Liitfik Behavioral Health Services is an outpatient clinic in Nome that supports wellness through traditional Alaska Native arts. Liitfik’s Director, Bridie Trainor, said activities like sewing, carving, and spending time in nature are central to how they address behavioral health and substance use disorders.
“Addiction is largely based on a loss of belonging and disconnection. So, traditional practice pulls on all those different connections, and that's something everyone needs and can learn from these cultural ways of being and knowing,” Trainor said.
That worldview extends beyond counseling rooms. At Liitfik, cultural arts workshops offer a hands-on approach.
Trainor said the facility has a more modern approach to mental health. She said Liitfik focuses on the communal nature of indigenous healing.
“We try to emphasize the relationship with self, with family, land animals, ancestors, the environment, it's a different world view,” Trainor said.
Carving room
Roaring machinery and saws filled the air in Liitfik’s carving room. The program’s Cultural Arts Instructor, Benjamin Jack, carved intricate designs out of ivory. Carefully focusing on each detail, he said focus is good for the people who attend the health center's workshops too.
“Despite what's going on in the world out there or with them at their time in the carving room,” Jack said. “They're focusing on what's going on at the moment, right then and there.”
Jack said that attendees can carve using a variety of objects. From fossil walrus ivory to white ivory, baleen, bone, antlers, and wood.
Participants also make a modified version of traditional drums.
“Over the time since we began doing drums, there are over a thousand recorded drums that were made here for the community,” Jack said. “Not only here in Nome, but throughout our region.”
Trainor said these activities have been the basis for wellness for generations.
“These are things that people naturally do and have done to be well here for 1000s of years. So we're just doing our best to meet people where they're at,” Trainor said. “We’re learning from how people live and trying to respond with space and resources and people appreciate it, and they're also more likely to reach out if they need it.”
Trainor said Liitfik’s doors are always open, whether someone is seeking counseling, learning a traditional skill, or just stopping in to connect. She hopes the work keeps cultural knowledge alive while providing a sense of knowing and belonging.
If you or someone you know needs support, call Liitfik Behavioral Health at 907‑443‑3344.
