Finding Healing in Community and Culture

We talk with community and criminal justice advocate, human trafficking survivor and Blackfeet Tribal member Lea Wetzel, who shares her experiences in making her voice heard. Through her personal and professional paths, Lea now wears many hats, supporting Montana’s drop-in centers that support people struggling with mental illness, substance use and/or homelessness; promoting “culture is prevention” among minority groups and more. We find out what community resources are key in forging healing and building relationships among some of our most vulnerable populations.

Transcript

Lea Wetzel  0:00  

It's community that allows us to heal. It takes more than just one element it takes a team, a tribe to heal.

Beth Brown  0:14  

Welcome to Breaking Barriers in Rural Health, a limited series podcast from Mountain Pacific. We are sharing what is working in rural mental health and health care and discussing ways to replicate these successes. We're also shining sunlight where it's needed by identifying breakdowns and gaps in care. Ultimately, we aim to improve the health and well being of our health care communities, and anyone listening into this podcast. Now, here's the latest episode in Breaking Barriers in Rural Health.

Amber Rogers  0:50  

Okay, Lea, welcome to our podcast. I've had the distinct pleasure of working with you over the last several years, and I have always learned a ton from you. So why don't you introduce yourself to the group here? 

Lea Wetzel  1:07  

Thank you, Amber. And definitely, it's been an honor and a privilege to work with you and your team. So I'm Lea Wetzel. I'm from the Blackfoot Confederated Nation, I am a woman in recovery. I am a person that is a survivor, I put myself in that category. And we might go into that a little bit, but I work for Montana's Peer Network. I'm a certified behavioral health peer support specialist. I'm a master trainer in cultural humility. I'm also the director of the formerly North Central Human Trafficking and MMIP task force. Now Big Sky MMIP. 

Amber Rogers  1:54  

That is a lot of roles to fill. You have many, many shoes, I'm sure. So one of the things that I was thinking about today, in planning for discussion, is that in so many areas of your life, you are serving as an advocate, whether that's as a peer supporter or in your missing and murdered indigenous peoples work. So what brought you to that advocacy role? And what kind of keeps you going? Because that's, that can be fairly exhausting. 

Lea Wetzel  2:31  

Definitely. So I, um, as I shared, I'm a woman in recovery. So I'm coming up on May 18th, on five years in recovery. But there's a long story before that. I had been in the criminal justice system caught in that revolving door from 18 to 35. I'm also, you know, a survivor of I'm sixth generation survivor of boarding schools. So that includes intergenerational and historical trauma, and a survivor of human trafficking. And so I was raised to really put on a mask and make things look good on the outside, you know, from the outside looking in, everything probably looked picture perfect. But it wasn't obviously, you know, because I was a pretty troubled teen, and got into a lot really quickly. But when I found recovery, I found it at a place called Riverside, and also in AA and Wellbriety. And as I work through drug treatment court, I kind of started getting my voice back. I also spoke at the sentencing of the man that hurt me pretty bad. And I was so scared, it was during COVID. And I did it over Zoom, which was kind of comforting being in my home, not having to be face to face, but to speak at a offender's sentencing. There's all kinds of mixed feelings in the majority of my life, and I think why a lot of people continue to be addicts and be in the criminal justice system is we're running from those feelings. But I didn't and I wrote my feelings out. And I had it in front of me, but I kind of did what I normally do now when I go speaking, I just spoke from my heart and it was the most empowering thing that I've ever done in my life. And, like a year and a half before that, when I first decided I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna speak up this man. This is a bad guy. I found out that he had done this to a lot of other people but had never been charged with it. And so when I did, three more people came forward. And I just realized the power of voice and then I think, you know, going forward, there's kind of an oppression, being in the justice system, you're kind of scared to rock the boat. But as I work through that, you know, and it really it's, it's it's community that allows us to heal, it takes more than just one element it takes a team, a tribe to heal. And I think just all the different mentors and people in my life really pushed me to keep talking about it. And now I'm trying to build a platform for other survivors to use their voice, too. 

