If you sit in the room and hear the drumming and close your eyes, you can see the ancestors, you can hear all the goodness and all the spirits. It is the center for their healing. The drum is the center, and other traditional activities radiate from it like the directions on a medicine wheel. These ceremonies help the young people's claim their identities and combat the low self-esteem frequently found among Native American youth. Problems include school failures, teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol addiction, suicide, and violence.
Isolation is another problem.
There, young people build friendships, strengthen spiritual bonds, and practice ancient rituals. PA 19102 Links are for information only, and do not imply AFSC endorsement.