NEW INITIATIVES • ISSUE 07 • FEB-MAR 2022
Wabanaki Resiliency Lodge holding mindful art workshops
Indigenous women in Canada are significantly over-represented in the victim population of human trafficking. First Nations women and youth represent between 70% and 90% of the visible sex trade in areas where the Aboriginal population is less than 10% in Canada. Research has shown that art therapy and mindfulness therapy strengthen survivors’ resiliency and sense of coherence as well as transform posttraumatic stress and surviving to posttraumatic growth and thriving.
The Wabanaki Resiliency Lodge has been hard at work on developing a series of mindful art workshops for Indigenous women and Two-Spirit survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Marlena Robbins, a Diné (Navajo) woman from the Red Running Into Water People Clan who is committed to helping Indigenous women and gender-diverse people in their healing journey, will be facilitating the workshops. She obtained her master’s in Indigenous rights and social justice from Arizona State University. Marlena’s thesis, entitled “Art as a Spiritual Expression for Indigenous Wellbeing,” focused on healing and the developmental principles and practices that may serve as paradigms for Indigenous communities to re-establish a resilient connection to identity.
This is the second series that Marlena is facilitating for the Native Women’s Association of Canada.
Two advisory circle meetings, which will be held each year, will complement the workshop series. As well, a three-day in-person workshop will take place at one of the resiliency lodges in late 2022 or early 2023. We will also be creating an evaluation tool to ensure that our programming is culturally safe, sacred, and trauma-informed.
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