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Over the next few months, The Wellbriety Movement will be providing some communications around the importance of registering for the 2020 Census and voting!  Registering for the Census impacts how much funding is going to help our communities.  It can help secure more funding for schools and programs that our people need!  Below we have provided some information on why everyone should participate in the Census and how your information is being protected.

How the Census Affects Indian Country?

The census works as an important tool for federal and Tribal decision making. Your participation in the 2020 census is important so that our Native population is not underrepresented! The results of the census determine the number of seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives, and they are used to draw congressional and state legislative districts. The data collected from the census helps guide how billions of dollars in federal, state, and tribal funding are distributed. Having accurate census data allows for fairer allocations of funds that support Tribal programs. The census also helps Tribal leaders understand what their community needs are, plan for growth, and helps Tribal communities attract new business. Many Tribal organizations and Tribes have used census data to plan new facilities and programs for the communities they serve.

In summary, registering for the 2020 Census can actually help your community!  Click here for the link to the 2020 Census Tribal Handbook to help answer any additional questions or concerns you may have.

What is the Census?

Every 10 years the U.S. Constitution requires a census to determine how many seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. The count is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, a nonpartisan government agency. The census counts the population of the U.S. and five U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).

The Census Bureau respects the privacy of people who answer the census and is bound by strict confidentiality requirements. The Census Bureau cannot share the answers it receives with anyone, including welfare agencies, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Tribal officials, Tribal courts, Tribal police, or the military. Census employees take an oath of nondisclosure and are sworn for life to protect all information that could identify individuals. Anyone who breaks this law can receive up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.

The 2020 Census marks the first time everyone has been invited to respond online. There’s still time to shape the future for your community. You can complete the #2020Census now online, by phone, or by mail.

Visit the 2020 Census website to register or for more information: https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond.html

The Census Bureau uses technology to protect your information through many security measures, including electronic barriers and encryption devices. Data from an individual are combined with other data to produce the statistical summaries that are published. The Census Bureau does not produce data that can identify any individual.  Below is a quick video to give more information on why being part of the 2020 Census is so important!

The Covid-19 Prison Giveaway Project to Our Native Sisters in Prison

We know many of our sisters in prison are in lockdown because of the COVID-19 Virus. The virus is spreading throughout the prison and I cannot imagine the stress they are going through.

After talking to a couple of the Wellbriety people who are working with the Sisters, they told me if the inmates could have a Red Road to Wellbriety book and Study Guide and Workbook to go through while in lockdown, it would help relieve some of the tension and help them on their path to recovery.  So, this is what White Bison is proposing.

We have reached an agreement with two women’s prisons. One is in California, CIW (they are making masks and sending them to our tribal communities) and one is in Washington state. If you feel moved to purchase one Red Road to Wellbriety Book ($18.00) and one Study Guide and Workbook ($15.00), a total of $33.00, for either one of these women’s prisons, White Bison would match your gift for another set of the Red Road to Wellbriety book and Study Guide. We are willing to do this for 50 sets of books for each of the two prisons. This will allow 200 books to be given for free to our Native sisters.

Being locked up, our Sisters can read about recovery and the cultural ways of Wellbriety.

If you would like to place an order, please call at 866-518-5275 and ask for Virginia.  Tell her this is for the COVID-GIVEAWAY PROJECT, give her a payment of $33.00 and we will include an extra set of books to send to our Native women in prison. If you would like us to write a note from you to be put in the book, give Virginia the words or ask her for an email to send them and we will slip those words in the book.

We need our women to come home. If you feel moved, please help us help our sisters in prison.  This offering will be reviewed at the end of each month, and we will publish how many books are being sent to women’s prisons.

Thank you so much for your continued support!

The National Wellbriety Drum

White Bison was founded in 1988 with a mission to bring 100 communities into healing by 2010. Originally, White Bison set out to help young people, but as it progressed, we discovered that we had to focus on individual healing first. We began to develop culturally-based programs for recovery and treatment of alcohol and substance use, and began working in Indigenous communities all over Turtle Island. As the need for these programs grew, a movement was born, and it became The Wellbriety Movement. Wellbriety means to live a sober life that is balanced emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. White Bison’s Mission today is creating and sustaining a grassroots Wellbriety Movement that provides culturally based healing to the next seven generations of Indigenous People.

Growth Tip:  Anticipatory grief refers to a feeling of grief occurring before an impending loss. Typically, the impending loss is the death of someone close due to illness.

I remember when my sister got cancer the second time, and the doctor told her they could do nothing more. Even though I was working the 12 steps to my best ability, I got this feeling that was weird and would not go away.  I was hoping and praying for a miracle.  I was making deals with the Creator.  I was acting strong.  I was talking hope, but deep down I knew it was over. I felt guilty thinking I will be glad when it is over for her. I was sharing my weird feelings with a friend in the program and it was explained to me this feeling is called Anticipatory Grief. It’s a feeling that some people get when they know death of a loved one is going to happen. It is different than grief after a person dies, this is like a pre-grief.

I have moments of this feeling going on now with the COVID-19 crisis. They are predicting large scale death. I am anticipating getting a call that it will be someone close to me, someone, I know, friend, family, but I am preparing myself.

The Healing Forest Graphic shows the hurt is deep down in our community roots. That is where the Intergenerational Trauma is hidden. The cause behind Anticipatory Grief is fear which can be in two categories: 1. We are not going to get something we want or 2. We are going to lose something we have.

Talking to a few Elders, they shared this happened to our ancestors with smallpox, Trail of Tears, the Long Walk, the Pueblo War, the hunting of Native in California, etc.  By 1920 99% of the Native people had been killed off by Genocide. This Intergenerational Trauma is passed down through the DNA from one generation to the next if healing has not taken place.

Will this Epidemic be causing trauma inside ourselves because it happened to our ancestors?

We may be facing death in our Native Communities and experiencing Anticipatory grief. We need to make sure our mental health workers, our counseling professional can help us process through this Epidemic. We need to count on our culture, ceremonies, prayer, and spirituality to carry us through.

What does one do if you feel you have this grief before the grief? Talking to counselors or an Elder is always a positive step. To use our medicine is also a good step. We are looking for a safe place to go when uncertainty occurs. We are looking for the LOVE place. Our medicine takes us there. Smudge with sage, cedar, sweetgrass, cedar baths, or other culture medicines. Pray in the mornings to the 4 directions, sing your morning songs, your healings songs, etc. find that place where fear cannot exist. Gratitude is a medicine that helps us to focus on our blessings.

This virus is spread by breath and touch. Try to stay away from other human beings when possible, wear a mask to keep from giving it to someone else, and wash hands frequently. Isolate if you can if you have symptoms.

Even though we are in isolation, as humans, we can still stay in contact socially with those we love, telephone, Skype, Facebook, Instagram, Zoom, etc. We can see each other. This is for a short time, but a time of testing. We need one another to make it through this time of testing. We ARE all connected, all over the Earth.

If there are professional mental health workers in Indian Country that would like to attend a Zoom meeting to share ideas of what you are doing or want to know what others are doing to help process grief from this virus, send your email and contact information to  and we will set up a meeting.