Cultural Humility as a Methodology for Collaborating with Massachusetts Native Communities

The training team will present an interactive program that integrates best practices and principles regarding training for cultural humility (Fisher-Bourne, Cain and Martin, 2015; Betancourt, Green and Carrillo, 2016), while communicating essential knowledge and nuanced understanding regarding Native communities in Massachusetts.

The workshop will include the following elements:

1. Introductions with icebreakers designed to highlight participants’ experiences of cultural identity and diversity;
2. Discussion of concepts of cultural competence and cultural humility, including, for example, best practice principles delineated by the organization “Culturally Connected” https://culturallyconnected.ca/skills/adopting-cultural-humility-in-pra…;
3. Maintain lifelong learning and cultural curiosity by asking questions of Native persons and colleagues and consciously seeking out opportunities to learn about other cultures, e.g. through films, books, studying languages, etc.
4. Engage in continuous self-reflection about one’s own personal history, biases, assumptions and experiences;
5. Become comfortable with ‘not knowing’ and be open to learning from Native persons and their experiences; and
6. Recognize there may be power/privilege dynamics, and  relate to Native persons in ways that help bridge the distance that may be caused by real and perceived differences in status. Pair and small-group exercises will help participants personally reflect on these concepts and how they apply to their work.
7. Overview of the Massachusetts Native American community, including history, demographics, cultural strengths, and challenges, including discussion of substance misuse issues;
8. Discussion of lessons learned/ best practices for working with Native communities, including Native-focused substance misuse prevention, treatment, and recovery programs and
9. Small group exercise focused on applying learnings from the workshop to hands-on prevention and treatment practices;