The Arts of Traditional Healing

An Interactive and Sensory Experience

January 29, 2023 - Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center

Registration is Free and limited to 100 spots

REGISTER HERE

Summary:

Traditional healers and wellness practitioners Meda DeWitt, LaVerne Xilegg Demientieff, Jennifer Andrulli, Dustin Newman, and Molly Cerridwen invite you to join us for The Arts of Traditional Healing: An Interactive and Sensory Experience. We will weave in community, connection, and imagination. Arrive with an open heart to experience plants, minerals, movement, and breath. Tune into the sound of the drum and we will journey through the senses. Traditional health based practices will be discussed and explored through a variety of experiential activities. This workshop is in the process of review for Joint Interprofessional Education Accreditation for CEUs and is offered in partnership by the Alaska Center for Rural Health & Health Workforce (ACRH-HW) and the State of Alaska Department of Health Division of Public Health.

Agenda at a Glance:

Speaker Bios:

Meda DeWitt

Meda’s Tlingit names are Tśa Tsée Naakw, Khaat kłaat, adopted Iñupiaq name is Tigigalook, and adopted Cree name is Boss Eagle Spirit Woman “Boss.” Her clan is Naanyaa.aayí and she is a child of the Kaach.aadi. Her family comes from Shtuxéen kwaan (now referred to as Wrangell, AK.) Meda’s lineage also comes from Oregon, Washington, and the BC/Yukon Territories. Currently she lives on Dena’ina lands in Anchorage, Alaska with her fiancé James “Chris” Paoli and their eight children. Meda’s work revolves around the personal credo “Leave a world that can support life and a culture worth living for.” Her work experience draws from her training as an Alaska Native traditional healer and Healthy Native Communities capacity building facilitator. Meda’s work has led to extensive travel to Rural and Urban communities in Alaska, Yukon Canada, and the Lower 48.

LaVerne Dementieff

LaVerne Xilegg Demientieff is Deg Xit’an and her family is originally from Holy Cross and Anvik, Alaska. She is a Professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Bachelor of Social Work program where she has taught since 2006. LaVerne is a community wellness practitioner and leads a variety of training on healing centered engagement, ancestral trauma and wellness, adverse childhood experiences, trauma informed care, and cultural strength, remembering, and restoration. She is engaged in Indigenous language revitalization with a foundation in love, relationality, and safety, specifically learning and teaching the Deg Xinag language. She is deeply committed to exploring the connection between language and well-being and practicing compassionate, healing centered language learning, and growing. LaVerne’s research interests include exploring how cultural and traditional practices contribute to individual, family, group and community resilience, health, healing, and wellness. She works closely with Elders in research and teaching and is always transformed and healed by their compassionate wisdom and aspires to be a respected Elder in the future. 

Molly Cerridwen

Molly Cerridwen is Yup’ik, Siberian Yup'ik, and Irish with ancestral ties to Nelson Island, Alaska, and County Kerry, Ireland. She is a member of Too Naaleł Denh (Manley Hot Springs Tribe) and Knik Tribe. She is the founder of Shapeshifting Wellness; an Alaska Native traditional healing and yoga clinic on the traditional lands of the Knik Tribe in Southcentral Alaska. Molly is a Traditional Knowledge Holder for the Alaska Tribes Extension Program at the Cooperative Extension Service. She weaves traditional health-based practices, education, and complementary and alternative medicine modalities to support each person, and each community where they are in their journey of wellness.

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