College of Menominee Nation Hosts Indigenous Wellness Events, Support for Students
Today the College of Menominee Nation is holding an Indigenous Wellness Workshop as part of a series of cultural and wellness events running through December 17. These sessions offer timely mental health and cultural support for students and community members in Keshena and surrounding Menominee County as the semester closes on December 12.
The College of Menominee Nation has scheduled a sequence of campus wellness and cultural activities beginning today, December 8, with an Indigenous Wellness Workshop. The campus calendar lists a Talking Circle on December 9, Breathe and Bead sessions on December 10 and December 17, Beading for Bliss on December 16, and ongoing Ribbon Shirt and Ribbon Skirt Wednesdays. Times and locations are posted on the college student portal, with many events held in Shirley Daly 1 118 and the Wellness Resource Room.
These gatherings are designed to provide both cultural continuity and mental health supports for students and community members. They arrive during a high stress period as this semester ends, with the last day of classes set for December 12. For many in Menominee County, community based rituals and peer supported spaces can augment sparse local behavioral health resources, offering a culturally safe setting to process stress, grief and academic pressure.
The college events also have broader public health implications. Community access to culturally grounded wellness activities can reduce barriers to care by situating support in familiar places and using Indigenous practices that resonate with participants. In a rural county where travel and provider shortages limit options, locally hosted sessions can prevent crisis escalation and complement clinical services. Connecting campus programming with tribal health clinics and county services can strengthen continuity of care for students who need follow up beyond peer led sessions.
These events highlight persistent policy challenges that affect health equity in Menominee County. Chronic underfunding of tribal and rural health systems, workforce shortages in mental health professions, and gaps in transportation and broadband all reduce access to sustained treatment. Community based programming like the college calendar items is an important stopgap, yet long term solutions require coordinated investment in tribal health infrastructure and culturally competent workforce development.
Residents can find exact times, room assignments and contact information for organizers on the college student portal. The series offers an opportunity for students and neighbors to reconnect with culture, manage end of semester stress, and link into supports that reflect the community values of Keshena and the greater Menominee Nation.
