By Teresa Grame, LCSW, ATR-BC, RPT-S, Chair of SoCAlATA Honors Committee | February 23, 2017 | Community
Water is Life: Mni Wiconi
The Southern California Art Therapy Association (SoCalATA) was honored to present Lauryn Hunter, LMFT, ATR with the Art Therapy Distinguished Service Award at our Annual General meeting held on February 4, 2017. The award recognized Lauryn for her important role in responding to the needs of the children and families of the water protectors at Standing Rock in North Dakota, in addition to her work in the local schools of Los Angeles.
Lauryn Hunter delivering stuffed animals, art materials, and other supplies.
Lauryn took time to travel to North Dakota during a Thanksgiving break from work as a Mental Health Clinician for Cedars-Sinai Hospital’s Share and Care Program in Los Angeles. In her role as counselor for the Share and Care Program, Lauryn runs art therapy-based intervention groups for students in grades K-12, along with parent and teacher workshops, in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Driven by her belief that “water is life,” Lauryn joined water protectors in North Dakota at Standing Rock to offer art therapy services and bring essential supplies to the activists. A large gathering of indigenous nations set up camp on land within a half-mile of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. They came together to protest construction of the 1,172-mile Dakota Access oil pipeline, based on the water safety issues raised by the EPA and the fact that the pipeline would disturb sacred tribal sites.
Lauryn said she felt a strong need “deep down” in her DNA to help at Standing Rock due to her Cherokee heritage. Her words eloquently describe the meaningful impact she and others had on the Standing Rock community:
A friend of mine told me the children at camp were starting to show signs of trauma and that they needed my art therapy services. As I did more research, I became most concerned about the temperatures going below zero degrees. I realized that I needed community support to make my dream into a reality. I created a Gofundme campaign to raise money to send supplies and buy whatever else was needed when we arrived in North Dakota.
Before leaving for North Dakota, Lauryn began educating her Los Angeles Community about the events unfolding in Standing Rock. While conducting art therapy with her share and care kids, she focused on random acts of kindness and the ways that they could give back to their communities. Around Thanksgiving, her groups typically discussed themes of gratitude:
I shared with them that I was thankful for clean water and where I was going for Thanksgiving. One group suggested we make cards to thank the Standing Rock community for protecting our water and planet. These cards were made from kids ranging in age from kindergarten to 5th grade… I taught them what was going on in Standing Rock and why people from all over the world were coming together to protect mother earth.
In North Dakota, a mental health tent was set up and filled with pillows, blankets, sleeping bags, stuffed animals, art, and music supplies. Here, children and their families were guided in therapeutic arts activities and dance and movement therapies. Although the initial goal was to work in the school at camp and within the mental health tent, it became apparent that critical issues such as physical wounds, hypothermia, and multi-generational trauma needed to be addressed.
Lauryn and her companions opened up their room to the water protectors, allowing them to shower and warm up from the cold. She became witness to the therapy that occurred under these harsh circumstances, revealing “As they waited, we showed them the children’s Thanksgiving Thank You cards, which brought an array of emotional release, tears of sadness, anger, joy, pride… The pure innocence of these children’s art work and words of love allowed people to let their guard down and process with us the traumas they had experienced thus far at camp.”
Reflecting upon the emotional significance that the children’s cards had for people in Standing Rock, Lauryn stated:
The reaction was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. This wall became the focal point of the Thanksgiving celebration. People eagerly reading them and being moved to tears or laughter. When I asked the children to create them I had no idea the impact they would have for the entire Standing Rock community. Providing joy, love, and compassion in a very dark time.
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- The student’s cards filled an entire wall during a Thanksgiving meal for 3000 water protectors.
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- Stuffed animals were passed out over Thanksgiving, acting as an example of how far random acts of kindness can go.
She witnessed and experienced the backlash against the protestors. “Even though the reservation was a no-fly zone,” she explained, “DAPAL would fly planes over the camp spraying chemicals and fiber glass onto the people, causing severe respiratory problems called ‘camp cough.’” They were also faced with the challenge of the lack of communication in camp, blocked by gridding procedures that hindered the use of phones, internet or email used to prevent information from getting out to the media.
Lauryn and her group responded to the immediate needs expressed by the camp residents:
Parents would tell us stories about how the children needed stimulation and something to do or play with. We spent our days driving up and down the three camps looking for children. We would stop and open our truck full of winter clothing, stuffed animals, hula hoops and bags of art supplies and start passing out what we had. Each child was so grateful when given a stuffed animal and art supplies such as markers, colored pencils, water colors, scissors, glue and paper. The mothers were moved to tears stating we had answered their prayers and how grateful they were for our acts of kindness.
Genia Young, who nominated Lauryn for the award, said of Lauryn’s work at the camp: “Her acts had a profound impact on the people involved in the pipeline.” She nominated Lauryn” as an example of the power and reach of art therapists in whatever form the art may take.”
Lauryn will return to Standing Rock this summer. To support her work, visit her Gofundme page. For more information on Standing Rock and the Dakota Access Pipeline and how you can help contact thrivemarket.com