KarunaNews Story

The consequences of American colonialism still reverberate throughout urban Indigenous communities. From the dissolution of native languages to the forced abandonment of Native traditions and practices, urban Indigenous communities are making concerted efforts to reclaim their cultures and heritage. Elicia Goodsoldier stood in front of a group of nearly 50 Indigenous people in June to initiate the Phoenix Indian Center’s first “Wiping of Tears” ceremony. It is a community grieving ceremony, originating from the Lakota Nation. “So many people from our language and culture programming really carry a lot of grief,” Goodsoldier said. “And that heaviness, that trauma that they’re carrying, that almost prevents them from being able to take in the language, to take in the teachings.” Whether it is due to community violence, the sober living home scandal or the missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, the Indigenous community has suffered tremendously in recent years. Rather than continue suffering individually throughout these losses, Goodsoldier and the Phoenix Indian Center saw an opportunity to not only pull the community together but also to reinforce the need for traditional practices and customs. Relatives from a diversity of tribal backgrounds were in attendance; some came from places as far as the Rosebud Service Unit in South Dakota, others from Native lands much closer, such as Window Rock, Arizona or Gallup, New Mexico. “We’re trying to reclaim those teachings and bring them back to our relatives,” Goodsoldier said. “We have to rekindle that fire that’s within us, and we do that by doing this.”