A proposed helping hand for Native veterans

[Thunderwolf, MSN, RN]

He’s got some land. He’s got a plan. And, perhaps most important, he’s got the will to help ailing Native veterans cope with and recover from the travesties of war they’ve seen during military service to the nation.

Bill Silaghi, a member of Echota Cherokee Tribe of Florida, owns a stretch of nearly seven miles in Geneva County, Ala., which he proudly calls the Eagle’s Nest. He and his wife, Teresa, have incorporated a nonprofit organization that allows them to host an annual Native American intertribal gathering and pow wow at the site each fall. The lands also feature a primitive campground.

Now, they want to do more.

Silaghi recently sent a proposal to various U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials in an attempt to raise awareness of his desire to hold an annual gathering focused on treating the mental health needs of returning Native combat veterans in his region. He’d like to host quarterly meetings where Native healers and others could interact directly with returning troops. There would likely be talking circles, sweats and other cultural activities.

“It would give the vets a traditional way to help cleanse themselves of some of the negative images of war,” Silaghi said in a late-December interview. “It would allow the vets to face down their shadow demons, as some people call them, so they can no longer haunt them. … to me, this is big medicine.”

He said he’s already getting a lot of support from the Native population in his area, and added that a lot of veterans in the region have responded positively to the idea. He also anticipates that there will be many Native veterans coming back from service in current military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He has yet to hear back from VA officials regarding the proposal.

Still, Silaghi is hopeful. He noted that American Indians have a long and proud tradition of service within the armed forces of the United States, and tend to serve in the military in numbers that far exceed their representation in the population of the nation overall.

Full article here:

http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/living/37892529.html