Archive for the ‘American Indians’ Category
“Government-run” no longer defines the Indian health system
A single phrase is often used to define the Indian health system: “Government-run.” Add those two words to any discussion about health care or reform and most people reach an immediate conclusion about the merits of the agency. Now it is time for the phrase to disappear because it no longer accurately...
August 17th, 2010 | American Indians, Health, Politics, US | Read More
Wolper’s ‘Mystic Warrior’ never became another ‘Roots’
David L. Wolper died last week at age 82. Many of you will wonder what the connection is between Wolper and Indian country. Wolper will go down in media history as the film producer who brought you the epic story of slavery with his award winning “Roots” which aired in eight parts on ABC in 1977. The...
August 16th, 2010 | American Indians, Culture, Featured | Read More
“Docs or Cops?” Domestic violence is a public health issue in Indian Country
WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s trite to say, “everything is connected.” It’s a phrase that comes up in the context of family, the environment, or perhaps, philosophy. When the subject is reservation violence, however, that same notion could be rewritten as a blunt question: Docs or cops? Cops are...
August 3rd, 2010 | American Indians, Featured, Health | Read More
The Haudenosaunee right of return
by: Steven Newcomb For some 30 years, the Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse), often known as the Six Nations Confederation, have been accustomed to traveling internationally from and back to North America on Haudenosaunee passports. Now, however, the United States government has evidently taken...
July 16th, 2010 | American Indians, Featured, Racial Equity | Read More
The liquor merchants in Nebraska won the last election on prohibition
Notes from Indian Country By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) © 2010 Native Sun News Prohibition doesn’t work! It lasted 13 years in America and gave life to nationally syndicated crime, the income tax and opposition by the United States Brewers’ Association to Women’s Suffrage: the right for women...
July 12th, 2010 | American Indians, Featured | Read More
Speaking about unity at the Mount Rushmore Memorial
It was shoulder to shoulder and hip-to-hip this weekend at Mount Rushmore Memorial where tourists flocked to the He’ Sapa (Black Hills) to celebrate the 234th birthday of the Declaration of Independence. A slowing economy? You wouldn’t have thought that over this 4th of July holiday. I was asked...
July 6th, 2010 | American Indians, Featured | Read More
A tiny Native American newspaper was born on July 1, 1981
On July 1, 1981, a small, weekly newspaper was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The paper was named The Lakota Times for the people it would serve. My great admiration for the Navajo Times prompted me to add Times to the title. I started the newspaper because the Indian reservation,...
June 28th, 2010 | American Indians | Read More
Expanding access to oral health through innovation
A philosophical question: How much medical training is needed to treat patients? Some say it’s the full course as proscribed by existing medical, nursing or dental schools. But when the shortages of doctors, nurses and dentists are ginormous, does the need require a different answer? Consider oral...
June 22nd, 2010 | American Indians, Health | Read More
Multiple Sclerosis is incurable, but science is getting closer solving it
It contributed to the death of the black comedian, Richard Pryor. Actresses Annette Funicello, formerly of the Mickey Mouse Club and Beach Blanket movies, and Terri Garr, Young Frankenstein and many other movies, have it. It is the debilitating and incurable disease known as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). As...
June 22nd, 2010 | American Indians, Health | Read More
High rate of suicide on Indian reservations near epidemic proportions
I don’t know who said, “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” but it certainly makes sense. Teen suicide, it would appear, is a problem throughout America, but it seems to happen more frequently among young Native Americans. A “study” on any topic usually does not offer...
June 1st, 2010 | American Indians | Read More
Measuring the progress in native health – life expectancy for Native Americans
Has the Indian Health Service been an effective, government-run delivery system? Consider this from a White House memo: “While there has been improvements in health status of Indians in the past 15 years, a loss of momentum can further slow the already sluggish rate of approach to parity. Increased...
May 4th, 2010 | American Indians, Featured, Health | Read More
I fear for the life of President Barack Obama
The old saying that one should never discuss politics or religion may have made sense 50 years ago, but in the year 2010 politics and religion are in the forefront of every conversation. The 24/7 news channels and blogs are filled with stories highlighting the religious differences of Muslims and Christians...
May 3rd, 2010 | American Indians, Featured | Read More
Christian ‘doctrine’ fueled dehumanization: UNPFII report
NEW YORK – A groundbreaking report examining the roots of Christian domination over indigenous peoples and their lands was released this week at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. North American Representative to the Permanent Forum Tonya Gonnella Frichner, an attorney and founder...
April 30th, 2010 | American Indians, Featured | Read More
Democrat Scott Heidepriem believes he has a good chance in South Dakota governor’s race
It has been more than 30 years since a Democrat sat in the seat of the governor of South Dakota. A Democrat who fashions his campaign on the past actions of former Senator George McGovern, a Harvard man named Scott Heidepriem, hopes to open that door again. “When McGovern decided to run for the South...
April 26th, 2010 | American Indians, Featured | Read More