Himyuma Outreach

HIMYUMA OUTREACH

Himyuma Outreach Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Nez Perce Tribal Member Leotis McCormack and Yakama Nation member Mary James.  Himyuma was founded on the principles of Nez Perce traditional teachings and cultural preservation and application in efforts to combat suicide and mental health.  Himyuma Leadership have dedicated their lives to the service of their communities in mentorship, Nez Perce traditional practices and ceremonial teachings and incorporating their efforts to their daily work and lives.  One of the foundational efforts of our indigenous ways of life is found in ceremony to which we dedicate all things through prayer and service to others. 

THUNDER MOUNTAIN SUNDANCE

Himyuma Community Outreach Director Brooklyn Baptiste, has been a long standing cultural and spiritual leader for the Nez Perce People for decades.  He has paved the way by reintroducing what was once an almost lost ceremony back to the Nez Perce Homelands.  Serving as a councilmember and former Chairman for the Nez Perce Tribe and currently the Nez Perce Tribes Opioid Response Manager, Brooklyn has established relationships worldwide teaching and speaking on all Tribal issues.  For almost 30 years, Brooklyn has been a servant and head man dancer throughout other ceremonies in Indian Country.  For his compassion for people and humility in service, Brooklyn was approached by Dance leaders in North Dakota and accepted the responsibility of the alter of this ceremony and bringing it back to the Nez Perce Homelands serving under their covering. 

In 2017, Thunder Mountain Sundance located on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation was reborn after an almost 150 year absence.  This dance has brought so many of our community members together in this way for the first time in over a century and a half.  Words and documents cannot fully capture the positive impacts that this ceremony has had on this community.  Parrtners have come from all over the world, from Slavakia, Romania, Italy, Canada, South America, Mexico, France and all over the United States to participate in this healing ceremony.  Open to everyone and anyone, this ceremony is sought to help reconnect our teachings to the application through ceremony and prayer. 

Our Dance itself happens yearly and is a week long ceremony conducted in the wilderness area and given the name Thunder Mountain.  Although the ceremony is a week long itself, our commitment of our teachings require us to gather, fish, hunt and hold monthly gatherings in preparation for the main dance.  Throughout the year our team of teachers, elders, hunters, fishers and gatherers will gather and bring an abundance of resources that will go towards the ceremony and community need itself.  It is here in this preparation effort, where our teachings and traditional practices reside and are put to work.  Our practices to reconnect with the sacred lives of our four legged, winged and water animals and reconnecting to us to where our healing takes place.  These individual sessions provide the mentorship to our youth and men and women who are needing to reconnect through getting wood or providing food or resources for our elders or families in need and how it is encompassed within our overall ceremonial lifestyles.  This is where we regain our teachings and connection to our culture by reconnecting with our ancient ancestors and reestablishing our relationships with ourselves that remove the need for substance and combat depression.   With the love of our families, we will continue to serve the needs of our hurting people.

PRISON OUTREACH

In 2013, a Nez Perce Tribal member who was being held inside of the Nez Perce County Jail contacted the then Sherriff and requested the ability to incorporate traditional expressions of prayer while inside.  The Sherriff reached out to Leotis who was serving on the Nez Perce Tribal Executive Committee at the time and held the responsibility of Law and Justice Chairman and Chaplain.  Through the collaboration of Himyuma and the Sherriff, protocols were established and for the first time in modern history, Indigenous traditional practices were allowed inside of a County jail facility and open to anyone who wished to participate tribally or not.  Himyuma leaders Leotis McCormack and Brooklyn Baptiste attended state certification training courses to be allowed into the jails and prisons to help facilitate these ceremonies.  From this effort it has helped countless justice involved individuals rejoin the circle once they leave the facilities and back into their communities.  Our efforts continue as we continue to provide the wood, rocks, approved medicines and any and all needed elements for ceremony lodges inside of the jails.  Himyuma leaders, Brooklyn and Leotis still go into the jails and offer meetings, cleansing, songs and prayers and help facilitate and build up leaders from within to carry these responsibilities.