History of The Healing Lodge

The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations is one of twelve Regional Youth Treatment Centers around the country. The primary funding for the Healing Lodge comes from federal funds through Indian Health Services (I.H.S) and state funds from Washington State's Department of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (DASA). License to operate is granted through the State of Washington and is overseen by the Department of Health and DASA.

In 1988, seven tribes from the Pacific Northwest banded together to form what was then known as the Inland Tribal Consortium (ITC). Their primary goal was to “construct a comprehensive primary patient treatment center to serve American Indians and Alaska Native youth who are identified as having a substance abuse problem.” Together they applied for congressional funds available for such programs and were successful in establishing a center. Spokane was chosen for the site of the facility because of its central location for the Seven Nations: Kalispel, Colville Confederated Tribes and Spokane Tribe of Indians in Washington; Kootenai, Coeur d'Alene and Nez Perce tribes of Idaho and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation in Oregon.

It was felt from the beginning that treatment and recovery for Native American youth must be from an American Indian perspective and was the driving force behind the factors considered essential for successful project design. Using the belief system as a common denominator, these factors, or architectural components, are:

The overall design of the treatment campus evolved from Mother Earth, the site itself. The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations is located on 38 acres of timbered land on the eastern edge of Spokane, Washington. After many years in rented buildings, ground broke for the new construction in October of 1994. The three structures consist of an education/dining building, recreation/cultural building and the administration/patient service building. Included in the recreation building is a cultural study room which, like the site, is circular and has the four directions graphically displayed in the floor tiles and ceiling configuration. The three buildings have been tied together through the use of earthen masonry products (burnished concrete block and brick) compatible with the rock out cropping of the area and symbolic graphics incorporated into both the exterior masonry and the interior design. As such, the center became a complex of three structures focused around an exterior cultural circle linked together by a singular canopy. The cultural circle proudly displays flags of tribal Nations to welcome the youth as they arrive for treatment. In June 1996 the staff and patients moved into the beautiful new complex, happy to have a permanent place to call home.