Cultural Recovery

MISSION and GOALS

Thundermaker Cultural Recovery provides 4-day cultural recovery programs that use culturally appropriate teachings and practices, with a focus on addiction and the opioid crisis within Native American tribal communities.

The goal is to provide services that, through recovering cultural identity, foster prevention and community-based recovery support systems.

CULTURAL RECOVERY PROGRAMS

The cultural recovery programs provide a space to reconnect with traditional ways and cultural roots by means of reestablishing cultural identity through community and spiritual support systems.

Each day of the program will be focused on 1 of the 4 directions and colors of the medicine wheel, with the sweat lodge being the introduction to the program.

• Day 1 is East (yellow)

• Day 2 is South (white)

• Day 3 is West (black)

• Day 4 is North (red)

Each day, there will be a presenter from a tribe, representing each direction, such as a tribe from the east, a tribe from the south, a tribe from the west, and a tribe from the north. This is to bring all of the directions together to help bridge the cultural communities within the circle, and show that we are all connected and willing to help each other as a unified nation.

Along with traditional teachings, each day will have activities that focus on personal growth and healing through cultural teachings, cultural practices and activities, group presentations, and discussions on various topics.

Upon arrival to the program, there will be an explanation of the expectations and help to prepare for the initial sweat lodge and activities of the upcoming days. 

The sweat lodge ceremony provides us with an opportunity to create a spiritual, physical, mental and emotional foundation of well being, which will be the groundwork needed for the program.

Thundermaker Cultural Recovery currently offers three different programs:

• Culturally based prevention programming for Native Youth (ages 13-17)

• Culturally based prevention, recovery, and after-care programming for Native Adults (18-24)

• Culturally based prevention, recovery, and after-care programming for Native Adults (25+)

These programs provide a platform for prevention and recovery through traditional cultural practices, and are created with flexibility built in, so that additional cultural practices or traditions may be added as requested.