By Corey Bird

The Red Ribbon Relay Run is a representation of living drug-free lives and a symbol of Enrique Camarena Salazar's honorable death, cultivated by the communities and people.  Enright fought to protect his community as a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Imperial County Narcotic Task Force. The Event started as red ribbons worn to honor Renrique, and then turned into runs when Navajo Nation President Peterson Zah recruited Navajo runners. 

By Corey Bird

In New Mexico, high school students are more likely to use marijuana, e-cigarettes and experience frequent mental distress. We wouldn't see this clearly without the New Mexico Youth Risk & Resilience Surveys that take anonymous responses from participating students in participating high schools. The YRRS asks questions to provide results similar to those mentioned above for New Mexico students compared to the United States. Understanding what our teens are experiencing will give us the reason to take action. 

By Corey Bird

I chose the Kewa Family Wellness Center (KFWC) as my government impact because of the various services it provides to its members, with the goal of inspiring and nurturing well-being, one person at a time. The wide array of services includes referral/intake, case management/ client navigation, community health representative services, youth shelter services, and a few others. But the ones I was to highlight are outpatient substance abuse treatment and behavioral health therapy. Their vision is "To collectively promote and provide the best quality of services that create a healthy community. That fosters balance and harmony for all tribal members while respecting culture and tradition as a way of life.”

By Corey Bird

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of people who come together to solve their drinking problem. It doesn’t cost anything to attend A.A. meetings. There are no age or education requirements to participate. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about their drinking problem. A.A.’s primary purpose is to help alcoholics to achieve sobriety. A.A.’s Twelve Steps are a set of spiritual principles. When practiced as a way of life, they can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to recover from alcoholism.

By Corey Bird

This article offers a good methodology for researching any topic; in this case, it is used to research the benefits of cultural practices in the context of addiction. Cultural approaches to addiction affect the four dimensions of wellness: Spiritual, Physical- Behavioral, Mental, and social- emotional. The most common cultural practices were sweat lodges and using sage, cedar, or sweet grass smudges.

What is being done in Canada is most relevant to New Mexican Indigenous communities in terms of approaches. Using cultural practices to connect to our culture and identity is a huge protective factor we have found through interviews and research. The practices vary among cultures, but the effect remains consistent. I myself place my identity through my culture at the core of my being. Doing so has given me an unshakable truth to lean on in hardships and tribulations.

By Corey Bird

This article provides various social methods, such as Motivational Enhancement Therapy(MET) and Alcoholics Anonymous(AA), that were proven to significantly reduce drinking frequency and volume over a 9-15 month follow-up. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy(CBT) was especially effective when paired with traditional treatments of sweat lodge ceremonies and talking circles in a 90-day alcohol consumption period. In this study, there were significant reductions in psychiatric severity, medical problem severity, and measures of physical and functional well-being at the conclusion of treatments.

By human nature, we are social animals, and this is seen in this article, which includes Indigenous staff and culturally specific elements in the recovery plan among numerous studies. Taking a psychosocial approach to addiction yielded significant reductions in drinking frequency and volume. We found evidence of this first-hand in interviews with alcoholics or ex-alcoholics, though social interaction was with people close to the alcoholic.

By Youthrisk.org

This article affirms that the health status of Indigenous people is a direct result of historical and ongoing colonial policies and practices in the healthcare system, and that Indigenous people have the right to influence health research, policy, and practices that impact them. This review was guided by Indigenous knowledge holders at Knowledge Holders Gatherings. In the Knowledge Holders Gathering, Elders emphasized five key contextual factors affecting opioid dependence in their communities, including structural violence, trauma, culture, community, and experiences. 

The five key contextual factors can be thought of as protective factors and risk factors. Traumas from the past generations affect a person just as much as their own traumas. Generational traumas pre-wire your responses to any experiences that may trigger similar feelings or survival responses. This, along with how a child is raised, can determine if we continue the precedence. The contextual factors that were constructed through the Knowledge Holders Gathering are key to future changes.

By Corey Bird

My action plan took place on November 13, 2025, in the 1st-floor boys' study room. I invited the 1st floor North-wing boys to participate in a group activity similar to a bit-life. I planned to show the boys plausible situations of exposure to commonly addictive substances with consequences if they had chosen as a group to accept what was offered. Through this game, the boys learned how severe the consequences may be if they had chosen the worst path towards addiction. 

By Corey Bird

My action plan took place on February 25, 2026, at !YouthWorks on Cerrillos Rd. I invited students to participate in a talking circle and learn about !YouthWorks and what they do. There, we learned about the different branches of the program and how it’s similar to Alcoholics Anonymous(AA). The discussion was youth-led with adults participating as spectators. We experienced a traditional method to combat addiction and mental unwellness. 

By Corey Bird

Native American communities are always interconnected. The old man who runs the pueblo store? That is your uncle. The young lady who is always dusting out rugs? That is your sister. The kids who play in the plaza? They’re your younger siblings. The entire pueblo is a family, and we all help to nurture one another. I would like to think of SFIS as an interconnected community as well. Bill Coriz is from the pueblo of Santo Domingo and is a present part of SFIS as a counselor, dorm staff, and chaperone. For all the years I have come to school here, Bill has been here and has been present in the lives of the dormitory boys. He is our role model to be present in our culture, to learn the stories of our past, and to teach the youth behind us. Cultural practices like stories, prayer, and tradition, Bill is a representation of. “Growing up without a father, I looked to these two men as fulfilling that role. Grandpa Chosa was a daily figure in my life who provided structure, discipline, and life’s teaching through farming practices and as a traditional health practitioner in our Pueblo.”(Chosa 175). I have grown up without a father, and having male role models like Bill has given me the reassurance that I can still learn and contribute to my community.

Throughout my SHP presentation and research, I included people of all ages. I acknowledged the future with my peers, acknowledged the wisdom of the past with our elders, and the reality of the issue with ex addicts/ ex-dependents. “Values are common across Pueblo and Indigenous communities, and their significance is magnified when considering small populations and the realization that every community member’s contributions and talents are valuable to the whole.”(Chosa 168) In a topic so sensitive, I wanted to make sure that my audience could find commonality with some part of it. When the elders in my audience realize that their wisdom is valuable, I hope it warms their hearts. When the youth in my audience see the shift we are trying to make, they join the movement. With my SHP, I address an issue that I feel we can resolve with the help everybody can offer. Each person can feel they belong in creating a better future, no matter who they are now or who they were in the past.