Project 6:  Intergenerational Communications (Florida)

Principal Partner:  To be named Action Committee Chairman:  Sheldon Smith, Male Member at Large, National UNITY Council, Executive Committee  (sheldon@pnyteam.org) Project Date:  Project to take place in the Spring of 2008 – specific date to be determined Objective:  to facilitate a conversation between Native youth, their parents, other adults, elders and youth workers and to explore the ways and means of building stronger communication links among all age groups within Native communities.

Project Description: Statistics show that the time spent in meaningful conversation among parents and children amounts to only a few minutes per week. Therefore youth receive substantially more information that forms their opinions and outlook on life outside the family. As a result, a substantial percentage of our young people are more influenced by their interaction with all things emanating from the pop culture than by their participation, knowledge, and understanding of their tribal traditions and culture. Native youth, who are members of UNITY affiliated youth councils, have identified the loss of cultural identity to be among their major concerns. Therefore, this Initiative related project will bring youth together with community parents, other adults, elders, and youth workers to explore ways in which to build stronger communications links among all age groups within Native communities.

A two day mini-conference will be planned and conducted in Tampa, Florida to promote better family communications and to develop recommendations for improving family communications within the home. The event will consist of family oriented activities such as a picnic and family games followed by an evening social event featuring storytelling by elders, family get acquainted exercises, presentations of traditional dances, and entertainment. The following day will consist of presentations by those knowledgeable and experienced in helping families achieve greater harmony through more effective communications. Following these presentations the youth, parents and adults, and elders will gather and participate in separate facilitated workshops where they will focus on the question of how to increase the communications across generational lines. Each group will develop a set of recommendations for improving communications among Native family members. At the conclusion of the workshops the attendees will reassemble and a representative from each work group will present their recommendations. This will then be followed by a facilitated talking circle in which each group's recommendations will be discussed. The assembled group will then strive to reach agreement on a practical model that may be used by the participating families to build better communications and thereby strengthen their family bonds. The conference proceedings and recommended model will be written up and posted on the UNITY Website for reference by others who share an interest in strengthening Native families.

The conference's opening plenary session will be Webcast (streamed to the Internet) for the benefit of those interested but unable to attend the mini-conference. Other activities may be videotaped and Webcast as deemed appropriate by the planning committee.

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