Speaker Name: Ramona Big Head
Session Description:
Ramona will take share her personal story of her experiences of sexual abuse at the Indian Residential School and in the community; of becoming a teenage mother in an abusive marriage. She will also share about the impacts of losing her daughter to suicide in 2006; and her oldest son, a second daughter and a granddaughter to fentanyl overdose within a 2 year period from 2021 to 2023. Yet, in spite of all that she’s been through, she will also share her personal story of recovery and healing with a focus on the tools that she acquired which enabled her to continue to achieve her goals. She will take you through the, sometimes painful, but necessary journey of the internal struggle of decolonizing the mind and spirit to allow a gentle healing to calm the heart and settle the mind. This presentation will demonstrate the power of identity and how connection to language, culture, ceremony and land can play an important role in recovery and healing. She will also provide examples of western healing teachings that enhanced her journey of recovery for the past 25 years. Finally, you will begin to see how recovery and healing, from both Indigenous and western forms, translates into “Why not?”
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, you will be able to recognize the importance of balancing both Indigenous and western techniques of healing in order to promote optimal wellness of body, mind and spirit in order to achieve your goals.
References:
“Alcoholics Anonymous World Services. (2002). Alcoholics anonymous: The story of how many thousands of men and women have recovered from alcoholism (4th ed.)
Elrod, H. (2023). The Miracle Morning: The not-so-obvious secret guaranteed to transform your life (before 8AM) (Updated and Expanded ed.). BenBella Books.
Freire, P. (2017). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Penguin Classics.
Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples (2nd ed.). Zed Books.
Wolfelt, A. D. (2021). Understanding your grief: Ten essential touchstones for finding hope and healing your heart (2nd ed.).”
BIO
Ramona’s Blackfoot name , Akaistssiskaakii, is translated as “Many Sweat Lodge Woman”. She is Kainai and grew up on the Blood Indian Reserve. She is a mother of 7, which includes a set of identical triplet daughters, she is also a grandmother of 23 and a great-grandmother of 5. Ramona is a survivor of Indian Residential School; childhood trauma and abuse; family violence; addictions; and grief & loss. In spite of all that she’s been through, today she has almost 25 years of sobriety. She achieved her B.A/B.Ed in 1996; M.Ed in 2009 and PhD in 2026. She began her teaching career at Kainai High School and taught high school English and Drama for 14 years. She was a middle school and high school principal and an elementary school assistant principal. Today, she is the Assistant Superintendent with Peigan Board of Education. Ramona loves spending time with her grandchildren; cross-country running; writing and directing drama productions; reading; traveling; and Lebron James!