Strong Family Health Center hosted the 2024 “Voices of the River” Native Youth Summit. The theme for this year’s summit was “Culture is Prevention”. The event was held at Strong Family Health Center where the youth camped in the backyard of the youth center.
The workshops were presented throughout three days and consisted of a variety of different cultural activities and talking points. The workshops included sessions entitled; “Traditional Roots”- a workshop that taught about local medicinal and edible plants, “Beargrass Braiding”, “Hand Games” “Medicine Bag Making”, “Adulting 101”- a workshop on life skills and important information for young adults, “Mini Moccasin Making”, Raw Hide Jewelry Making, “Inhaling Danger”- a workshop about the dangers of vaping, “Chilax”- a workshop on meditation, “Communication Through Generations”- a workshop where youth took part in the Ribbon Ceremony and had conversations with a panel of adults about life choices, “Communication and Technology”- a workshop on healthy ways to communicate and using technology in moderation, and a presentation on “Pheasants”- where youth watched how to kill and process the birds for cooking. We are greatful for all of our community partners and collaborators who traveled from as far south as Oakland and Point Arena California and who where from as nearby as our neighboring partners here in Alturas. We also appreciate all of those who donated toward our event! Thank you all for supporting our youth!