Red Lake: Nine months later
Immediately following the
horrific shootings at the Red Lake School in April, 2005, the LSS disaster
team, area churches, donors and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans joined
together to respond to the tragedy. It was too early to know how best to
help, but the desire to lend a hand was instantaneous.
Melanie Davis, disaster
response director for LSS and Lutheran Disaster Response, toured the area
and spoke with tribal leaders, as well as leaders in the religious and
social service communities, to determine the best roles that LSS could
play.
One role was for LSS to
sponsor an Inter-Generational Community Dialogue (IGD), a tried-and-true
initiative used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to rebuild
community spirit and cohesiveness following physical or human disasters.
These dialogues were used following the Red River floods in 1997, and the
tornados that hit St. Peter, Comfrey and Granite Falls in the late 1990s.
The moderator for those dialogues, Dr. James Gambone, would help again.
The Bugonaygeshig School, near
Cass Lake, was planning a 65-mile "Healing Walk" from that school to the
Red Lake School. Gambone proposed capturing the walk and its participants
on videotape. That video would be the stimulus for the Inter-Generational
Community Dialogues.
On Oct. 6, in Bemidji, over
100 people participated in the IGD, with equal participation from the
greater Native American community, including the Red Lake Youth Council
and a delegation from Duluth. All generations were represented. After
previewing the documentary, participants broke into small
inter-generational groups and discussed what youth need to be happy and
healthy, and what adults can do to help youth lead happy and healthy
lives.
"Youth were able to speak
directly with adults in leadership, and it was easy to see the exchange of
ideas between the two cultures and the new relationships and specific
initiatives that were created," said Davis. Participants who attended were
given guides to take back to their organizations or congregations to help
them host their own events around the airing of the healing walk on
October 20. Several groups pledged to host an event.
The other role was for LSS to
offer its day camp to children affected by disasters. St. Mary's Catholic
Mission in Red Lake, the Minnesota Extension Services, and LSS partnered
to provide day camp, Aug. 1-4, in Red Lake, for children in kindergarten
through Grade 6. Over 50 children attended the camp. The camp used a
modification of Joseph's Journey, a curriculum written by LSS to support
children in their emotional and spiritual recovery from human-caused
disaster. The healing is under way in the Red Lake area, thanks, in part,
to LSS and its faithful supporters.
