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CLOSING KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dr. Martin Brokenleg, Professor of First Nations
Ministry and Theology,
Vancouver School of Technology
“If we plan to be whole we have to stop
looking at woundedness and instead focus on
wholeness.”
“First Nations include spirituality in everything
that they do. Most groups back away from
spirituality, but not Native people, because
spirituality is their fundamental strength.”
“Belonging is so powerful that it will heal any
wounds you’ve been carrying with you and will
give you the courage to walk through fire if
necessary. All of us feel on the inside the power
that belonging has – it creates strength and
energy.”
“Mastery creates strength of spirit. It is not just
getting something done, but discovering what
you can do.”
Dr. Brokenleg shared that the median age in
native communities was typically between the ages
of 12 and 14 years old, with 50% of the population
being older and 50% of the population being
younger. In Saskatoon and Regina public schools,
60% of the children were Aboriginal.
Dr. Brokenleg discussed the Circle of Courage
psychology for dealing with youth and adults,
noting that in order to be whole, it was necessary
to stop looking at woundedness and to instead
focus on wholeness. He shared that fundamentally,
culture was in place not lost, although it could
take some work to find it and dig it out again. He
emphasized that in looking at the First Nations’
wellness legacy over thousands of years, the last
200 years lost their importance.
An overview of an Aboriginal childcare
philosophy taken from the green book “Reclaiming
Youth at Risk” provided best practices for working
with kids, using four spiritual strengths that existed
in all Aboriginal communities: belonging, mastery,
independence, and generosity.
Belonging was the need to be significant
and important – like the killer whales that were
always in pods. In Sioux culture there were no
clans or crests, but there were relatives that did
everything together. For example, Dr. Brokenleg
shared that hospitals in South Dakota dropped
the requirement for native patients to limit their
number of visitors. He spoke of the reality that a
baby crawling on the floor in a room of strangers
would crawl directly to its mother. Babies were
designed to belong. In fact, regardless of their age,
everyone wanted to belong.
Dr. Brokenleg discussed his icons of belonging,
which were his mother and father who married on
may 1, 1937. To celebrate 60 years together, they
invited the community to witness them renew
their vows. They fed 4,000 people and asked for
no gifts or money. Five months later on a Friday
afternoon, Dr. Brokenleg was beside his father
when he suffered a stroke and right side paralysis.
When his mother arrived and called his father
by her special name for him he smiled, and then
closed his eyes. He lingered six more days. There
were 70 people there when he took his last breath.
Dr. Brokenleg shared that when a parent died,
the whole world seemed to change. Two hours
after his father died, his mother said that she was
also ready to go. She was miserable for five more
months and then they buried her as well.
It was observed that schools typically
responded to those in difficulty with “unbelonging”
or “time outs”. Other groups however,
accepted people when they were ‘going down in
flames’, because they knew that nothing happened
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VANCOUVER, bC • mAY 20 - 21 , 2008