Celebrate success

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The Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society wants to focus on the successes, rather than the pain of Aboriginal people. To that end it is planning a health conference called Up Where We Belong that will promote the success of Aboriginal people, their communities and agencies. The conference will be held at the Ramada Inn and Conference Centre on March 19 and 20. The conference is sponsored by the Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society and the Edmonton Public School Board.

"We are often brought together through conflict and pain. Perhaps we can be even more powerful when we celebrate the goodness of the people in the community," said Brad Seneca, co-executive director of the Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society. According to Seneca, the society's goal is to help promote the wellness of Aboriginal people and their communities.

The Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society provides workshops and believes it exists to help people walk a stronger, straighter path.

Some of the workshops available at the conference are titled, Healthy Family's and Capital Health, Destinations/ Trades 2000, Alberta First Nations Task Force on Diabetes and Metis Child and Family Services. All workshops will in some way address the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs of the people attending the two-day conference, say organizers.

The name of the conference comes from a song written and recorded by Buffy Sainte-Marie. Seneca contacted the singer who granted permission to use the song title and designed the conference theme around it.

"Some of the words of the song just sort of explained what we were doing," said Seneca. "We are becoming more and more educated and it is lifting us up where we belong.,"

The Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society is a non-profit organization that started in 1994. Its goal is to develop and implement programs that specifically use the teachings and the traditions of Aboriginal people. The society also works with the non-Aboriginal community to strengthen and unite people in providing services for Aboriginal children. There are a number of programs offered by the organization, including Four Arrows,which is an employment program for people over the age of 18; Rites of Passage, which is a cultural, educational and life management program for Aboriginal youth;and Healthy Families', a long term intensive home visiting program for first time mothers.