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Speaker: Natives overlooked by U.S.
http://www.journalstar.com
October 17, 2002
By JODI RAVE LEE
Lincoln Journal Star
"The poor state of health care in Indian Country is a reminder of U.S.
failure to live up to its treaty obligations to Native people, Carole Anne
Heart told minority health conference participants Wednesday.
Tribes exchanged about 400 million acres of ancestral lands in return for
payments, including health care and education provisions, an agreement that
exists today.
But Heart questioned the deal.
"The U.S. government hasn't been living up to its payments, so maybe we
should go and get our land back," said the executive director of the
Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairman's Health Board, an organization that serves 18
Great Plains and Midwest tribes. "Give us some of our land back and maybe we
can do a better job than what you've been doing for us."
Heart was the keynote speaker during the two-day Nebraska Minority Health
Conference in Lincoln. The event drew 500 participants to discuss ways to
better serve the poor. The group typically receives low quality, substandard
health care, according to a recent congressional report, "Unequal Treatment:
Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care."
Heart spoke of Native issues and encouraged others to think of this
country's first inhabitants.
"Each one of you can do something to raise the health standards for Indian
people," said Heart. "Every single government agency needs to get on the
bandwagon ... encourage all of you to partner with us and assist us to get
better healthcare for our people."
Native people anchor a long list of death rates for all races.
Among the 1994-1996 list:
. Tuberculosis, 533 percent higher
. Diabetes, 249 percent higher
. Suicide, 47 percent higher
. Infant mortality, 3 times higher
For many health care advocates attending the conference, a lack of money was
cited as the most common barrier to adequate treatment.
Native people's greatest defense is prevention, like eating healthfully and
exercising 20 to 30 minutes a day, said Roger Trudell, Santee Sioux Tribe
Chairman and health center director. "Take more responsibility for yourself
to make yourself a healthy person."
The Lincoln Indian Center operates health intervention and prevention
programs for youths and elders.
"My major health concern is where we're just plagued with diabetes and heart
disease," said Kay Bursheim, Lincoln's Indian Center executive director who
voiced concern for Indian Country's future leaders. "We need to mentor them
to lead a healthy lifestyle."
For sick urban elders, the road is bumpier.
Even though about 60 percent of Natives live off the reservation, most
Indian Health Service money is sent to reservation clinics and hospitals.
That means an elder who can't afford to pay for medication locally must be
bused to the Indian Health Service hospital on the Winnebago Reservation 110
miles away to get their prescriptions filled.
"When you're just getting by, you don't have the infrastructure to provide
the level of needed care," said Donna Polk-Primm, executive director of the
Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition, which assists the medically
underserved. That might mean it takes a month to get an appointment for a
headache. Or it might mean the only form of treatment is an emergency room
visit.
Native people deserve better, said Heart, who tried to help others
understand U.S. trust responsibility and treaty obligations. "We have a
unique relationship with the U.S. government, unlike any other group in the
country," she said, noting the U.S. Constitution, which states that Congress
has the power to provide for the defense, general welfare and to regulate
commerce with tribes.
Said Bursheim: "Our treaty is our lifetime insurance policy. Native American
people should be able to go anywhere to receive health service." But
treaties aren't enforced because state and national decisionmakers "choose
to ignore or are ignorant of the treaties."
Copyright © 2002, Lincoln Journal Star.
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