Seattle Indian Health Board’s Youth Gathering of Native Americans
Virtual Indigenous wellness retreat for Native youth (ages 14–19) focusing on values of belonging, mastery, interdependence, and generosity.
July 27–29 | 12:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Youth GONA provides Native youth (ages 14–19) a framework to examine historical trauma and its impact. The curriculum incorporates the four values of human growth and responsibility: belonging, mastery, interdependence, and generosity.
If you have any questions, contact youthservices@sihb.org or (206) 324-9360 ext. 3202.
Hosted in partnership with Native Wellness Institute
Every Youth GONA participant who attends all sessions will receive a $25 gift card and there will be raffle prizes!
Our Youth Team will be delivering the Youth GONA Kits on July 26, 2021 to the addresses provided on the registration form by those participants who sign up by July 22, 2021. Any sign-ups after this date will have to pick up their Youth GONA Kit from the Seattle Indian Health Board Office on July 26, 2021 from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Youth GONA 2021 Facilitators
Robert Johnston (Muskogee Creek/Choctaw)
“When you hold back, you stand behind the mountain. When you step up, you stand on top of it!”Robert is a founding member of the Native Wellness Institute and a popular Native American speaker and coach who has served Indian Country for over 15 years. He uses humor, storytelling, and music in his highly interactive presentations. As a leadership trainer for youth, Robert has served many organizations including White Bison, United National Indian Tribal Youth (UNITY), National Congress of American Indian (NCAI), and the Native Wellness Institute. He is a certified hypnotist and has studied Sports Motivation. Robert’s hypnosis shows have delighted Native communities all over the United States and Canada.
Shalene Joseph (Gros Ventre)
Shalene is from the Gros-Ventre or A’aniiih people of Fort Belknap, Montana and Athabascan people of Tanana, Alaska, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Native American and Indigenous Studies from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado and with her Master’s degree in American Indian Studies from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). While at UCLA she served as a Teaching Assistant where she prepared class syllabi and curriculum as well as taught American Indian Studies courses. She also served as the vice-president of the American Indian Graduate Center where she led several projects and
initiatives. Shalene received the American Indian Studies Community Service Award from UCLA for her outstanding work and service to the students and community. She has been mentored and molded into a leader since she was a young girl through the Native Wellness Institute (NWI) and continues to work for NWI as a Project Coordinator, as well as a trainer and recently a part of the newly launched movement, the Indigenous 20 Something Project (I20SP). She has worked on projects for Urban Native Era and the Phenomenally Indigenous campaign. She is well traveled and has had the opportunity to experience and learn from many tribal and urban communities she has had the opportunity to visit and work with. Shalene strives to see Indigenous people rise and become the healthy community members they were meant to be. And through positive thought and action, she keeps herself on a path of healing and wellness
Josh Cocker (Kiowa, Tongan)
Josh is from the Kiowa, or Ka’igwu people in Oklahoma, and the kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific. He is a certified outdoor instructor and facilitator, with an associate’s degree from Whitireia Polytechnic in Wellington, New Zealand. He has traveled extensively in the South Pacific for work and service including: Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Australia. Most recently he has worked in the Tonto National Forest in Arizona as a trail walker, coordinator, and trainer for an outdoor behavioral healthcare foundation. From the age of 14, Josh was given a position in a military society of his tribe, and trained as a youth leader to preserve and share traditional knowledge with his generation. He seeks to honor and share that knowledge with everyone. “My hope is that I can help reintroduce people from all walks of life to our First Mother in all her wisdom and beauty. I hope to inspire healing, harmony, and connection through the use and passing of traditional skills in the outdoors.”