Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Event Date & Time Location
In Her Shoes: Living with Domestic Violence Experiential Learning Activity Wednesday Oct 23
10 am-12 pm and lunch afterwards

Pokagon Community Center


Program Registration by: Tuesday, October 22nd by 5 pm

The In Her Shoes program was developed by the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence after the discovery that survivor stories were more impactful than statistics and facts in DV awareness education.  This simulation activity, based on the true-life stories of survivors, shows participants how it feels to be in abusive and controlling relationships and helps to increase awareness of the difficulties women who experience violence face when seeking support.

Event Date & Time Location
The Berry Pickers Book Discussion Thursday Oct 24
9 am-11 am
Pokagon Health Services Multipurpose Room

Program registration by: Friday, October 11 by 5P.

Each quarter, Pokagon Band Victim Services hosts a book discussion for Pokagon citizens focusing on Native American literature and contemporary issues. There is usually an interest from non-Pokagon staff to participate. Here is an opportunity for interested staff to receive a copy of The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters and discuss the issues in this story of a Mi’Kmaq family after their youngest child vanishes.

Coffee/ tea and treats to be provided.

Event Date & Time Location
Take a Break w/ the N’we Jinan Artists Friday, Oct 25
12 pm-1 pm
Pokagon Police Training Center

Program registration: No sign-up needed for this program.

Do you need a pick-up at the end of the week? Bring your lunch and enjoy an hour of music videos from the N’we Jinan program, a First Nations mobile music and production studio working with Indigenous youth in over 70 tribal communities to create original songs and videos centering on various themes including using cultural identity, connection to the elders, language, and self-acceptance to deal with issues such as historical trauma, suicide, substance abuse and violence.  Come to relax and listen to a good reminder of why we work so hard!

Information will also be provided about the Pokagon Band’s programs that work with our tribal youth in building resilience and community pride.

Cookies and other baked goods will be provided.

Event Date & Time Location
Staff Connections Game Sign-up from Mon Oct 21st- Wed Oct 23rd

Completed game sheets due by Thurs Oct 24th @ 5 pm. Winners announced Oct 25th.

On-line

The Staff Connections Game is a light-hearted way for Pokagon staff to take a break and play a game to connect with other staff.  Connecting with other staff members in a positive way is one aspect of helping to prevent burnout. Players will receive a game sheet with a variety of questions.  After players submit their game sheets, they will then be randomly matched with another staff member, and their sheets will be compared to determine how many of their answers are the same.  The team with the most matches will be the winners.

Staff will be able to sign-up for a game sheet from Monday, October 21st -Wednesday October 23rd. Completed game sheets will be due by Thursday, October 24th @ 5 pm and the winners will be announced October 25th.

To register for any of the events, please e-mail Marie.Willis@PokagonBand-nsn.gov by the events’ individual deadlines.

T-shirts and Decorating Contest 

T-shirts were ordered, based off the sizes sent over by Directors. We are waiting for them to arrive. Once they do, we will distribute to the team members who ordered a shirt. These are the same design as last year, so last year’s should work. We only ordered a few extra in each size. If extras are left, once shirts are distributed, we can hand out extras on a first come, first served basis. We will not know how many extras we have until we have handed out the other staff shirts, so please don’t request one until after the shirts are handed out.

The office decorating contest will be held on Friday, October 25. Reach out to Casey Kasper-Welles or Marie Willis by Monday, October 21 to let us know if your team is interested in participating. We have some decorations (streamers, etc.) available if you are interested. More than anything, awareness and education must be front and center. If this helps, here are some links to different reports and organizations doing domestic violence work that may help inform some of your decorations.

Violence Against AI/AN Women and Men (NIJ, 2016)

US Government Accountability Office MMIW Report (GAO, 2021)

Urban Indian Health Institute MMIWG (UIHI, 2018)

Futures without Violence

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Strong Hearts Native Helpline

National Indigenous Women's Resource Center

Uniting Three Fires Against Violence