Healthy Living, Recovery From Addiction to Be Focus of Wellbriety Gathering

By NATHAN OLIVAREZ-GILES

Southwest side

Indian tribes to team up with health groups

Members of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, the Tohono O’odham Nation and other American Indian nations are teaming up with local health organizations to host a new event celebrating addiction recovery and healthy living.

The first-ever Red Road and Wellbriety Gathering will be held Saturday at the San Xavier Recreation Center, 8549 S. J. Mayor Drive, near Mission San Xavier del Bac.

The event begins with a two-mile run/walk from 7 to 10 a.m., followed by arts and crafts workshops for children and families, and musical performances by American Indian artists from across the United States, said Teri Glasses, a diabetes-prevention specialist with the Tucson Indian Center.

The gathering also will include talking circles for recovering addicts and those who are looking to live a healthier lifestyle, said Albert Sombrero, who will be one of the moderators for the talking circles.

“The belief is, when people get in a circle, we are all equal,” said Sombrero, who is a member of the Navajo Nation. “There’s a direct connection. When you’re in a circle there is shared responsibility and accountability for your words, thoughts and actions.”

The tradition of the talking circle gives each person a chance to speak, based on who has a “talking stick” – the person with the stick gets to speak freely while others listen. The stick is passed around the circle until everything that needs to be said is said.

The talking circle is a practice used by nearly all the native communities in North America, slightly varying for each group, Sombrero said.

Some groups use eagle feathers in place of a talking stick; others use a stone or a seashell – each item is considered sacred to the respective group, he said.

The talking circle, Sombrero said, is just one of the many practices that tie into the Red Road to Wellbriety/Recovery, a growing movement among native and non-native people.

“A healthy person leads to healthy family, a healthy family leads to a healthy community, and a healthy community leads to a healthy nation,” Sombrero said. “For those, like myself, who are walking the Red Road, it’s about healing your emotions, body, mind and spirit. Looking at the person as a whole being and not just treating a problem, that’s the concept of wellness.”

The Red Road program is aimed at recovering drug addicts and alcoholics, but is open to all people who are looking to cut negative practices from their lives, he said.

The program was started by White Bison, a nonprofit organization based in Colorado Springs, Colo., and is basically a combination of the 12-Step Program used by Alcoholics Anonymous and different traditions and philosophies from American Indian communities, Sombrero said.

The gathering is the product of a meeting among Tohono O’odham Behavioral Health Services, People Wellness House, the Tucson Indian Center, the Pima County Public Library, Compass Health Care, the Pima County and Tucson Commission on Addiction, and the Prevention & Treatment Community Education Committee. Those organizations gathered to discuss September as National Recovery Month, he said. Each of the groups is helping sponsor the gathering.

“There was nothing going on to celebrate recovery and living healthy for the natives here in Tucson, so they said, ‘Let’s get together and make something happen,’ ” Sombrero said.

If You Go

What: First Red Road and Wellbriety Gathering

When: Saturday. The Strong and Sober run/walk is from 7 to 10 a.m. Talking circles, music, arts and crafts, resource tables and more run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where: San Xavier Recreation Center, 8549 S. J. Mayor Drive, near Mission San Xavier del Bac.

* Send story ideas about people or happenings on the South Side to Neighbors reporter Nathan Olivarez-Giles at nolivarezgiles@azstarnet.com or call 307-0579.

Originally published by NATHAN OLIVAREZ-GILES, ARIZONA DAILY STAR.

(c) 2007 Arizona Daily Star. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.