Healing Hearts CoalitionD

Healing Native Hearts Coalition Interviewee: Shirley Moses, Director

1. How did this work come about? And why was it necessary?

We applied for the “Thriving Women’s Initiative, Alaska grant. There are a lot of murdered

and missing Native women in Alaska which is a really big concern. There are a lot of cold cases

that need to be reopened, and because of the lack of investigation, this doesn’t happen. For those

still missing there is no closure for the families or community. This contributes to ongoing

trauma. In some instances, those that have murdered or committed a crime against a Native

woman will also plea bargain their way to a lesser charge and be out of prison in a shorter

amount of time. With our women, it could be years before the crime committed against them is

solved, if it is ever solved. Our work is necessary to raise awareness and honor missing women.

We were showing a video related to violence and it opened up this can of worms; we didn’t

realize how it would impact others and that this would lead to so much more in the development

of our work.

2. To accomplish your work, how does your project draw upon the best of the what has been or is in your organization and community?

We have strong women in our communities and we draw upon the strengths and resilience of

women to help guide what we do. Women have been through a lot and have a lot of knowledge.

There are also others who are sincere and want to help out and we depend on them too. There

are a lot of talented, giving people who support what we are doing. Many of them end up

volunteering to help however they can.

3. (a) Why did you get involved and what makes you stay? (b) What is important about what you do and what do you love most about the work?

Growing up I saw a lot of violence and I knew how important it was to address it.

Women in our communities were not being helped which was a big concern. The systems that

worked with us were not representative or responsive to what we needed in many of our villages.

We don’t have counselors available in many areas to intervene or help us. We rely on the use of

traditional ceremony and whatever else works to address the violence. I love that we are able to

use our voice to advocate for change in the laws and to pursue alternative ways of healing. Using

traditional approaches and not just western ways.

4. When your organization has been operating at its best what have been the most inspiring, and creative moments and accomplishments of your project?

There have been many inspiring moments in our work. What happens in our training has

provided a lot of inspiration: the men who are not normally involved in addressing the violence

are brought into the change and process of understanding violence and what must it be done to

end it. In the training we do it in a more traditional, holistic way using a community approach.

The men, elders, and women are all engaged in discussing why sexual assault must be resolved in

order to break the cycle of violence. The process has a big impact on those that go through it.

5. (a) Thinking big, outside the circle/box, what is the dream of the organization (what might be)? (b) How might this come about and how would you communicate it to others?

I want to engage and work with partner agencies to build on the strengths of the villages

to respond to the violence and meet the needs of the village. We want to use what is needed in

(Child Protective Services) to work with families instead of pulling them apart. Aftercare

(counseling and traditional healing) and a basic response that meets the needs of communities is

important. Doing presentations to other agencies about our work and what we believe needs to

be done and would be one way of communicating it to others.

6. What do you appreciate most about those that you work with and what do they appreciate about you?

Tami (from the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center) values our guidance and

supports us to do our best and lets us walk our talk. She builds on a person’s strengths, and

values, and all that they have to offer. She is open minded to the possibilities and is able to think

outside of the box. She is engaged and committed in a positive way and understands the history

of the anti-violence movement. She shares in the responsibility of what we are doing.

7. What do you feel are the most important strategies and practices of your project? (b) How do they serve to empower the community? (c) What has your community appreciated most about what you do?

Community folks would say that we [our staff] can admit that we didn’t know what the

best strategies or practices of the project would be. But that we are committed to work to find

the solutions. And, we don’t have to spend time educating the community; they take care of this

themselves.

8 and 9. What positive images do you and your organization envision for the future or your work and the people you serve? What commitments do you and your organization have to make sure you are on the right path that will lead to positive changes in the organization and community?

We are not driven by grant funding. We are doing what we do because we believe in the

importance of what we are doing. Our organization works closely with the people and is a voice

for our people. We work closely with them to identify and secure the training and support that

they need. We are committed to meeting the cultural needs of our communities. Our board has

expressed its gratitude and support for what we are doing and is very grateful for the support that

we have received from the 7th Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples. The funding helps to

gives us the tools to address and create changes through the Violence Against Women Act

(VAWA).

Applying the Appreciative Inquiry 4-D Cycle

I. Discovery: The Discovery phase is a search to understand the “best of what is” and “what has been.” It begins with a collaborative act of crafting appreciative interview questions and constructing an appreciative interview guide. Appreciative interview questions are written as affirmative probes into an organization’s positive core, in the topic areas selected. They are written to generate stories, to enrich the images and inner dialogue within the organization, and to bring the positive core more fully into focus.

