Bringing Native Voices to the Forefront on Disability
Wayne Weston, University of South Dakota Oyate Circle coordinator & trainer, was the first presenter in the Native Center for Disabilities webinar series.
The Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities is working with Arizona’s tribal communities to establish the new Native Center for Disabilities.
The Native Center's goal is to address the needs of Native peoples with disabilities, as well as provide cultural education both within Native communities and non-Native populations. The services provided by the Native Center will include workshops, cultural trainings, and community events. The Center is currently offering a monthly webinar series that provides the historical and cultural context for how disability is viewed by tribal nations today.
The Native Center was established last fall when the Sonoran Center was awarded a grant from the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.
Jim E. Warne is assisting with getting the program off the ground. Warne is a recognized figure within the Native community. He is an award-winning filmmaker and a strong advocate for the Native disability community. He helped launch a similar program at the University of South Dakota.
Warne hopes that the Native Center can create broader understanding of indigenous history and ways of life, the issues affecting Native communities, and how these issues might be addressed in ways that place the agency of Native people at the forefront.
“A common reality in America is that people just don't know who we are,” Warne says. “[There are] programs or individuals that don't know who we are or how to work with us, so the services never get to our communities. The Native Center is going to be that mediator or conduit to provide these services from a Native perspective.”
Part of that Native perspective is incorporating voices from Arizona’s 22 tribal nations throughout the planning so that Native people are centered in discussions about Native issues. One of these organizational approaches is known as the Talking Circle, a community forum in which information is shared through storytelling.
As Warne describes, “Talking Circles are traditional communication forums for tribal communities. These talking circles are where I can gather information and do comparative analysis and data collection through stories shared by individuals.”
“We set the tone that it’s a safe place to share: If you want something to stay in the circle it will stay in there, but most of the folks are comfortable in sharing their information through storytelling. It's a very respectful, safe environment.”
The Native Center will also lift up Native perspectives on disability, to avoid miscommunication and ensure that the needs of people with disabilities in Native communities are addressed with respect to their cultural background.
“We don't even have a word for disability in our language, because we don't identify people by their disability,” says Warne. “We can help provide that cultural training so that these organizations can have more positive effects within these communities.”