Canku Ota - September 6, 2003 - Celebrate Health!

White Bison, Inc. announces National Native American Wellbriety Month, in conjunction with National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, to be celebrated in Native American communities nationwide throughout the month of September.

In addition to the national multicultural celebration, CSAT, The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, a part of SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in partnership with White Bison, Inc., an American Indian non-profit organization, are co-sponsoring special Native American community education events and celebrations in the following cities: Albuquerque, New Mexico • Anchorage, Alaska • Billings, Montana • Bowler, Wisconsin • Chicago, Illinois • Cincinnati, Ohio • Dayton, Ohio• Guadalupe, Arizona • Heart Butte, Montana • Kingstree, South Carolina • Nampa, Idaho • San Francisco, California • Santa Cruz California • Tahlequah, Oklahoma and • Thoreau, New Mexico.

This year's focus is on Celebrating Health. During the month of September, Native American communities will proudly showcase grassroots efforts at promoting, supporting and living healthy lifestyles. Native American events this September will focus on well individuals, families and communities, utilizing culturally appropriate activities and presentations. All events and activities during National Native American Wellbriety Month are free and open to all who have an interest.

A major, nationally-accessible event celebrating Recovery/Wellbriety Month 2003 is the White Bison 4th Annual Circles of Recovery Conference to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico from September 18-21, 2003 at the Albuquerque Convention Center, 401 Second St. NW in Albuquerque. The focus of the conference this year is on Strengthening Our Nations. The Conference will feature internationally known authors who have been leaders in the sobriety, recovery and wellness movement since the 1980's. There will be tracks, workshops and programs for Native American youth, recovery in prison, coalition building, the GONA (Gathering of Native Americans) and Healing Forest approaches to Native wellness, and much more. Visit the White Bison website www.whitebison.org for more information. Registration is free for the first 750 people and is open to anyone having an interest in sobriety, recovery and wellness in a Native American cultural format.

To learn more about the National Recovery Month activities visit the CSAT website at www.recoverymonth.gov For information of special interest to the Native American community nationwide visit White Bison's website at www.whitebison.org. For the latest information about the communities listed above contact:

We invite all who wish to live healthy Native American lifestyles, free of additions and other dysfunctional behaviors, to volunteer and/or participate in Wellbriety Month, September, 2003.

Strengthening Our Nations
The Fourth Annual Circles of Recovery Conference
Presented by White Bison, Inc. and NANACOA

Join Native America in the celebration of sobriety, recovery and wellness in the fourth annual Circles of Recovery Conference to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico from September 18-21, 2003 at the Albuquerque Convention Center in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is an event that brings together Native Americans and those working with them and their communities in the intervention, treatment, prevention and healing of unwell behavior, promoting the Red Road journey to wellness and health for Native people. This year's conference focuses on healing Native American tribes and nations, just as the three previous conferences in 1999, 2001, and 2002 focused on healing individuals, families and communities, respectively.

The Circles of Recovery Conference offers a kaleidoscope of activities designed to appeal to the diverse interests of participants from all over Turtle Island (North America), including visitors from other parts of the world. There will be nine keynote speakers, eight specialized conference tracks, fourteen educational workshops, the presence of Elders and an Elder's panel, as well as Native American healing ceremonies, a Recovery Month Powwow, an Awards and Recognition event, a Banquet, and a first-ever Wellbriety Roast, guaranteed to bring Native American humor into the mix.

This year's Circles of Recovery Conference is co-sponsored by White Bison, Inc. and NANACOA, the National Association of Native American Children of Alcoholics. White Bison, Inc., is an American Indian non profit organization based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, that has been providing sobriety, recovery and wellness resources to Native Americans since 1988. NANACOA is an organization dedicated to helping Native people who grew up in homes where alcohol played a destructive role. The Conference is supported by a coalition of nationally-based organizations working for healthy lifestyles in both Native and non Native cultures. This year's organizational collaborators include: Community Anti Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) • Albuquerque Indian Health Service • National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) • National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA) • Albuquerque Indian Center • American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) and • Faces and Voices of Recovery.

The Circles of Recovery Conference features Native Americans who are advocates for, or resource providers of programs and "tools" of addictions recovery and healing, culturally appropriate to Native Americans. These include Don Coyhis • Kevin Gover • Dr. Pamela Jumper-Thurman • Sharon White Fawn • Willie Wolf • Jeri Brunoe-Samson • Theda New Breast • Kevin Peniska • Sam English, Blaine Wood and others.

This year's conference is also proud to feature presentations by four authors whose work in sobriety, recovery, healing, and wellness has brought them international acclaim as trend setters in well living. They are:

The White Bison Circles of Recovery Conference is one of the high points of the wider National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month taking place across the country in September, sponsored by SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) and CSAT (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment). The Conference is proud to have two members of the National anti-drug effort as speakers in Albuquerque. They are: Dr. H. Westley Clark, Director of CSAT, and Beverly Watts-Davis, Director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP)

The Circles of Recovery Conference is the fourth in a series of White Bison Native American healing events that have taken place since 1999. These events also include the four Journeys of the Sacred Hoop, which took place in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003. The White Bison Hoop of 100 Eagle Feathers has been part of these activities and will be present as an important ceremonial element at the Conference in Albuquerque. Participants in the Conference will take part in Healing ceremonies with the Sacred Hoop during the four-day event. They will also learn about plans for National Forgiveness Day, April 17, 2004, which is in the early stages of discussion to take place next year.

The Circles of Recovery Conference in Albuquerque is free for the first 750 registrants and is open to anyone having an interest in sobriety, recovery and wellness in a Native American cultural format. Registration information and a brochure with more complete information about Speakers, Themes, Tracks and Workshops is available by calling White Bison toll-free at 1-877-871-1495, or visiting the website at www.whitebison.org