Tribal

By Karen Nikos-Rose

A trek of 4,000 miles between Alaska and Pennsylvania is a long trip even in three planes with today’s technology, observed Lauren Peters, days after the University of California, Davis, doctoral student and her family made that journey. She and her two sons were returning her grandmother’s aunt to her native St. Paul Island, on the Bering Sea, after her disinterment at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

This past July saw UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education—Human Services host the 16th National Tribal TANF Institute. The virtual conference hosted 230 participants from 44 tribal and governmental agencies from across the U.S.  and featured an expanded schedule, with 40 workshop options. This year’s theme was “Empowering Our Spirits”, centering the importance of cultural values to provide the basis for healing, rejuvenation and growth.

2020 has seen much turmoil and the cancellation or postponement of many time-honored traditions. One such tradition, the National Tribal TANF Institute hosted by UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education - Human Services, was not only postponed two months to late September, but also, for the first time in its 15-year history, moved to a virtual platform.