Comanche Nation Youth Services Features Young Women's Outreach

From Monday, March 13, through Wednesday, March 15, the Comanche Nation Youth Services program held a Young Ladies Wellness Retreat for girls ages 13 to 18 at the Dorothy Sunrise Lorentino Education Center, led by Director of Comanche Nation Youth Services Randi Lynn Attocknie-Claborn and her colleagues.

“What we've been going over has been basic practices in mindfulness and staying present and trying not to think too far ahead of yourself and not trying to let things that may have happened in your past bother or upset you, but just to stay mindful in the here and now,” Attocknie-Claborn said.

She said having a safe space is essential for young girls, especially at-risk girls, to learn about themselves and be in touch with who they are.

“Statistically speaking, our young Native women are at such a high risk to have a lot of dangers come towards them,” Attocknie-Claborn said. “And I think being mindful of their surroundings, and that's a lot of the things that we've been speaking about is being observant and not letting the stressors of every day get them to a point where they're not being mindful of where they're at or who's around them, and just being observant and being able to focus and to practice these things every day. And to practice these things, you have to, you know, you only become stronger in doing that. And the hope behind these types of events is to, in essence, is to safeguard them for future things that may come. Then we can provide them toolkits, provide them the opportunities and the toolkits that they need if things do get out of hand or things do get too stressful in their lives, that they have these touchstones that they can come back to.”

Attocknie-Claborn said learning mindfulness is a good practice to relieve stress and absorb some issues from the outside.

“To be mindful that…I can control so much. But that also helps in a safety and in safeguarding as well by being observant of your surroundings at all times. You know, like I said, you practice it and then you get better at it,” she said. “And that's what we talked about with our body and our inner wellness. It's like a muscle. It has to be exercised…mindfulness has to be exercised regularly so it can grow stronger every day.”

The girls created medicine pouches with cedar, promoting cleansing and a positive mindset, which Attocknie-Claborn said was the focus of the three-day retreat.

“There's ways that you can do that outside of a cultural viewpoint, but then there's ways that we have, we have teachings of our own that keep those negative things at bay. And that's one of the practices that we want to just let our girls know and let them have and identify with,” she said. “So, if they ever come across a point where someone is cedaring or somebody is offering them, you know, help traditionally or culturally, they know that…that's a safe place for them.”

She said that being a native woman and growing up in a small, rural community, there are many harsh realities, and it’s unfortunate to encounter abuses against young women. Attocknie-Claborn said MMIW has made it more prevalent and center-staged, and people are taking more notice of abuse.

“Recently, within the year, I had a baby and then I have a daughter. And I think with…babies, there's something about having hope,” she said. “And I definitely want to have hope for the future for her. And doing these kind of events is teaching these young girls, that will one day be in my shoes and want to be in my place, that will be eventually teaching her at some point, you know,” she said. “So, it's just kind of like paying things forward. So, you want to make sure that, that these [tools], these toolkits and these…practices are going to be available for the next group that's going to be coming up. And so…my daughter's going to be in that group and I have hope that…this is going to be instilled in them. That when it comes their time to teach and it's going to be their time…to bring up those behind them…they'll have all the necessary tools there available…for them.”

Attocknie-Claborn said she wants good things for her child and everyone else's children.

“I do my best to encourage every youth…that I work with to let them know that they are important and that they are valued and that they have a safe place to be valued here,” she said.

Attocknie-Claborn said she reminds the group of ladies she works with that they’re always welcome and they always have a safe place amongst their people.