S3:Ep7 NAI Series: "Life's Blessings": A Cultural Engagement Day for Nurses w/Margaret Anne Adams & Mary Ellen Lafromboise + *Bonus* Episode Intro: Decolonizing Thanksgiving w/Amy & Claire!

Mother Love

Before jumping into our time with our amazing guests, we wanted to share a conversation between Amy and Claire about Thanksgiving: what we learned in school, what we have needed to unlearn since then, and how we share hard truths with our families on a day that boasts feasting, abundance and gratitude. It's complicated but important and Amy is so good at embracing both with humor and grace.
Then, we have the privilege of hearing from Margaret Anne Adams and Mary Ellen Lafromboise. These two women will tell us about Life’s Blessing Day, a day of cultural immersion and community-based learning for visiting nurses who help serve Indigenous moms, babies and their families during the perinatal period. The Life's Blessings event was held in Browning, MT on the Blackfeet Reservation and its aim was to build relationships, share strengths and really allow participating nurses to learn from Indigenous people to experience the richness of cultural practices firsthand. Some things just can't be understood from a distance and the Life's Blessing day showed that when people gather face to face and heart to heart, they don't just learn, they are transformed.

SHOW NOTES/RESOURCES
From Thanksgiving Intro:
Books:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Living Resistance by Kaitlin Curtice
Online resources:
Thanksgiving Address
Potawatomi Website (the true dark history of Thanksgiving)
Dakota 38 Documentary
Follow Kaitlin Curtice on IG:
@kaitlincurtice
From Life's Blessings Interview:
Montana Maternal Health by the Numbers
Sun Tours transportation
Blackfeet Nation History
Yarrow Collaborative

For statewide resources please visit the Linking Infants and Families to Supports at
https://hmhb-lifts.org/