Amber Rogers  5:41  

Yeah, so that's, that's kind of an interesting way of what basically what I'm hearing is what gives you the staying power of doing this is that giving to others and allowing them to, to learn about their own voice, and I've never really thought of it that way about taking back your voice. Part of the thing that you work you work with so many I know you work with a drop in shelter community as well. And you know, whether you are homeless, or you're of a different race, or just poverty, you know, those that's a whole group of people that kind of have the deck stacked against them. And, you know, how do they access the resources that we do have in the state? And how do you help them improve their situation?

Lea Wetzel  6:38  

Right. So yeah, I've been blessed to be able to be my, my title's job and center coordinator, but I'm really a liaison and a technical assistant for the state's drop in centers. And so I look at it as all the dynamics that they're working with. It's really reentry, whether they're reentering society from being homeless, whether they're reentering society from being in the criminal justice system. It's just those wholesome like life skills, because I swear, there's some generations there that just really missed out on, you know, what's a budget? How do I be successful? What are these steps, and I really think it's education. And I think it's being transparent. And then being able to see other examples, which peer support can be a really great dynamic, to connect a really good workforce that connect with those dynamics. And that's what these drop in centers, they're a peer-based recovery oriented behavior, health drop in centers, but being able to connect them with resources is huge, because when you're out of the loop, it doesn't matter what loop it is, whether it's getting help getting support, being able to be connected with those resources. And that's what those drop in centers really are is a hub of resources, support, and really focused in on collaboration. 

Amber Rogers  8:16  

That's really cool. Really cool. One of the things I also wanted to talk with you about is, although Native Americans make up a very small portion of our state, they comprise a very large portion of the people with substance use disorder. And you've touched a little bit on some of the historical trauma that has been passed down, secondary trauma. What are some of the interventions, you think that really resonate with the Native American population in in pursuit of recovery?

 Lea Wetzel  8:54  

So we've had this talk before, really, culture is prevention. And a lot of our people have been disconnected from knowing who they are, where they come from, who their people are, knowing they're different, and probably not wanting to feel different. I know growing up in an urban area, it was like I was the, the Indian girl in the urban area, and, you know, back on the res I was the white girl, so you know, I was having that conflicting feeling of identity and like, who am I? So I think really connecting minorities with who they are and honoring that. And then also, some trauma informed ways can be, you know, meeting people where they're at allowing them to really, you know, they're the expert of their own lived experience. And so, no matter what color you are having somebody come and tell you, this is what you need. Empowering them. And really, sometimes we don't know what we need. But once we get in the groove of learning about recovery, and connecting in groups and connecting with our culture, being able to know that people believe in us, we can start kind of believing in ourselves. You know, there's some agreements that were shared with me through the a lady by the name of Souta Calling Last. And she runs a master training for cultural humility. And she trained me and I was very grateful that she trained me in that. And some of those agreements are, you know, listening with intent, not interrupting some of those basic, old school principles of respect. And I think, you know, somewhere along the line, a lot of those kind of got overlooked. But just being able to listen to people. And even if it's the most boring thing, or it makes no sense to you, listening as if they're like, the wisest person in the room, you know, because there's a lot of power in that. Because we already beat ourselves up enough, by the time we get to support and some good resources, or connecting individuals, if you're non native. And you don't really know what those resources are White Bison, they do Wellbriety they have seven different trainings. And they believe that no matter what color you are, we're all one race, the human race. And they love sharing that knowledge with with anybody from any background. Another one is Native Wellness Institute, like Theda New Breast, they do Facebook Lives and give out a lot of information. And they do trainings as well. Souta Calling Last, indigenous vision, she would've get mad if she heard me stopping. But those are some really good resources, and Native American Fathers and Families Association. Their focus is really on building relationships, learning to have relationships, that type of thing. 

Amber Rogers  12:18  

Those are some great resources, because there is a definite shortage of providers in Montana. And we need we need everybody to be able to work with anybody that knocks on their door. Right? 

Lea Wetzel  12:32  

Right. And there's definitely a need. If I could take on every contract or offer we would need about 10 of me, you know. So, if people are out there, and they have knowledge, you know, traditionally that knowledge is to be shared, you know, and we're supposed to share it with love. So we need we need that. 

Amber Rogers  12:55  

Well, I know that I have learned from you. So that's good. 

Lea Wetzel  12:58  

I've learned a lot from you to my friend. We did some we got to do some fun things together. 

