DAMEN BELL-HOLTER
(RE)CLAIMING INCLUSIVE AND WELCOMING SPACES FOR WELLNESS AND JOY TO GROW. GROUNDED IN CULTURAL VALUES, WE CULTIVATE AND CELEBRATE GIFTS INHERENT IN EVERY INDIVIDUAL.
WE DEVELOP MINDFULNESS SKILLS TO EMPOWER THE HEART AND UPLIFT OUR PEOPLE.
We meet individuals right where they are - working with trauma informed and cultural approaches as pathways towards recognizing, expressing and sharing the gift with community and beyond.
To (re)claim wellness and joy in our communities,
one gift at a time.
DAMEN BELL-HOLTER
NANG GAAHLAANG STANGS
Founder/Trainer/Former NBA Athlete
Damen Bell-Holter is shaped by the land and people of Hydaburg, a small village community located in Southeast Alaska. His upbringing was grounded in the traditions and ways of life of the Haida people.
Nang Gaahlaang Stangs (Damen’s Xad Kil name), means Big Enough to Hold Two Souls. He will empower you to step into your own soul’s journey, to be the resilient and solution-oriented peoples that our ancestors are, and to respect and revere Native wisdom to guide our way forward.
LET'S WORK TOGETHER
We meet people, communities, Tribes, and organizations where they are at. Our services are delivered as individual products or in a packaged bundle. State, national and international travel available.
OUR APPROACH IS OUR STORY
For over 10 years, former NBA athlete Damen Bell-Holter (Haida) has been working with youth and Indigenous communities internationally through basketball camps, workshops, school visits, keynote speeches and facilitating talking circles. And listening, a lot of listening, to youth and community.
Damen is passionate about recognizing and cultivating the gifts that already exist in our communities.
By accompanying groups through sports and cultural exercises that focus on what we know today as self-empowerment, rising skills and growth mindset training, Damen works with communities to enliven the timeless values present in ancestral knowledge - remembering and recovering the truth of who we are - resilient, brilliant and caring people.
MAKING CHANGE
ROOTED IN CULTURAL WAYS OF LIFE
DREAMING BIG
Damen is no stranger to the hard work and dedication of a big dream, and one of his greatest joys is supporting and celebrating the many ways Indigenous youth and communities are determining their own goals while staying true to who they are and where they come from. Tlaatsgaa Skills Development was created to support this vitally important work - of reclaiming the ancestral knowing and gifts within each of us, and uplifting the health and wellbeing of Native communities. We believe in the power of shared story, gift-centered exploration, resiliency and rising skills training, and solution-oriented approaches.