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White Bison Inc. founder wins prize |
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Main NEWS Section -
General Topics - Native America
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Colorado Springs, Colorado (AP) 11-09
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Don Coyhis, Founder
of White Bison Inc
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A Colorado Springs group that helps Native Americans overcome alcoholism, drug abuse and other health issues has won a $100,000 prize from a San Francisco think tank.
White Bison Inc. won the Purpose Prize from Civic Ventures. The prize recognizes innovators and initiatives solving community problems.
White Bison’s founder, Don Coyhis, says he’ll use the money to
expand the nonprofit group he founded in 1988 and launch an institute
to promote wellness – or what he calls “Wellbriety” – among the
nation’s 564 tribes.
Coyhis, 66, marked 31 years of sobriety in August. He named his
organization after an image of a white bison he saw while fasting in
the Rampart Range two decades ago. It inspired him to use Indian
culture to help Native Americans overcome addiction.
“This funding will accelerate the healing, matching tradition and
technology will create a powerful force. I’m pretty pumped,” Coyhis
told The Gazette of Colorado Springs.
Coyhis grew up in an alcoholic household on a Mohican reservation in
Wisconsin. He left a job as a senior manager at Digital Equipment Corp.
in Colorado Springs to create an indigenous way to address addiction,
obesity, domestic violence, suicide, divorce and other issues.
Coyhis employs a 12-step program similar to that used by Alcoholics
Anonymous. It incorporates cultural elements, including elders’
teachings, medicine wheel, group drumming circles, songs and healing
ceremonies. All tribal members, from elders to children, are involved
in the healing process.
“The reason we’re in this situation is because our culture was taken
away,” he said. “When I regained my culture, I realized I was not
ashamed to be a Native, but proud.”
Alexandra Cespedes Kent is director of The Purpose Prize. She cited
Coyhis’ trailblazing approach to address the needs of Native Americans.
“His organization has trained over 2,000 individuals to implement
Wellbriety principles in their own communities,” Kent said. “We saw The
Purpose Prize as an investment in what Don is going to do next.”
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