Amber Rogers  13:04  

Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. Anything else that you'd like to share? 

Lea Wetzel  13:11  

Yeah, so I guess a little update. So I got to do a public service announcement with the attorney general. And I'll be doing a training on July 19, at the Law Enforcement Academy, Department of Corrections has asked me to train some new fresh law enforcement, share a bit of my story and share what helps kinda like this, you know, I think that information's important to share. 

Amber Rogers  13:44  

And, yeah, that reminds me of when you were telling me about your story. And if you don't mind sharing with the whole world, the importance of law enforcement, and what a difference that one person was to you. 

Lea Wetzel  13:59  

You're gonna make me cry again. So, yes, that is like a big piece of what I share with law enforcement. So I had many traumatic events happen, but I never I tried to say something one time, and I did not get the response that I thought I was and I'm like, oh, that's the last time I'm doing that. Well, I had a gentleman come in my life. After almost losing my life. Somebody had made a report about the incident. And so I got some people question me and so the detective that ended up taking on my case, he was with the drug task force here locally. And he believed me. He listened to me and he told me he did what he said he was going to do. He said, I'm going to we're going to put this guy behind bars. And he would check in with me, he would pull me in and visit with me. Once I got to where I was, like, outpatient and doing drug court, he would text me, he would call me. And he won't, he did everything he said he would do. And long story short, I graduated drug court. And he came and he, he gave me a gift, and told me how proud he was of me. And at that time, I was really trying to connect with like, the local MMIP. Because I wanted to get involved because, you know, you start realizing, getting out of self, that it's really helpful, because we get in our minds, and it's not a good place to be. And so he ended up connecting me with the MMIP Task Force at that time. And he ended up telling me that day, he said, you know, I'm always telling him, thank you. Because he did, he put that man behind bars, and, and he supported me. And he was transparent and open with me. And he said, "You know, I really should be thanking you." He said, "I got out of the service, and I got home. And due to the crap we see there, I had a huge disconnect between me and my family." And he's he said, "I just, all of that passion and life kind of left." And he said, "Being able to support you, has helped me," and he said, "it's helped my relationships." And at that time, he was made the head of the Violent Task Force, they opened here for a while, which is pretty cool hearing, how helpful that because we never know the ripple effect, you know? 

Amber Rogers  16:54  

Right. Right. With the kind of it's so funny, because I started off with the you being the advocate for others. But that journey started, because you received it. 

Lea Wetzel  17:05  

He had for me, yes, I know, it's, it's bigger than us, you know. And if I could have a message to really end on would be, don't doubt yourself, and no I'm gonna start crying. Don't doubt yourself and always listen to that inner voice, because that's whoever your Creator is, that's, that's your Creator and your ancestors, trying to connect with you and tell you something. So always listen to that. 

Amber Rogers  17:27  

Always listen to that inner voice. 

Lea Wetzel  17:30  

That's right.

Amber Rogers  17:44  

Thank you so much, Leah. This has been awesome. 

Lea Wetzel  17:47  

Yes. Thank you for having me. 

Amber Rogers  17:50  

Yes, indeed.

Thank you, Leah, for agreeing to talk with me today. I always learn so much from you. I wanted to share with everybody else a couple of the resources that we discussed. First off is Montana Peer Network. This is a peer-run organization, which means it's being run by people that have a substance use disorder. And their role is to provide information, education, training and support for people seeking recovery from mental health concerns, substance use disorder and trauma. They have weekly support groups and an indigenous wellness panel on a regular basis. The White Bison was another organization that Lea mentioned in detail, and that is at WhiteBison.org. They are a Native American operated 501(c)(3), and they have various resources as well as training on cultural-based healing to assist native peoples. If you are a provider, and you are looking for additional content related to assisting your Native American clients, you can access the SAMSA website, which is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. I am sure that most of the providers on the call are well versed on the SAMSA website, but they do have specific training for working with American Indian and Alaska Natives to promote healing from substance use disorder. So check all those resources out and we hope to see you next time.

Beth Brown  19:54  

Thank you for listening. Be sure to subscribe to Breaking Barriers in Rural Health and learn more about Mountain Pacific at www.mpqhf.org.