Exploring an innovative, field-tested approach to building healthy, sustainable American Indian communities will be the focus of an international conference to be held from September 25 to 27 at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa.

Featured speakers include Joe A. Garcia, President of the National Congress of American Indians; Robert Cook, President of the National Indian Education Association; Lucille Echohawk, strategic advisor for the Casey Family Programs; and Kevin Skenandore, Acting Director of the Bureau of Indian Education.

The five-point plan includes (1) improving educational outcomes through stress-reducing, consciousness-based meditation; (2) improving health and reducing diabetes, heart disease, and substance abuse through prevention-oriented, natural medicine; (3) promoting energy and economic self-sufficiency through wind and solar technologies; (4) growing healthy, nutritious food through organic greenhouses; and (5) safeguarding the land, language, and culture of American Indian populations.

Researchers to present results of “Quiet Time” studies

Researchers will also present the results of several controlled studies on the effects of the “Quiet-Time” Transcendental Meditation program for reducing acute stress and behavioral problems among hundreds of at-risk American Indian youth at the Winnebago (NE), Pine Ridge (SD), and Passamaquoddy (ME) reservations. Findings showed the Quiet Time program promoted higher scores on standardized state tests of mathematics and reading, 25% less absenteeism, and 30% higher graduation rates among the meditating young people compared to controls.

Five-point plan developed by the Hocak Elders Council, Inc,

The five-point plan has been developed by the Hocak Elders Council, Inc., of the Winnebago Reservation, according to Prosper Waukon, enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. 

Conference hosts and participants include the Indian Health Services (IHS), National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), National Indian Education Association (NIEA), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Winnebago Tribal Health Services (WTHS), Winnebago Treaty Hospital–IHS, David Lynch Foundation, and Hocak Elders Council, Inc.

Conference information and registration

AmericanIndianSustainableConference.org