Indigenous Health
Ain Dah Yung Center: Where American Indian Youth and Families Go to Thrive in Safety and Wholeness
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or more than 38 years, Ain Dah Yung Center has provided a healing place within the community for American Indian youth and families to thrive in safety and wholeness. The goal of our work is to move families, children, and young adults beyond crisis-oriented services through culturally-specific programs and interventions. We provide culturally-responsive services to help Indigenous youth in the Twin Cities imagine a hopeful, safe, and independent future. Our staff speak the languages, sing the songs, practice the traditions, and combine this knowledge with case management expertise to create holistic solutions-based approaches that address the whole person, family, and community. ADYC’s services include: • Emergency Shelter – The only Indigenous-centered youth emergency shelter in the Twin Cities, and the only East Metro shelter open 24/7/365. Services include emergency and shortterm shelter, crisis intervention, advocacy, referrals, health care, counseling, and case management. • Beverley A. Benjamin Youth Lodge – A transitional living program for youth ages 16-21 for up to 18 months, emphasizing training, education, and employment goals while creating community and cultural connections. • Mino Oski Ain Dah Yung (“Good New Home” in Ojibwe) – Permanent Supportive Housing program 14
Spring 2022
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for youth ages 18-24, providing culturally-responsive housing, case management, education, and workforce supports to at least 42 American Indian youth. Zhawenimaa Safe Harbor – Meaning “They Are Loved Unconditionally” in Ojibwe, Zhawenimaa provides culturally specific, trauma informed care for Indigenous youth before, during, and after periods of sexual abuse and exploitation. Ninijanisag (“Our Children” in Ojibwe) – Youth learn leadership, healthy living skills, and Native traditions such as drumming, singing, and cultural teachings. Street Outreach Program – Case workers meet homeless and runaway youth where they are, providing food, transportation, and referrals. Annually, this program typically reaches 2,500-3,000 youth. Oyate Nawajin (“Stand with the People” in Lakota) – Supports families through group learning, increasing positive social networks, connection to cultural teachings, case management, referrals, resource acquisition, and general support. Suicide prevention program – Native youth learn healthy habits, leadership skills, and Native traditions and teachings — all of which provide youth with a solid cultural foundation and a community of support comprised of their peers and ADYC staff.
Impact of Historical Trauma on Homelessness
Homelessness disproportionately affects Indigenous people in Minnesota and the Twin Cities. The most recent Wilder Research Minnesota Homeless Survey (2020) found that 12% of homeless adults and a staggering 22% of homeless youth identify as Indigenous, while the entire population of Indigenous people in Minnesota is only 1.5%. In a 2017 study, 44% of homeless Indigenous adults reported experiencing homelessness as a child, compared to 25% of other homeless adults. Ain Dah Yung Center’s overall approach is informed by an understanding of the historical trauma inflicted on American Indians for generations as the result of forced assimilation, recurring attempts to eradicate tribal culture, and ongoing threats to sovereignty and self-determination. Historical trauma is most easily described as “multigenerational trauma experienced by a specific cultural group” — it is cumulative and collective. In an article entitled “Trauma May Be Woven into DNA of Native Americans” from Indian Country Today, Michelle Sotero offers a threefold definition: “In the initial phase, the dominant culture perpetuates mass trauma on a population in the form of colonialism, slavery, war, or genocide. In the second phase, the affected population shows physical and psychological symptoms in response to the trauma. In the final phase, the initial population passes these responses to trauma to subsequent
MetroDoctors
The Journal of the Twin Cities Medical Society
