What is the name of your organization?
Painted Horse Recovery
What is the name of your solution?
Becoming Who We Are
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Empowering urban Natives to shed the identities assigned by assimilation to evolve into who they are.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Portland, OR, USA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
United States
What type of organization is your solution team?
Other, including part of a larger organization (please explain below)
If you selected Other, please explain here.
We are a registered 501c3 working under the fiscal sponsorship of 4D Recovery. Under a fiscal sponsorship agreement, 4D Recovery assists us with managing finances and with HR. We consider 4D to be our allies in our efforts to heal our people.
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Due to the policies of the United States government, which have included ethnic cleansing in the form of forced removal to reservations and forced assimilation though the Indian boarding schools, termination, and relocation, which have resulted in collective trauma in the communities that we serve. These policies have resulted in the loss of languages, lifeways, and foodways. Historical and general traumas result in drug and alcohol abuse, mental health challenges, gang violence, breakdown of traditional families, and domestic violence.
In 2020, 41 American Indian/Alaskan Native People died of a drug
overdose in the state of Oregon. This represents
a mortality rate of 45.2 per 100,000 people.
This drug overdose mortality rate among American Indian/Alaskan Native People in
Oregon was:
• 2.6 times higher than the Oregon state average
• 1.6 times higher than the USA average
• 1.7 times higher than the USA American Indian/Alaskan Native average
What is your solution?
Our solution is simple. It has been proven that culture is healing and by combining the cultural approach with modern technology such as virtual platforms we can bring the solution to more relatives. Decolonization is not going backwards, it is bringing cultural values into the modern age.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
We serve the urban Native population, a population that in many ways is invisible. Our clients are separated from their communities and cultures. Our solution will connect them to community and culture.
