Covolo makes national presentation about healing for indigenous people
Danielle Covolo, a lecturer of Justice Studies at Chadron State College and doctoral student at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania gave a presentation about the healing practices of the Oglala Lakota Tribe.
By News Channel NebraskaCHADRON – In March, Danielle Covolo, a lecturer of Justice Studies at Chadron State College and doctoral student at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania gave a presentation about the healing practices of the Oglala Lakota Tribe at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS).
Her gender and racial justice paper panel presentation in National Harbor, Maryland, was titled Healing Through Reconnecting to Culture for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirited Folx (pronounced folks). Folx is a plural noun used to explicitly signal the inclusion of groups commonly marginalized, Covolo said.
“I’m thankful to all the people who shared their knowledge with me, encouraged me to braid my hair, made my ribbon skirt, and gave me beautiful traditional artwork to wear. All of these things were done to show respect for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People and their relatives. Is it important to remember that the knowledge I shared belongs solely to the Oglala Lakota,” she said.
She discussed pre-colonization and pre-governmental genocide of Native Indian and Alaskan Native in 1491 and forced migrations of the communities restricting them to 79,000 square miles by 1981. She said between 150 and 300 Oglala Lakota were killed at the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre. Covolo cited 2016 research stating that 50 percent of all Native Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime, often committed by non-native offenders.
“The bodies of the Oglala Lakota were further violated by being discarded in a mass grave, denying those fallen proper Oglala Lakota traditional burial rites. Only 25 Army soldiers were killed during the battle and 20 Medals of Honor were awarded to soldiers,” Covolo said.
Covolo said throughout decades, additional horrors have included sterilization by medical providers through the Indian Health Service under the guise of harmless procedures such as appendectomies. Some women sterilized directly after giving birth were told by physicians that the procedure was medically necessary. From 1819 to 1969, the federal government relocated children to 408 federal schools across 37 states or then territories, including 21 schools in Alaska and seven schools in Hawaii.
After outlining the past, she turned her attention to healing through cultural practices. She quoted professor, researcher, and author Dr. Elvira Pulitano who said, “Simply making sense of what is happening can also be a healing place.”
“Pow-wows, feedings, medicines, music, dance, and drumming circles are seen as restorative practices that provide opportunities for family and community members to deepen bonds. These practices emphasize the individual is not alone and interrupt the colonial tactic of divide and conquer. Many pow-wow gatherings are already highlighting the issue of missing and murdered women through ribbon skirts or shirts with red handprints to signify and honor those who are missing or murdered,” she said.
Sundance, the telling of oral histories or Wiwá?ya?g Wachípi can bind current and past generations. The practice, also called time-binding, involves dancing, singing, and drumming for four days. It was outlawed in the 1880s for several decades.
The Women’s Ceremony or Išnáthi alówa?pi is a coming-of-age rite during which all food and drink are administered to girls by caretakers to further reestablish and strengthen bonds within the Oglala Lakota community.
The final healing practice she explained was Making of a Relative. The traditional process of Hu?kálowa?pi includes celebrations that included dance, traditional food, and the pledger receiving a spirit name.
Kraatz shares insights into child behavior as communication
CHADRON – Dr. Elizabeth Kraatz, assistant professor in the Counseling, Psychological Sciences, Social Work department, was the second Graves Lecture Series speaker of the Spring semester March 28. Her topic was Child Behavior as Communication.
Kraatz, a former middle school science teacher, who also taught adult education before joining the faculty at Chadron State College, said when she observed some of the struggles students faced, she decided to pursue a doctorate in educational psychology. As a foster and adoptive parent, she started studying trauma.
She said research indicates about 60 percent of all second graders have had at least one instance of major trauma.
“Trauma can be a wide variety of things that affect everything about brain development, including social and emotional skills,” Kraatz said.
She pointed out that often young children do not have the words and skills to verbalize what they're feeling so an attempt at communicating can be expressed in a variety of behaviors.
“The antecedent comes before a behavior and triggers it. If we can understand what antecedent is causing a behavior, a lot of times we can set the child up for success and prevent bad behaviors before they happen,” she said.
