Smudge the Rez wraps up in Havre

The last stop of the Rocky Boy Health Center's Smudge the Rez Tour was held at the Holiday Village Mall in Havre Wednesday, with music, dancing, prizes, burning sage, food and speakers from local organizations talking about the services they provide to those in need.

The series of events and ceremonies were set up to address the increase in suicide the Rocky Boy area has seen in the past few years, and to raise awareness about local services.

People crowded into a vacant area of the Holiday Village Mall Wednesday evening and listened to a series of speakers talk about the services available in the area and some of the unique challenges that face Native American people face as well as the challenges faced by anyone struggling with things like mental health and addiction.

Among the speakers was Rocky Boy Health Center Psychologist Deborah Essert, who said reaching out for help when dealing with a mental health struggle is very difficult, and her team's goal is to make sure that as much difficulty as possible ends with that step.

Essert said mental health is a difficult subject to talk about, and there are a lot of people who don't understand how to help.

She talked about the struggle of mental health through the story of a person who fell down a manhole and is trying to get out.

The first person who walks by tells him how to make a ladder, but they don't have the materials to make it, so the advice is useless.

The second chastises them for falling in in the first place, and that does nothing to actually solve the problem.

But the third says they've been down there before and they may know the way out.

Essert said the health center may not always have the answers, but they know what helps and what doesn't and she wants everyone to know that if they are struggling, they can call them for help.

Other members of Essert's team talked about what they do and what they see people needing, especially the need to bring people out of social isolation so they can connect with others and realize they are not alone in their struggles.

There were also speakers from White Sky Hope Center, which does culturally sensitive addiction treatment and prevention work in the area, who talked about the need they serve and what they can do for people in the area looking for help recovering.

Other non-medical assistance organizations were there as well including the District 4 Human Resources Development Council and its executive director, Carilla French.

French said her organization provides a wide range of services to Havre and Hill County, including adult education and preparation for high-school equivalency exams, assistance with housing and energy bills, as well as administering the Havre Food Bank.

She said they also run a domestic violence shelter and their Victims Services Program Director Rose DeBerry has done an incredible job over the past few years revitalizing efforts to help domestic violence survivors over the past few years.

Havre Public Schools Indian Education For All Director Jessica Kennedy-Stiffarm also spoke at the event, talking about the new Cree language classes at Havre Public Schools and Native American students' desire for more cultural learning.

She said nearly a third of all students in the district are Native American and living and learning off the reservation makes it harder to connect with their culture at times, but there are things that can be done to help.

Another speaker was Gerald Small, who talked about the importance of cultural practices like smudging, which is meant to cleanse negativity and evil, and there is too much of those things in the world especially with the prevalence of drug and alcohol use.

"There's a lot of evil out there," Small said. "... That's why there's so much sage growing out there."

He said he thinks people should do things like this more often to be well.