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Proponents fight for change so Alaska Natives covered by VAWA

Ishmael Hope, left, and other Alaska Native representatives at the 2013 Choose Respect rally in Juneau, Alaska, asking legislators to address issues with the Violence Against Women Act.Heather Bryant/KTOO Public Media

Complicated history sets Alaska Native women apart from Violence Against Women Act

Opponents of the reauthorization of a federal law passed last year say it has created a dangerous situation for Alaskan domestic violence victims and are urging lawmakers to support a repeal.

Proponents of the original 1994 Violence Against Women Act say it was signed into law with the purpose of providing more protection for domestic violence victims and keeping victims safe by requiring that a victim’s protection order be recognized and enforced in all state, tribal and territorial jurisdictions in the U.S.

According to the White House, the VAWA has made a difference, saying that intimate partner violence declined by 67 percent from 1993 to 2010, more victims now report domestic violence, more arrests have been made and all states impose criminal sanctions for violating a civil protection order.

Last year the law was reauthorized, clarifying a court decision that ruled on a case involving civil jurisdiction for non–tribal members and amending the law to recognize tribal civil jurisdiction to issue and enforce protection orders “involving any person,” including non-Natives.

But almost all Alaska tribes were excluded from the amendment, with only the Metlakatla Indian community from Alaska included under the 2013 law. The rest of Alaska remains under the old law.

The change has created confusion, opponents say, particularly in cases when there is a 911 call about enforcing a protective order.

“The trooper is waiting, because he’s not sure who has jurisdiction,” said David Voluck, a tribal court judge for the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. “We need to get rid of those exceptions that create confusion.”

An ongoing debate

The reauthorization highlighted an ongoing debate about Native communities and tribal courts’ and governments’ jurisdiction, particularly in cases of policing and justice.

The reauthorization made sense, according to Alaska Attorney General Michael Geraghty, who noted that Alaska has always been treated differently because of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. In exchange for 40 million acres of land and about $1 billion, he said, tribes forfeited reservations and the notion of Indian country to form Native corporations.

He said the state needs to find better ways to collaborate with institutions in small communities to provide better protection and justice but disagrees with giving pockets of tribal authority throughout Alaska.

“We do have an issue with violence and domestic violence,” he said. “We have a challenge in providing safety.”

But Geraghty said he has never heard of a situation when a victim was in danger because of confusion over jurisdiction.

“There’s nothing in the act that expands or retracts the jurisdiction of tribal courts,” he said. “If tribal courts had jurisdiction before, they do now. Troopers are not lawyers. If they are faced with a situation, they are going to protect the public. These concerns are overblown.”

‘A cloud over Alaska’

Lloyd Miller, an attorney who works on Indian rights and tribal jurisdiction litigation, disagrees and said things did change with the 2013 reauthorization.

“What he’s saying is that an Alaska village only has the authority to issue a protective order if that man is a member of the tribe. They can’t if he’s from the neighboring tribe,” he said. “Why would we not want to have Alaska villages have all the tools to protect women from domestic violence?”

Voluck agreed. “Does it really matter if a woman is hit in a mall somewhere or the south corner of where the tribe lives?” he said.

Opponents of the Alaska exemption recently urged a task force convened by Attorney General Eric Holder to study the effects of violence on Native American children to support the repeal of Section 910 of the law.

“VAWA creates a cloud over Alaska, and the last thing women and children need is a delay in an emergency,” said Voluck. “A matter of minutes can mean life or death. It’s unequal protection under the law for a very vulnerable part of the population.”

Lack of law enforcement

Voluck was one of a number of experts who testified last month before the Task Force on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence about the special circumstances surrounding Alaska Native domestic violence, including geography, a lack of law enforcement and difficulty for victims to travel to safety.

Experts attested to a number of facts, including that Native American and Alaska Native women are 2.5 times as likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than other American women. About 140 villages have no state law enforcement. Eighty have absolutely no law enforcement. One-third of Alaska communities do not have road access.

It’s a serious issue for communities, said Valerie Davidson, a task force member who lives in Alaska. “Even if you only have 300 people, you still need law enforcement,” she said.

The debate continues, this time in Congress as the Senate Indian Affairs Committee works on legislation, which includes a provision repealing Section 910 of the 2013 reauthorization. Geraghty and the governor oppose a repeal, but the U.S. attorney general’s office has voiced its support.

