Remembering What the Ancestors Gave Us: Building Kinship & Wellbeing
Repatriation is challenging work that can be stressful, traumatic and demoralizing. Indigenous cultural practices such as communal ceremony, prayer, dancing, singing, beading and working with the land all connect the body and mind together and engage the healing medicine that each of us possess. In this plenary workshop, you will learn the basic science and practices of mind-body medicine. Together we will practice these skills to experience firsthand the body’s own healing medicine.
Speaker
Kim Mettler is a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation and serves the Association on American Indian Affairs as its Next Generations Director. The Association is the longest serving national Native nonprofit, since 1922. Beginning her diverse service in Native Country with the Indigenous Women’s Network, Kim has served as legal counsel for a Native Nation, focusing on Tribal law, intergovernmental relations and cultural resources protections; serves as a board member for the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center, providing advocacy on the regional, national and international levels on domestic violence, sexual assault, reproductive and environmental justice; provided training and co-advocacy with court appointed special advocates; and directed Tribal STAR, an ICWA training and technical assistance program, and the development of California’s Common Core ICWA curriculum for social workers. Kim is a skilled coach, facilitator and mediator and brings more than 25 years of advocacy and bridge building with and on behalf of Native women, youth and Native Nations. Kim received her BA in Social Justice from Fairhaven College, and her law degree from the University of Arizona in Indigenous Peoples’ Law and Policy.
About the Conference
The Association’s “10th Annual Repatriation Conference: Igniting Change” continued our longstanding legacy to provide comprehensive training and expertise at a grassroots level to strengthen our collective futures. The 10th Annual Repatriation Conference was hosted by the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe at their Paragon Resort in Marksville, Louisiana on February 25, 26 & 27, 2025.
The theme Igniting Change reflected the Association’s commitment to sparking meaningful progress in repatriation efforts. By addressing the harms of the past and pushing for accountability and collaboration, the Association inspired transformative change in the way institutions engage with Native Nations. This Conference focused on creating new pathways for collaboration, implementing updated laws and regulations, and ensuring the return of Ancestors, their burial belongings, and sensitive cultural heritage.
The Conference was an intensive training experience and called upon our collective courage to spark respectful and collaborative repatriation practices that recognize Native Peoples as the true holders and carriers of their own diverse cultures.
Together, we ignited profound change as we recognized the harms of the past and actively worked together to tend our new fire.
To learn more, visit: Indian-Affairs.org
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