Although the Appreciative Inquiry literature does not feature tenacity as one of the major

positive core attributes, it can take its place alongside resilience when it concerns the best of what

is in the staff and the organizational priorities of the Healing Native Hearts Coalition. The

project understands that missing Native women must not be forgotten and that their absence has

detrimental effects on the community – so they keep this concern at the front and center in their

work:

There are a lot of cold cases that need to be reopened, and because of the lack of investigation, this doesn’t happen For those that are still missing there is no closure for the families or community.This contributes to ongoing trauma… Our work is necessary to raise awareness and honor missing women.

Similar to other projects it is the women in the community that display the positive core

of strengths, resilience, wisdom and knowledge. The project understands this and considers their

presence and contributions a large part of the best of what is:

We have strong women in our communities, and we draw upon the strengths and resilience of women to help guide what we do. Women have been through a lot and have a lot of knowledge.

Getting involved and staying in a job that is extremely emotionally challenging requires a

positive core that is loaded with resilience, strength, and optimism. What got Shirley involved

was discovering she had a lifetime of experience, there was a lack of help for those in need, and a

need for change:

Growing up I saw a lot of violence and I knew it was important to address it. Women in our communities were not being helped which was a big concern…we don’t have counselors available in many areas to intervene or help us.

In discovering what makes her stay, and is important about what she does, has a lot to do

with her knowledge that a cultural, holistic approach works and can resolve violence, and that

she is afforded the opportunity to use her voice to create important legal and political changes:

We rely on the use of traditional ceremony and whatever else works to address the violence. I love that we are able to use our voice to advocate for change in the laws and pursue alternative ways of healing.

The most inspiring and the best of what has been accomplished in the Healing Native

Hearts Coalition project has to do with the organization’s training approach, that brings Native

women, men, and elders together to address violence using traditional healing strategies:

What happens in our training has provided a lot of inspiration: the men who are not normally involved in addressing the violence are brought into the change and process of understanding violence and what must be done to end it…we do it in a more traditional, holistic way using a community approach [that includes] men, elders, and women.

II. Dream: The Dream phase is an energizing exploration of “what might be”: a time for people to explore their hopes and dreams for their work, their working relationships, their organization, and the world at large. It is a time for groups of people to engage in thinking big and thinking out of the boundaries of what has been in the past. The intent of the Dream phase is to identify and spread generative, affirmative and hopeful images of the future

Exploring what might be for the Healing Native Hearts Coalition has to do with creating

networks that rely on the positive core of talents, strengths, and wisdom of Native communities:

I want to engage and work with partner agencies to build on the strengths of the villages to respond to violence and meet the needs of the village [and] work with families instead of pulling them apart.

III. Design: The Design phase involves making choices about “what should be” within the organization or system. It is a conscious re-creation or transformation, through which such things as systems, structures, strategies, processes and images will become more fully aligned with the organization’s positive past (Discovery) and highest potential (Dream).

Relationships, vision, and commitment are what constitutes the what should be in a

strong organizational design. The way a system is perceived by those outside of it can help to

articulate what should be and what is working within the organization. Seeing the attributes of

others you work, with is important and can unleash creativity and provide validation of what one

is doing:

Tami [from the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center project] values our guidance and supports us to do our best and lets us walk our talk. She builds on a person’s strengths and values and all that they have to offer. She shares the responsibility of what we are doing.

What should be within the design of the organization can be complex, layered, and

constantly in motion. However, there are some important constants that are simple, yet critical to

an organizations positive past, future, and highest potential. What the community has

appreciated most about the Healing Native Hearts Coalition is understanding that it knows its

limitations, but is still driven to succeed:

Community folks would say that we [our staff] can admit that we didn’t know what would be the best strategies or practices of the project, but that we are committed to work to find the solutions.

IV. Destiny: The Destiny phase initiates a series of inspired actions that support ongoing learning and innovation—or “what will be.” The Destiny phase, however, focuses specifically on personal and organizational commitments and paths forward which result in changes in organizational systems, structure, processes or procedures.

Destiny concerns inspired actions that support ongoing learning and what will be. How

do workers contribute to this effort and what commitments do they have? The positive core of

destiny for this project is doing what they do for the love of the people and maintaining a hopeful

commitment to the work:

We are not driven by grant funding. We are doing what we do because we believe in the importance of what we are doing. Our organization works closely with the people and is a voice for our people We are committed to meeting the cultural needs of our communities. Our board has expressed its gratitude and support for what we are doing…