Akiak Native Village Native Connections - There is a fundamental change occurring in Alaska's Yukon Kuskokwim (Y-K) Delta that involves incorporation of traditional values and practices into prevention and treatment programs to help Yukon Kuskokwim Yup'ik people heal from mental health and/or substance abuse disorders. This process reflects the contemporary will of the Y-K people who are seeking traditional solutions to health and social problems that have become endemic in the region. The Yukon Kuskokwim village of Akiak is seeking to enhance its capabilities to respond to the expressed needs of the people by planning and implementing a culturally oriented Native Connections program based on traditional teachings, called "Calricaraq".Calricaraq, translated "helping families heal," is based on a curriculum grounded in the traditional values and ways of the Y-K Delta's Yup'ik people of southwest Alaska. The primary goal of this project will be to restore cultural pride in our young people, which will help reduce vulnerability to suicide. This formalized suicide prevention program will be the first of its kind in Akiak, and will establish a precedent that other communities will want to emulate. The key to our strategy is the promotion and teaching of our Yup'ik ways of life to young people through local cultural and subsistence activities led by Elders, and administered by local Alaska Native staff that will guide and teach our young people to live a healthy lifestyle, using the familiar surroundings of our land and culture. This way of life our people once knew and practiced, but moved away from, resulted in many of our health and social problems, including suicide, that we suffer from today.At the heart of this approach are holistic, culture-based and community-centered activities and services that are responsive to the needs of our Alaska Native families, and built on the community's strengths.
