Ten Ways to Alleviate the Winter Blues, Native Style

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Founder & Editor in Chief

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When you get in a valley, just remember to not camp there – Seek the Mountain

By A. Kay Oxendine

We all know that when pow-wow season ends, our whole psyche changes. Our attitudes suffer from not being around our pow-wow family, our bodies suffer from not being able to dance on a weekly basis, and our voices suffer because we are not using them and exercising our vocals. It can definitely be a calamity.

Well, I am here to help you avert the pow-wow blues. Here are a few suggestions to keep you from suffering from the winter blahs.

These are merely suggestions to keep our minds from that dark place that invades so many of our Native communities during the off pow-wow season. Unfortunately for many, the dark times stay longer than the light ones. But I encourage you all to make an effort, that if you find yourself falling into a valley, to not camp there. Seek that mountain, visualize it and attempt to climb it. Before you know it, you will conquer that darkness, and your light will be so bright, you will need some sunglasses.

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Jodi Rave Spotted Bear (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation)

Founder & Editor in Chief

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Location: Twin Buttes, North Dakota

Spoken Languages: English

Topic Expertise: Federal trust relationship with American Indians; Indigenous issues ranging from spirituality and environment to education and land rights

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