These events are hosted by the Engagement Services Division.
2022 events
In Celebration of Asian American Heritage Month and Minnesota American Indian Month
This wellness panel and choice of healing circles are offered as part of an ongoing series to support of the health and wellbeing of our community.
Panelists Seng Xiong, Nancy Bordeaux, Renee Butters will talk about cultural traditions/practices for wellness.
Healers Julie Vang, Xay Yang, Seng Xiong, Shelly Belgarde, Nancy Bordeaux and Renee Butters will draw upon their lived experience and expertise to guide separate healing circles to support community members and provide guidance for navigating our world.
For ASL interpretation, please contact engagementservices@hennepin.us.
Community healer biographies
Shelly Belgarde
Shelly Marie Belgarde ‘Hante Blaska Wiyan’- Flat Cedar Woman, an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes: Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara, a descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Shelly is a Golden Ray Twin Flame, Wisdom Keeper, and Energy Healer. She has studied many ancient traditional healing modalities over the past decade. She is currently finishing up her Masters in Holistic Health Studies at St. Catherine’s University. Shelly has a passion for transmuting trauma and helping others find their healer within. She lives to shine loving light onto others. She awoke so others may awaken.
Nancy Bourdeaux
Nancy Bordeaux is a Lakota from Rosebud South Dakota. Nancy has worked in the Minneapolis and St. Paul community for 20 years. Nancy is Executive Director of Tawacin Tanka Nonprofit. Nancy has 12 years of historical trauma and healing lifeways experience as a trainer. Nancy is a certified Focusing Oriented and Complex Trauma practitioner. Nancy’s work is based on the core values and time-honored traditions of self-healing and holistic healing modalities.
Renee Butters
Renee Butters ‘Awanishbaasinookwe’, owner and founder of She Heals Noojimo Noojimo’iwe, is an Indigenous Healing Practitioner, Teacher, and a skilled facilitator of community self-healing ceremonies and circles. She is descendant of the Ojibwe Snake Clan, and citizen of The White Earth Nation. She is certified in several different healing modalities and uses cultural, holistic, and hands on approaches to teach others how to reclaim their most powerful healer, the healer within. www.shehealsnoojimo.com
Julie Vang
Julie Vang is a spiritual healer, conscious business coach, trauma-informed yoga teacher, and the creator of Im Soul Ready LLC. She comes from a long ancestral lineage of shamans, healers, and entrepreneurs. After burning out from 10+ years of political and community organizing, Julie leaned into deep inner healing and spiritual work to rise beyond the oppressive systems. She's on a soul mission to help you grieve to embody New Earth leadership, wealth, pleasure, and impact.
Seng Xiong
Seng (they/she/he) currently serves as the Queer Justice Coordinator at Transforming Generations. They oversee the LGBTQ+ drop-in support group that has been going on since the height of the pandemic last year. As well, Seng has collaborated on various communal gatherings over the past couple of years that offer healing through storytelling, mindfulness, and holistic wellness.
Xay Yang
Xay Yang (she/her) currently serves as the Queer Justice Director and Mental Health therapist at Transforming Generations, a non-profit organization focused on ending gender-based violence with a focus on the Hmong community. Xay is a clinical social worker by trade and has been providing mental health support for over six years. She has also been organizing in communities and working with victims/survivors for 10 years. Xay has co-facilitated various circles locally and nationally focused on healing and storytelling for the last three years.