"This paper is part of a series designed to help community groups engage in discussion on the possibility of individual and community transformation. The text is intended to be read aloud by the group facilitator with frequent pauses for discussion. It is accompanied by a reading list, activities, and discussion questions to review what has been learned, explore aspects of the discussion more fully, and apply what has been learned to one's own situation and community. This text describes how basic principles of native life--interrelatedness, cooperation, and a recognition of the spiritual basis of all life--were disrupted by the fur trade. Describing an experience with a residential school for the Dene people of the Northwest Territories, the text also discusses the loss of language and cultural identity, alienation between generations, and severe psychological traumas and the resulting child abuse/neglect, loss of good parenting skills, alcoholism, and unemployment produced by this educational policy. The paper outlines 12 universal principles about the nature of existence, nature and purpose of human beings, and means of preserving and enhancing the well-being of individuals and communities that must be rearticulated in the journey back to health and wholeness for both individuals and communities"--NEC.