This article appeared in our July 2024 Enewsletter. Read the full issue HERE
Consensus Council’s Board of Directors traveled to the Turtle Mountain Tribal Community and the International Peace Gardens to hold their annual meeting May 22-23, 2024.
The trip began with a tour of Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC) as well as a tour of Belcourt and the surrounding areas. This included a visit to the still under construction Turtle Mountain Recovery Center, which will allow tribal members to receive treatment within in their home community.
Robert Upton, Board Vice President for the Recovery Center, explained to the group the significance of building the Recovery Center next to an incarceration facility. Robert described the powerful visual of seeing those two facilities next to each other, representing the two different paths a person in crisis can choose to take. Knowing that the choice is theirs to make can be a critical and empowering step in recovery for people facing addiction, particularly for young people facing addiction.
Consensus Council believes in the power of coming together for a shared meal and aims to include that component in gatherings as much as possible. For this meal, the group gathered at the Sky Dancer Casino & Resort, and were honored to welcome Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Tribal Chairman Jamie Azure, who addressed the group. Chairman Azure shared the economic development and spiritual journey his tribe has taken for their community. This journey is building not just financial sustainability, but spiritual sustainability as well, with services and opportunities designed specifically for and by tribal members.
The following day the group made their way to the International Peace Gardens (IPG). This included a tour of the newly opened Succulent Garden as well as time to explore the beautiful IPG grounds. Gathering at the International Peace Gardens also offered a geographic reminder for the group of Consensus Council’s commitment to bringing people together across borders and divisions.
Whether those borders are physical, philosophical, or political, Consensus Council understands that the lines that divide can also become a path for new and more authentic connections and relationships.