Our first day (3/10/17) was spent at the Alaskan Native Heritage Center. It was a seminar that all 14 of us had to attend and we learned some pretty amazing things.
The first part of the seminar was a short video on the 11 different clans in Alaska and where they are located within the state. It was a really interesting video that showed a brief overview of the many different ways the natives live. After the video we talked about our own cultures and then addressed the Alaskan natives' cultures. Learning about their lifestyles was eye opening and truly quite amazing. They prefer to live off of the land by hunting for their food and building their houses out of wood, animal parts, and so much more. We were able to see replications of the types of houses each different clan would live in and what the differences and similarities are. We wrapped up the day with a self-guided tour of the museum part of the center and got to see types of clothing, shoes, tools, and toys.
The highlight of my day was when Yaari, our tour guide, shared some really cool things with us about herself and her culture. She shared that she is spiritually gifted in a sense that she is a healer and is connected with The Creator. She told us some stories, but a lot of us were still a little skeptic. She demonstrated her gift on two of the people in our group. The first was Kasandra, who Yaari said was the most skeptic and the most nervous. She simply put her hand on Kasandra;s chest and spread her energy throughout Kasandra showing us all that she is gifted. The other person she did this on was Elisa, one of our nursing professors. She had a pretty bad sinus infection, and Yaari put her hand on Elisa's head removing the toxins within her sinuses. Elisa stated that she felt the relief immediately. It was so cool to see first hand.
Overall, the day was long, but nothing short of amazing. We learned so much about the Alaskan native tribes and their cultures. It helped all of us understand the different lifestyles we were about to encounter during our clinical experiences. It prepared us for what types of clans I would most likely see in Bethel (where I'm doing my clinical rotations) and how to interact with them. What a learning experience!
The first part of the seminar was a short video on the 11 different clans in Alaska and where they are located within the state. It was a really interesting video that showed a brief overview of the many different ways the natives live. After the video we talked about our own cultures and then addressed the Alaskan natives' cultures. Learning about their lifestyles was eye opening and truly quite amazing. They prefer to live off of the land by hunting for their food and building their houses out of wood, animal parts, and so much more. We were able to see replications of the types of houses each different clan would live in and what the differences and similarities are. We wrapped up the day with a self-guided tour of the museum part of the center and got to see types of clothing, shoes, tools, and toys.
The highlight of my day was when Yaari, our tour guide, shared some really cool things with us about herself and her culture. She shared that she is spiritually gifted in a sense that she is a healer and is connected with The Creator. She told us some stories, but a lot of us were still a little skeptic. She demonstrated her gift on two of the people in our group. The first was Kasandra, who Yaari said was the most skeptic and the most nervous. She simply put her hand on Kasandra;s chest and spread her energy throughout Kasandra showing us all that she is gifted. The other person she did this on was Elisa, one of our nursing professors. She had a pretty bad sinus infection, and Yaari put her hand on Elisa's head removing the toxins within her sinuses. Elisa stated that she felt the relief immediately. It was so cool to see first hand.
Overall, the day was long, but nothing short of amazing. We learned so much about the Alaskan native tribes and their cultures. It helped all of us understand the different lifestyles we were about to encounter during our clinical experiences. It prepared us for what types of clans I would most likely see in Bethel (where I'm doing my clinical rotations) and how to interact with them. What a learning experience!