Quarterly Newsletter
“Finding Strength in Family”
NICWA News is the quarterly newsletter for members and donors of the National Indian Child Welfare Association. Donate or become a member today to subscribe.
A Message from NICWA’s Executive Director
Dear NICWA Members, Sponsors, Donors, and Friends,
Family. In my Alutiiq language, ilat. The theme of this issue of NICWA News is finding strength in family. In Native communities and cultures, the definition of family is expansive. It includes blood relatives, adopted relatives, and fictive kin. At NICWA, we say that family is defined by the child or person. Family is whomever a child identifies for themselves as their family; it’s whoever feels like family to them. Similarly, in many Native languages, there is literally no word for “orphan” because children were never without family, without people who were responsible for nurturing and caring for them. If birth parents were unable to care for a child, extended family or other community members would do so.
From our family, we derive our sense of identity—who we are. We gain an understanding of our place in the world—who we are connected to and to whom we belong. We learn our values and our responsibilities. Our families ground us, provide our foundation, and endow us with and help us build the skills and knowledge to navigate the world around us, including human, animal, and natural relationships.
When we think back to how our ancestors survived in very difficult circumstances and harsh environments, family was key. Family shared the burdens, increased the resources, and multiplied the humor and joy. Still today, our families can be an important source of strength in how we cope, manage, heal, and thrive.
During the pandemic, some of us have been quarantined with our family—in some cases, multiple generations of family—while others of us have been separated from them. As I write this letter, I am looking at framed photos of my parents, my siblings, my aunties and cousins, and my nephews and nieces on my walls. This is the longest period in my life that I have gone without seeing any of my family members in person. It has been 14 months since I have touched or hugged any of them. We do our best with FaceTime and Zoom, but it’s not the same as cooking with my siblings or sitting at the dining room table with my parents talking over a cup of coffee. It’s not the same as holding my niece on my lap while she reads to me; she’s learned to read during the pandemic, and she’s only been able to read to me over FaceTime.
In spite of this isolation, we find ways to connect. My family has comforted each other, helped with homework, played games, sang songs and danced together, eaten meals, celebrated birthdays, and opened gifts by Zoom. I imagine that you have done many of the same things. As my dad says, “We’re so fortunate for this technology. At least we can see each other.”
A sense of family and the connection to people, community, and culture larger than ourselves is a central element of our mental health and well-being. Finding strength in our family and intentionally tending to these relationships helps us to stay connected to who we are and to be fed by the sense of belonging and purpose that comes from our connection. We’d love to hear from you by email or on social media about how you’ve found strength in your family and nurtured your connection during the pandemic. Please reach out to us at info@nicwa.org or tag @NativeChildren on Facebook or Twitter and @nicwa1983 on Instagram.
May you be blessed by your family and find strength in your connection to them.
Sarah Kastelic, PhD (Alutiiq)