Copyright © 2003 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

Hoop Journey IV HEALING NATIVE AMERICAN MEN AND CHILDREN now begins on Wednesday, April 9, 2002 in Cherokee, North Carolina for the first of 15 visits and Wellbriety Day. The visit to St. Louis, Missouri has been cancelled.

Presentations in cities and towns East of the Mississippi river. Each Wellbriety Day visit is built around the following daily agenda and schedule, designed to bring information, presentations, ceremony and a community get-together in support of sobriety and recovery from alcohol and other drugs for Native Americans:

HOOP JOURNEY IV DAILY VISIT AGENDA
9:00am-10:15am Entrance of the Sacred Hoop and introduction of Sacred Hoop Journey IV: Healing of Native Men and Children
10:15am-11:00am The Wellbriety Movement: Hoop Journey III Video
11:05am-11:50am Open microphone—sharing what you saw, heard, felt
12:00pm-1:30pm Lunch (Pot Luck)
1:30pm-2:30pm Speaker or Panel #1
2:30pm-3:30pm Speaker or Panel #2
3:30pm-4:15pm Closing Ceremony

HERE IS A LISTING OF HOOP JOURNEY DATES AND COORDINATOR CONTACTS FOR HOOP JOURNEY IV:
1-Cherokee, NC ~ APRIL 9 ~ Susan Leading Fox ~ (828) 497-2088––NEW JOURNEY START
2-Washington, DC ~ APRIL 12 ~ Alberta Joseph & Daphne Derwald ~ (202) 219-9737
3-Baltimore, MD ~ APRIL 14 ~ Call White Bison or Check White Bison Website
4-New York City ~ APRIL 17 ~ Rosemary Richmond ~ (212) 598-0100
5-Connecticut ~ APRIL 19 ~ Call White Bison or Check White Bison Website
6-Boston, Massachusetts ~ APRIL 25 ~ Don Silva ~ (617) 232-0343
7-Passamaquoddy, (Pleasant Point) Maine ~ APRIL 26 eve, 27 ~ Vera Francis ~ (207) 853-4052
8-Syracuse, NY ~ MAY 3 ~ Clint Shenandoah ~ (315) 492-0833
9-Buffalo, NY ~ MAY 8 ~ Valerie Staats ~ (716) 882-4900
10-Cleveland, OH ~ MAY 10 ~ Tara Weber ~ (216) 221-3356
11-Dayton, OH ~ MAY 12 ~ Lori Bakara ~ (937) 299-5167
12-Detroit, MI ~ MAY 14 ~ Doug Hill ~ (313) 846-3718
13-Chicago, IL ~ MAY 16 ~ Joseph Podlasek ~ (773) 275-5871
14-Milwaukee, WI ~ MAY 18 ~ Tom Parker ~ (414) 383-9526 Ext 202
15-Oneida, (Green Bay) WI ~ MAY 23 ~ Glen Funmaker ~ (920) 496-5899

SPECIAL EVENTS
Each Wellbriety Day presentation will include events and presentations unique to a local Native American community. Here is a sampling of special events planned in a few of the Hoop Journey visits:

CHEROKEE, NORTH CAROLINA:
Community members and Elders will meet the Sacred Hoop and walk with it into town in Grand Entry.

NEW YORK CITY
There will be a Hoop Ceremony and presentations by Elders at the Ground Zero World Trade Center site

BUFFALO, NEW YORK
Children will help carry the Hoop into the Wellbriety Day location. Handsome Lake, one of the first of the Wellbriety ancestors, will be honored at this gathering.

DAYTON, OHIO
A 3-day White Bison Firestarter Training will precede the actual Hoop Journey visit. Dr. Robert Herman will speak about Native American prison programs at Wellbriety Day.

DETROIT, MICHIGAN
There will be a community feast after the Wellbriety Day events and two more days of wellness events after the main Wellbriety Day visit and events.

ONEIDA (GREEN BAY), WISCONSIN
There will be two days of special Native alcohol sobriety and recovery events following the Wellbriety Day visit of the sacred Hoop. There will be a community feast and a talking circle to conclude Wellbriety Day.

WELLBRIETY RESOURCES
During each and every Wellbriety Day, White Bison's cultural sobriety, recovery and wellness/Wellbriety resources will be on display. This year, for the first time, White Bison's new Medicine Wheel and the 12 Step Wellbriety book entitled THE RED ROAD TO WELLBRIETY: IN THE NATIVE AMERICAN WAY will be available for purchase.

Up to the minute details for each of the planned Hoop Journey IV gatherings can be found by visiting the White Bison web site, or calling toll free 1-877-871-1495. Visit the website for: A listing of local coordinators in each of the 15 cities or towns ~ The exact location of each Hoop Journey IV event - Unique local additions to the Wellbriety Day plans - and for stories and interviews with Native American Elders and others involved with this year's Hoop Journey. Click on the Hoop Journey IV information box on the web site home page for detailed information, or visit the Wellbriety! Online Magazine box on the homepage for stories and interviews. All information found in these locations may be used by communities or media outlets free of charge in the interests of healing and wellness.

There is no charge for Wellbriety Day events on Hoop Journey IV. Both Native and non Native people are cordially invited to participate. To learn about sobriety, recovery, prevention, and a life of Wellbriety, participate in Hoop Journey IV in your community this coming April and May, 2003!