In partnership with AWBW and the Native American communities of San Bernardino and Riverside County, A Greater Hope held its first Community Story Tree Workshop on October 15, 2020. Poignantly, October marks National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and domestic violence is often the catalyst for children entering foster care.

Led by AWBW Facilitator Nikki Crow of the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribe, and co-facilitated by Julie Andrews of the San Manuel Native American Resource Center, the workshop welcomed 42 participants whose lives have been touched by family violence. In spite of its virtual format, the workshop was intensely powerful. We were honored to have participants from multiple tribes, who ranged in age from teenagers to mature folks. Participants joined from across California and into Oregon — where members of the National Indian Child Welfare Association, the event sponsor, decorated several canvas squares.

In the Project, participants deeply and mindfully connected to and explored past abuse, patterns, needs, values and identities. Each participant decorated their own individual piece of the 42 canvases that together make up the story tree.

Celebrated and beloved artist Gerald Clarke of the Cahuilla Tribe sketched a gorgeous tree, adorned with acorns, across the canvases. The tree was modeled after the 2,000 year old Pechanga Great Oak tree and the acorns symbolic of the native diet. The completed Story Tree was unveiled in June of 2021 and will travel across our San Bernardino and Riverside community to be displayed on tribal lands, in local businesses and organizations.