Friday, November 27, 2015
By Mark Anthony Rolo
Tribune News Service
Ever since the arrival of Europeans some 500 years ago on this continent, American Indians have had little to be thankful for. But in recent decades, there has been a revitalization in Indian country.
Here at the Bad River Band of Chippewa Indians reservation along the southern shores of Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin, the tribe and community have made health a major priority. With few tribal and federal government resources, Bad River built a state-of-the-art health and wellness clinic a few years ago.
Before the clinic, tribal members had to seek health services from the white town of Ashland bordering the reservation. Narrow-minded and dismissive attitudes by hospital staff there kept many tribal members away.
In addition to offering primary care, dental and optical services, the tribe’s clinic has been in the forefront of early diabetes diagnosis and alcohol and drug treatment. Preventive health care also includes cancer screenings and talking circles used to address depression and suicide. (Indian people lead the nation in suicide rates.)
Indigenous values
At the heart of Bad River’s approach to providing direct health care services to its tribal members is lifting up its culture and spirituality. Integrating indigenous spiritual traditions and values with western medicine has been vital to the improvement of community health.
And the recovery of traditional ways has also influenced tribal views of their land and economy. Like most of the more than 500 federally recognized tribes in the United States, big casino profits simply do not exist at Bad River. Instead, Bad River supports the harvesting of annual wild rice, fish, maple syrup and game hunting by its community members because it is consistent with the ways of their ancestors.
Traditional harvesting will never make any Bad River tribal member rich, but it is valued because it promotes the sustainability of natural resources. Caring for the environment while seeking sustenance has been an Indian way of life for generations. Only now are non-Native communities recognizing the importance of preserving land, water and sky over corporate profits.
This Thanksgiving, American Indian tribes will acknowledge they have a long way to go in order to fully restore health, economy and social justice within their communities. But it is happening. It’s happening because American Indians realize they are the ones in control of their own futures.
Mark Anthony Rolo is an enrolled member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and the author of the memoir “My Mother Is Now Earth.” He wrote this for Progressive Media Project, a source of liberal commentary on domestic and international issues; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.