This presentation was delivered as part of the Tribal Lands and Environment Forum: Virtual Gathering in August 2021 by Eric Shin with the Nalwoodi Denzhone Community and Carrie Curley with the San Carlos Apache Tribe/Nalwoodi Denzhone Community.

Nalwoodi Denzhone (“Strength and Beauty”) Community is a 501(c)3 non-profit operating on tribal-owned land on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. Generations of toxic stress from historical and personal trauma, coupled with a lack of meaningful work or activity and the loss of connection to the natural world brought on by the establishment of the reservation in 1871, has led to a destructive culture of despair. Still, NDC draws seeds of hope from the pervasive creative spirit of this community. In this presentation Project Coordinator Eric Shin and NDC Vice President Carrie Sage Curley will review the year’s progress in developing the Nnee Nalwoodi (“Strong Apache”) life center, where programs of land restoration, community gardening, and COVID emergency relief among others have grown substantially in the past year and offer significant promise for future community healing.