The Nez Perce Tribe’s Students for Success program in Lapwai, ID, piloted a peer-to-peer mentoring program for members of the Tribe's NAHOVA (Native America Hear Our Voices Arise) youth council. Older youth on the council suggested the program, saying peer mentoring could help them develop leadership skills and build relationships with the new, younger council members. 

“The goal was to create a true connection,” says Abraham Broncheau, Director of Students for Success. “I feel like the pilot was successful beyond what words can describe. Several of the pairings remain friends to this day, almost a year after the pilot started and several months after the last session was completed. The pilot shows a lot of promise and we are excited for its potential.”

Mentors and mentees attended workshops together, addressing topics such as cultural identity, relationships, conflict resolution, respect, and teamwork. Sessions incorporated the Nez Perce language and traditions, such as storytelling, and the mentoring pairs created special handshakes—personal ways to greet one another when they meet in public. Mentors were encouraged to support their mentees outside the sessions, too—perhaps by attending a concert or pow-wow together. 

In July, mentors and mentees took a 3-day backpacking trip together to a high mountain lake in the Idaho wilderness (see photo). Mr. Broncheau recalls a mentor-mentee pair who “shared a tent, fished together, and shared a lot of laughs,” he says. “If you didn't know them you would figure that they were lifelong friends or something, but their relationship began with the mentoring program and flourished into a strong bond.” 

The Tribe is exploring the possibility of expanding the peer mentoring program across the Nez Perce Reservation.