03/03/2026
The UAF Social Work Department is hosting our 2026 virtual spring speaker series. We are pleased to have Dr. LaVerne Xilegg Demientieff present a series of three presentations on her work on community well-being and healing. Each presentation will be 1.5 hours long and each will offer 1.5 Free Alaska Native CEUs. Presentations are scheduled for March 24th, April 2nd, and April 8th all from 5:30pm-7pm (AKST) on Zoom. For more information you can email [email protected]. Please register here: https://forms.gle/uJ4iZB8BPXz4oJ1B7
Presentation Descriptions:
1. Intergenerational Resilience - Strengthening the Transmission of Knowledge at an Elders Mentoring Elders Camp in Interior Alaska
This presentation will share the transformative and impactful outcomes of an "Elders Mentoring Elders" culture camp in the Interior of Alaska, highlighting an innovative community-led intervention focused on uplifting Alaska Native Elder voices to transmit intergenerational traditional Dine' (Athabascan) knowledge and practices into the future while working and healing together. This program is rooted in intergenerational resilience, to include remembering, restoring, and revitalizing traditional values and practices that guide our relationship to land, food, community, and spirit to promote cultural continuity and community well-being. Social Workers and other helpers can learn about decolonizing and indigenizing research and programming, as well as be inspired by Elder wisdom and learn about Elder priorities for community well-being.
2. Dinayetr –Our Breath, Our Belief System - A Guide For Caring For Ourselves and Others In Our Communities
This presentation will share resources and strategies for healing centered engagement that we can utilize to create a community of care and feelings of belonging, which allow us to learn, grow, and engage together at the highest levels. For our organizations and communities to be sustainable we have to re-think and re-create spaces where we can thrive instead of just surviving. Spaces where we practice a culture and community of care together. A Yupik Elder has shared that, “learning is healing, as we expand our knowledge of the world, we also learn about ourselves, we grow and heal.” As you do good work in your organizations, communities, consider how you can engage in a culture of care and a community of care to support relationships with colleagues, community members, as well as with yourself. Indigenous Elders and ancestral knowledge and practices serve as a guide for how healing work can be done in a good way. When we learn about how stress and trauma impact our mind and body, we are more compassionate with ourselves and others. When we are curious about what causes pain and grief, we can help to create connection and ceremony for healing. Healing happens when we are in our bodies and in relationship to others and our community.
3. Ancestral Trauma, Indigenous Well-being and Collective Healing
This presentation will discuss the impacts of ancestral trauma and grief on the individual, family, and community. Participants will gain an awareness of what events have happened that have created trauma and grief and discuss the ways that we have embodied and coped with that trauma and grief and recognize that through an acknowledgement of the events, sharing the pain and restoring our “original instructions” and cultural knowledge and practices we can begin to heal from the hurts of this “soul wounding”. It is our responsibility to also understand the role of wellness, resilience, and strength-based strategies used for navigating ancestral grief and trauma, and for collective healing.
