National Wellness Gathering for Indian Residential School Survivors: Assembly of First Nations and First Peoples Wellness Circle / Feb 13 – 15, 2024
About the Event
National Wellness Gathering for Indian Residential School Survivors
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and First Peoples Wellness Circle (FPWC) are honoured to host the National Wellness Gathering for Indian Residential School Survivors on February 13-15, 2024, at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre, 1000 Burrard St. Vancouver, B.C., on the beautiful territory of xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
The National Wellness Gathering for Indian Residential School Survivors will be informative, fun, and inspirational and will include plenary, dialogue, and workshop sessions, as well as opportunities for relationship building and socializing. The event objectives are to:
- Provide a space for Indian Residential School (IRS) Survivors and their families to reconnect, share, learn, and heal.
- Support the IRS Resolution Health Support Program (RHSP) workforce through wellness activities, cultural connections, and self-care opportunities.
- Generate insights, support, and direction in determining a path to permanency for the IRS RHSP program past the current mandate ending in April of 2024. This includes imagining what the future looks like for the program from the perspectives of First Nations Leadership, mental wellness experts and service providers, Survivors, and Knowledge Keepers.
A few of the many topics on the agenda include:
- Cultural activities for healing and wellness.
- Strengthening the healers: workforce wellness with workforce leaders and experts.
- Expert panel on the continuation of the Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program (IRS RHSP).
- The brain, decolonization, and healing through culture.
Who should attend the National Wellness Gathering for Indian Residential School Survivors?
- First Nations Survivors of IRS and their families.
- Members of the IRS RHSP workforce.
- Knowledge Keepers.
- First Nations Chiefs or their representatives in the health and wellness sectors.
- First Nations organizations and technicians working or interested in First Nations mental wellness.
- Industry academia and other non-governmental entities involved in First Nations mental wellness.
- Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Government representatives.
Visit the AFN website for the provisional agenda and other updates as we get closer to the date of the Forum at www.afn.ca.