Kraatz discussed several types of coping strategies.
“Small children are prone to be overwhelmed because they can't tune out certain noises or the fact their shoes are pinching their toes. Their brain is constantly trying to process all of this information and that can lead to a feeling of being overwhelmed. We can help calm the environment by maybe taking them into a hallway. That's emotion regulation,” she said.
She said for college students doing homework and getting really frustrated, a problem-focused solution would be to go to the professor or the tutoring center for help.
She explained cognitive change, an approach to dealing with a negative circumstance.
“One way is reappraising how you think about a situation. Maybe find a silver lining or try to look at something from someone else's perspective. We know a lot of well-being and other benefits come from this particularly important skill,” Kraatz said.
Another cue children use when they are learning to regulate their emotions is watching and emulating adults, a process called co-regulation.
“Little kids are not physically capable of fully self-regulating. Co-regulation is when the adult takes some of the responsibility for regulating the child’s emotion. An escalated adult cannot de-escalate an escalated child. We need to calm them down, we need to remain calm, and then we can revisit the whole issue,” Kraatz said.
She advised parents and caretakers to choose their battles, offer only productive criticisms, and allow children to make choices and fail in developmentally appropriate ways.
“Of course, we're not going to let our three-year-old run into the road, but as they get older, they need bigger chances to make their own choices and deal with the consequences. Coping with failure develops neurological pathways that will enable them to build coping skills for future failures that we all have,” she said.
Kraatz said even poor behaviors could be ignored if they are unlikely to reoccur.
“For example, your kid is so excited it is Christmas that they chuck something across the room. They're probably not going to break rules about chucking things across the room tomorrow when it’s not Christmas,” she said. “We can do things like cueing, giving verbal corrections, or using proximity. This is great as a teacher. I just walk over and stand next to the child causing the disruption and they usually quit.”
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes planned for Tuesday
CHADRON – Chadron State College sorority Zeta Alpha Kappa has partnered with DOVEs, a Panhandle agency that assists victims who have experienced sexual, domestic, or dating violence to host Walk a Mile in Her Shoes April 18 at 4 p.m.
Students helping to organize the event, Kamryn Kozisek and Haylee Payton, said the purpose of the event is to raise awareness about sexualized violence toward women, as well as promoting DOVEs as a resource, allow victims to feel safe on campus and in the community, educate the public and students and give victims a voice, according to Kozisek.
A poster-making session in Memorial Hall Room 147 will begin at 3 p.m. All supplies will be provided. Community members are invited to join the walk and families are welcome.
Payton said asking men to complete the walk while wearing heels is an effort to directly confront the gender stereotypes and enforce the self-reflection that what women wear is not the cause of the assault. She added that wearing heels is optional. Drop off boxes for heel donations are at Safeway and the Student Center.
Participants are invited to wear shirts to represent campus organizations and comfortable weather appropriate clothing. Each club can choose a T-shirt and decorate it April 13-15 as part of The Clothesline Project. Shirts will be displayed in the Student Center April 16-18 and a representative of each club will wear the decorated T-shirts in the march.
The walk, led by CSC athletic teams, will start at Memorial Hall after participants sign in and Dr. Mary Clai Jones assistant professor English speaks. The walk will conclude at the Dawes County Courthouse gazebo.
Tom Green, Director of Title IX compliance with the Nebraska State College System, will conclude the event by leading the pledge provided on the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes website. In case of inclement weather, the event will be the Nelson Physical Activity Center.
Additional events include an After-Walk Open Mic at the Bean Broker from 6-8 p.m., for anyone who would like to read their prose, poetry, or sing. Victims are invited feel comfortable speaking out about their stories.
An exhibit affiliated with Silent Witness National Initiative showing victims of domestic homicide and their stories will be in Memorial Hall from 2 to 6 p.m.
Sponsors of the event include Residence Life Association, Zeta Alpha Kappa, the Social Work Club, the Education Club, Student Senate, UNITED, Every Eagle Succeeds, the Diversity Equity and Inclusion committee, and the CSC football team.