Blog

I have always been afraid to talk about climate change. The barrage of doomsday numbers and the overwhelming magnitude of the problem leave me feeling small and powerless. But in the run up to COP26 , the most important climate change meeting in history, running away from the world’s toughest problem was no longer an option. So, as an audio journalist and podcast producer, I instead tried to imagine what a different approach to the discussion around climate change could sound like. So I...

Keeping salmon in her children’s diet is “an entire job”, says Georgiana Gensaw, a Yurok Tribe member and mother of four in Klamath Glen, California , a community whose only easily accessible food store is a fried chicken shop attached to a gas station a few miles away. The nearest grocery store, Safeway in Crescent City, lies 24 miles away along a stretch of road frequently plagued by landslides and toppled redwoods – last summer it was closed for 20 hours a day after a washout – making...

Next week on October 11th, 14 states and over 130 cities will celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. With the increasing urgency to speak truth to history and celebrate the Indigenous Peoples who have endured through centuries, the movement to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day is growing. And for good reason. The continued erasure of Native peoples from national narrative is devastating. If we do not create a space for Indigenous Peoples to share their stories of resilience, we...

California parks authorities voted Thursday to rename a popular park in Northern California to include its traditional Yurok name after a request from the state’s largest tribe. The state Parks and Recreation Commission voted unanimously to change the name from Patrick’s Point State Park to Sue-meg State Park after hearing testimony from tribal leaders about the cultural importance of the site. Until the pandemic struck, Yurok families held brush dances at Sue-meg Village, a site within the...

The pandemic has had a lasting effect on youth mental health. Moved by a desire to reduce youth’s toxic stress and increase their resilience, The Dibble Institute, in partnership with a team of students and alumni from ArtCenter College of Design and author Carolyn Curtis, PhD, is releasing Me & My Emotions —a new, free adaptation of our beloved Mind Matters Curriculum. The mobile-friendly Me & My Emotions website features engaging graphics and bite-sized lessons teens can access and...

By Beth Warren, Yahoo! News, September 23, 2021 A bashful Native American who thwarted death twice summoned his inner warrior during a summer powwow, dressed in purple regalia and long feathers. Jasten "Jazz" Bears Tail, 36, immersed himself in the movement, a style called fancy dancing, at the event in the North Dakota town of Parshall on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. He stomped and twirled in sync with the pounding of the drums, symbolizing the heartbeat of his ancestors. On the...

Becky Antle, Ph.D., Professor of Social Work and esteemed University Scholar at the University of Louisville, won The Dibble Institute’s national competition to evaluate Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience in 2019. As a result, Dr. Antle and her colleagues have conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of Mind Matters on a host of outcomes related to trauma symptoms, emotional regulation, coping and resiliency, and interpersonal skills for at-risk...

The National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives is soliciting factsheets addressing the challenges of American Indians. Somewhat similar to our just released structural racism booklet , the purpose of each factsheet is to describe the unique challenges of these tribal communities, the prevailing needs, and potential policy solutions. Dimensions of the issues to be covered might include discrimination and prejudicial practices, acculturation/assimilation challenges, risk for mental...

English: The California Department of Public Health, Injury and Prevention Branch (CDPH/IVPB) and the California Department of Social Service, Office of Child Abuse Prevention’s (CDSS/OCAP) , Essentials for Childhood (EfC) Initiative , ACEs Connection , and the Yolo County Children’s Alliance co-created “Coping with Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic” in both English and Spanish. This material is intended for Californian families experiencing the severe economic consequences resulting from...

Indigenous land-based education has implications for science, culture, politics, language, environmental stewardship, land rights, reconciliation - and the future of this planet. For anyone who seeks an understanding of what Indigenous land-based education is, it may be instructive to begin by grasping what it is not. If your mind went straight to “taking the classroom outside” or “outdoor education,” bingo: that’s what it’s not . Or at least, that’s not all it is—not by far. A multi-faceted...

Some months ago, I was catching up with my dear friend and board member, Roberto Rivera . As an entrepreneur and community organizer with a doctorate and Lin-Manuel-Miranda-level freestyle abilities, he is a teacher to me in many ways. I was sharing with him that for a long time, I’ve struggled with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs . The traditional interpretation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is that humans need to fulfill their needs at one level before we can advance to higher levels. As...