In some families, parents find themselves unable to enter helpful conversations with a son or daughter. Attempts to talk about concerns result in a conversation of blame through words or silence. The times for teaching and learning together are few and far between, if not at all. For these families, we offer an opportunity to significantly improve their relationship through a “walking” in the wilderness.
Mission and Guiding Principles
Mission Statement
It is the mission of ANASAZI Foundation to prepare parents and children to turn their hearts to one another, begin anew, and walk-in harmony in the wilderness of the world.
A Change of Heart
“At ANASAZI, the children come first. We come second. To free themselves from worldly cares, I counsel our people to ‘drop their burdens at the gate’ and tend to the needs of the YoungWalkers on the trail. We strive to remind ourselves that the ANASAZI Way is not to change the behavior of the YoungWalker or the Parents, but to provide opportunities for the heart to be touched, so the change can come willingly from the ‘one who stands within.’ Then the Change of Heart, like clear water, will flow without compulsion.”
—The One Who Stands Within by Good Buffalo Eagle, Ezekiel C. Sanchez
Ten Guiding Principles
Not:
a. money
b. convenience
c. personal interests
d. logistics
Not:
a. seen as bad kids
b. abused or degraded in any way
c. punished
d. forced
Not:
a. manipulations
b. contrived activities
c. psychological games
d. contrived consequences
Not:
a. privileged with special food, supplies, equipment, and paraphernalia
b. merely unskilled wardens leading a trek
c. relieved of the daily hardships of trail life
Not:
a. theories and models
b. outlines, workbooks, or classes unrelated to the
wilderness experience
c. busywork
Not:
a. behavior modification
b. manipulative or coercive
c. focused on perceived weakness but on individual strengths
Not:
a. viewing the YoungWalker as being the problem
b. an intervention independent of the family
c. ignoring the fact that the whole family has contributed
to the problems
d. teaching parents techniques of control
Not:
a. putting YoungWalkers at risk
b. watering the program down with over-protection
c. dismissing their physical complaints as being merely manipulation efforts
d. requiring them to do things beyond their individual capabilities
Not:
a. a toughening up exercise
b. an imposition of religious beliefs
c. a contrived inquisition or purging of the spirit of the Young Walkers
d. secular, academic treatment, which denies access to matters of the spirit
Not:
a. a herding through the wilderness
b. a prescribed set of generic activities and interventions
c. a set of arbitrary rules or restrictions unrelated to the safety and well-being of each YoungWalker
