American Indian Family Center

AIFC: Waaban Ogimaawag (Tomorrow's Leaders) - Gabe-Nibwaakaa: Entrepreneurship
2024-02-27 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago) | American Indian Family Center (AIFC), 579 Wells St, Saint Paul, MN, 55130, United States

AIFC: Waaban Ogimaawag (Tomorrow's Leaders) - Full Moon Ceremony
2024-02-26 18:30 | Belwin Conservancy Savanna Center, 795 Indian Trail South, Afton, MN, 55001, United States
🌕 AIFC invites you to join us for a Full Moon Ceremony on Monday, February 26, 2024, at 6:30PM.

Who: Relatives who receive their menstrual (moon) cycles, or have reached menopause; the ceremony is inclusive to Two-Spirit and trans relatives as well!

Where: Belwin Conservancy Savanna Center, 795 Indian Trail S, Afton, MN 55001

Please bring a long skirt, copper cup, small bowl, spoon (extras provided as supplies last), hair bundle*, a watecha bowl (Tupperware, etc.) to take home leftovers, and a dish to share if you are able.

*Hair Bundle (optional): Hair bundles are not required to participate but may be offered during the ceremony if desired. To make your own, start collecting loose strands from your brush, shower, or clothes!

We are honored to have you join us during this special time as we hold a ceremony for Grandmother Moon!

For more information, contact Pam Gokey at Pam.Gokey@aifcmn.org, or (651) 504-2944.

🎨: Jessica Gokey (IG: @j_leigh_gokey)

AIFC: Ombi'ayaa Anishinaabe-Ininiiwug (Rise Up Original Men) - Men's Smudge and Support Group
2024-02-26 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-02-19 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-02-12 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-02-05 18:00 - 20:00 | American Indian Family Center (AIFC), 579 Wells St, Saint Paul, MN, 55130, United States
Join American Indian Family Center’s Father & Men’s Outreach Specialist, Nate Bordeaux, for an in-person Men’s Smudge and Support Group.
It will be a potluck, so please bring a dish to share if you can!
Don’t miss this chance to gather with other American Indian men to explore your identity, participate in your culture, and support each other.

AIFC: Ombi'ayaa Anishinaabe-Ininiiwug (Rise Up Original Men) - Boys to Men Regalia Making Workshop
2024-02-24 12:00 - 16:00 | American Indian Family Center (AIFC), 579 Wells St, Saint Paul, MN, 55130, United States

[Virtual Event] AIFC: Khunsi Onikan - Wellbriety/Medicine Wheel 12 Steps Meeting
2024-02-22 19:00 - 20:00, 2024-02-15 19:00 - 20:00, 2024-02-08 19:00 - 20:00, 2024-02-01 19:00 - 20:00
Open to anyone wanting to work on recovery from any addiction.
Every Thursday at 7 pm CST, AIFC’s Khunsi Onikan program will sponsor a culturally based recovery support Wellbriety/Medicine Wheel 12-step meeting for the community; anyone wanting to work on recovery from any addictions is welcome to attend.
No need to register in advance.
Click here to join the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89255163167?pwd=[REDACTED]

AIFC: Wakanyeja Kin Wakan Pi (Our Children Are Sacred) - Women & Mother's Support Group
2024-02-21 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-02-14 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-02-07 12:00 - 13:30, 2024-01-31 12:00 - 13:30 | American Indian Family Center (AIFC), 579 Wells St, Saint Paul, MN, 55130, United States
Beginning Wednesday, December 7, 2022, from noon to 1:30 PM, mothers-to-be, or mothers with children up to 13 months are invited to join Wakanyeja Kin Wakan Pi (Our Children Are Sacred)’s Women and Mother’s Support Group, facilitated by AIFC’s Mother and Women’s Outreach Specialist, Chenoa Stout. This is a weekly support group that will cover topics such as parent education on infant safety and health, nutrition and prenatal education, and connection to resources.
Please contact Chenoa Stout at Chenoa.Stout@aifcmn.org, or (651) 504-2298, if you or someone you may know would like to be a part of this group!

