Culture Program

The White Earth Behavioral Health Culture Program is dedicated to preserving, revitalizing, and integrating traditional Native American practices into behavioral health services. Our mission is to provide culturally relevant care that fosters healing, resilience, and wellness within the community.

As Anishinaabe it is our inherent right to know who we are, where we came from and where we are going. The following AFT Teachings provide us with a beginning, a reclamation of our knowledge and practices. These teachings must be heard so that our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren have their stories and way of being in the world.

The White Earth Cultural Program is rolling out the Anishinaabe Foundational Teachings. These Anishinaabe Foundational Teachings (AFT) are hands on learning through ceremony. The history of Indigenous life practices of Anishinaabe Wauking/Turtle Island. Our oral tradition is the way that we learned about ourselves before colonization. It is time to reclaim our foundational Anishinaabe Foundational Teachings. This includes our traditional aadizookaan/creation story, history and oral tradition teachings. Also, we will consider the practices and traditions of the Anishinaabeg (historic and current), our spiritual ties to the land, the role of Grandmothers, Grandfathers, and female and male roles in Anishinaabeg bimaadiziwin/life. The ceremonies such as the asemaa/tobacco ceremony, the opwaagan/pipe ceremony, the wiikondiwin/feast the madoodiswan/sweat lodge, our noojino’iwewin/healing ceremonies, gii’igoshimowin/rites of passage, and our way of being in the world. All of these provide us with direction, balance, health, and wellbeing in Mino bimaadiziiwin (Living the good life). These gatherings will be paired with our history and hands on experiences that help us to learn and have access to our gikendamowin/knowledge:

• the Creation Story,
• the Seven Fires of Creation,
• the Seven Fires Prophecies,
• the Seven Grandfather teachings,
• the Four Directions,
• the Clan system,
• the Four Seasons,
• our Ceremonies/spiritual practices,
• our traditional healing practices, natural medicines,
• art and lifeways

The ceremonies are ongoing in WE communities: Asemaa/Tobacco Ceremony, Water Ceremony, Feasting, Rites of Passage, Full moon, Berry Fast, Baby Welcoming, Fasting Camp, Kwe Camp, Inini Camp, Spirit Pole Remembrance, Gimikwenimin/Grieving Feast, Pipe Feast, Pipe Ceremony, Sweat lodge, Untying Ceremony, Water Bundle offerings, Cedar healing, and the Reunification of families, are all ways that we can help to heal ourselves.