will house a variety of initiatives as well. Rosebud is moving toward the creation of new initiatives for their youth and strengthening their work around food sovereignty and water protection. In Minneapolis, we are partnering with Minneapolis PD and others on an initiative responding to trauma related to racism and other injustices.
What it will take to reach an innovation?
We have achieved breaktrhroughs but see the need for ever increasing innovation to address the needs of the communities we are working with. This involves identifying and partnering with those who can bring financial and other assets to support program development and operation.