[Virtual Event] AIFC: Khunsi Onikan - Well-Anon (Native American Al-Anon) Meeting
2024-02-20 19:00 - 20:00, 2024-02-13 19:00 - 20:00, 2024-02-06 19:00 - 20:00
Open to anyone wanting to learn to have healthy boundaries and healthy relationships with the other addicts/alcoholics in their lives.
Join us every Tuesday at 7 PM CST for help and hope.
Suppose you have a loved one dealing with addiction. In that case, our Khunsi Onikan Program sponsors these weekly Native American culturally-based, one-hour meetings to help you establish healthy boundaries and relationships.
Join the meeting here: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89255163167?pwd=[REDACTED]

AIFC: Ombi'ayaa Anishinaabe-Ininiiwug (Rise Up Original Men) - Circle of Security Class
2024-02-20 13:00 - 15:00, 2024-02-13 13:00 - 15:00, 2024-02-06 13:00 - 15:00 | American Indian Family Center (AIFC), 579 Wells St, Saint Paul, MN, 55130, United States

AIFC: Waaban Ogimaawag (Tomorrow's Leaders) - Young Youth Leadership Development Session 2 (1st-3rd graders)
2024-02-17 10:30 - 12:30, 2024-02-03 10:30 - 12:30 | American Indian Family Center (AIFC), 579 Wells St, Saint Paul, MN, 55130, United States
Class size is limited, so registration is required before attending.
Please fill out an interest form at: https://aifcmn.org/intake-form/. You may also contact Youth Outreach Specialist, Nancy Vogt, at Nancy.Vogt@aifcmn.org or (651) 505-6810 to register.

AIFC: Zuya Wo Ohiya (Journey to Success) - Fleece Tie Blanket Workshop
2024-02-15 16:00 - 18:00 | American Indian Family Center (AIFC), 579 Wells St, Saint Paul, MN, 55130, United States

MMIWR 2024: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives March
2024-02-14 11:00 | East Phillips Community and Cultural Center, 2307 17th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN, United States

Ain Dah Yung Center (ADYC): 25th Annual Cherish the Children Traditional Powwow
2024-02-11 13:00, 2024-02-10 19:00, 2024-02-10 13:00 | Johnson Senior High School, 1349 Arcade Street, Saint Paul, MN, 55106, United States

AIFC: Waaban Ogimaawag (Tomorrow's Leaders) - Elder Teachings with Maria Morin McCoy
2024-02-10 10:00 - 12:00 | American Indian Family Center (AIFC), 579 Wells St, Saint Paul, MN, 55130, United States

AIFC - Women's Sweat
2024-02-09 17:00 | Belwin Conservancy, 1553 Stagecoach Trail South, Afton, MN, 55001, United States
Please plan to be there at 5 PM so we can enter the lodge right at 6 PM.
A light meal will also be shared afterward. Please feel free to bring food to share, but it isn’t required.
Facilitated by Sharyl Whitehawk every first Friday of the month; please call to verify.

What to bring and wear: a loose-fitting dress, shorts/skirt for inside the lodge, along with a loose-fitting shirt, a change of clothes for after, a towel, drinking water, and a dish to share after sweat (optional). A modest T-shirt or top is also acceptable upon wearing a long skirt or shorts.
AIFC’s Women’s Sweats are regularly scheduled. If you are interested in attending a regularly scheduled sweat or have questions, please get in touch with Sharyl Whitehawk at (651) 505-6838, (719) 322-4447, or Sharyl.Whitehawk@aifcmn.org.
Miigwech!
Directions to the sweat lodge: Turn left into the drive, and then open the gate (it’s not locked but looks like it is) and drive through, staying to the right at 2 forks until you go up a small hill where the sweat lodge and a parking area is.
Sweat Lodge teachings: A sweat lodge is a tool for healing everything that a person wants healing for. It begins with a firepit where your intentions for the sweat are given with tobacco. The firepit represents the Creator, whereas the fire has the power of transformation. So, it holds the stones, heating them and getting them ready for healing work. The path to the lodge is a lifetime of unresolved issues that you carry with you. As you enter the Eastern doorway you announce yourself by Spirit Name and clan. If you do not have them, just use your English name. You sit where the person pouring assigns you.
In most cases, the women come in first, and then the men. The stones are brought in by a firekeeper who brings in the stones with the person who is pouring guidance. The lodge’s people are reconnected to their first mother, the Earth. The sweat lodge and the firepit in the lodge are dome-shaped and represent the womb and have the power of rebirth. The stones once brought in become grandmothers and grandfathers who heard the intentions and come in to help. The doorway is closed, and the four directions are honored and asked to assist. It can be hot when water is added to the grandmothers and grandfathers. Steam is the conductor of transformation. The steam pulls out the trapped issues or problems that the person is hanging onto and releases them so that healing can happen. The songs, prayers, and medicines shared in the lodge help people let go of their resistance.
The time in the sweat lodge varies as well as the number of stones used. It can be short as an hour or up to 2 hours long. It can have 7 up to 42 stones. It can be done in any part of the day. A sweat lodge is a healing tool that has been passed down for generations and is changing with the times.
Artwork: “The Lodge” by Sharifah