Associate U.S. Attorney General Tony West attended the Alaska task force hearing and said arguments about the scope of authority of Alaska Native villages and tribes shouldn’t get in the way of protecting Native children from harm.

“If there are steps we can take that will help move the needle in the direction for victims, we need to do it,” he said. “When a tribal court issues an order, the state ought to enforce it. If not, the orders are worth nothing more than the paper they’re written on.”

More than just symbolic

Repealing the law won’t resolve the multilayered issues of jurisdiction, but it would be a step in the right direction, West added.

“It is more than just symbolic,” he said. “Repeal of Section 910 is an important step that can help protect Alaska Native victims of that violence and, significantly, the children who often witness it, and it can send a message that tribal authority and tribal sovereignty matters, that the civil protection orders tribal courts issue ought to be respected and enforced.”

The Task Force on American Indian and Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence will make a recommendation to Holder by late October.

“Alaska is frozen in time,” Voluck said. “Why in the world would you hold the worst state when it comes to domestic violence in the old law? Forty-nine other states have figured out how to work with their tribal courts. Let’s work together. People are getting hurt and dying. That’s why I’m upset.”

Nisqually Tribe’s garden program cultivates tradition, community

Nisqually Community Market Production Supervisor Carlin Briner helps a customer July 10th at their stand next to the tribal administration building. The tribe's community garden and weekly farm stand provides fresh produce for tribal and community members each week as members work from 8 a.m. until about noon on Thursday mornings in preparation for the afternoon garden stand which is set up at the tribal administration building near Yelm. STEVE BLOOM — The Olympian — Nisqually Community Market Production Supervisor Carlin Briner helps a customer July 10th at their stand next to the tribal administration building. The tribe’s community garden and weekly farm stand provides fresh produce for tribal and community members each week as members work from 8 a.m. until about noon on Thursday mornings in preparation for the afternoon garden stand which is set up at the tribal administration building near Yelm. STEVE BLOOM — The Olympian

By: Lisa Pemberton, The Olympian

The Nisqually Tribe’s Community Garden Program isn’t just about food.

It’s about youth, elders, health, jobs, culture and community.

The program, which is based at the tribe’s 250-acre culture center off Mounts Road near DuPont, produces enough fruits, vegetables, berries, herbs and flowers to support two weekly farm stands for members of the tribe and reservation community.

The farm’s crops, grown on about five acres of the land, also are used at community dinners, the elder’s program, nutrition classes and other efforts.

“We work with our own people, and we have sovereignty to feed our own people,” said garden field technician Grace Ann Byrd. “And we do it with love and prayer.”

Production supervisor Carlin Briner said the Nisqually tribe has a long history of community gardens.

About five years ago, it launched the community garden stand program, which is funded by the tribe and offers an array of produce that’s free or by donation-only for tribal and community members.

In 2013, the garden program harvested and distributed more than 5,000 pounds of produce to the tribal community, Briner said.

This year, for the first time, the program is producing enough bounty to support two weekly garden stands — one at the farm, and one at the tribal administration building.

“At this point, we aren’t selling produce to the wider community, though we may start at some point,” Briner said.

On a recent day, the farm stand at the administration building offered several baskets brimming with beets, peas, beans, lettuce, carrots, kale, potatoes and several types of herbs.

Beverly Owens, an executive secretary for the tribe, picked up some kale, bok choy and greens. She said she loves shopping at the stand.

“I know where it’s coming from,” Owens said. “When you go to the grocery store, you don’t.”

Briner said the garden program has planted smaller kitchen gardens elsewhere on the reservation, including at the tribe’s preschool and daycare.

Every fall, its workers organize a harvest party for the tribal community, featuring cider pressing, foods and gifts.

And throughout the year, the garden workers help lead or organize workshops on canning, cooking, nutrition and traditional medicine making.

Garden field technician Janell Blacketer said one of her favorite recipes is nettle pesto — as in stinging nettles.

“They’re so good for you,” she said.

The program’s goal is to serve as a hub for all of the tribe’s programs, Briner said.

“Food is relevant to everything,” she added.

Byrd said she enjoys working for the garden program because it’s about supporting the tribe’s future while helping preserve many of its age-old traditions.

“We always laugh, and joke and have a good time,” she said. “They say you never go around food angry, and you’re not supposed to work around food in a bad way.”

That way, when items are being served from the tribe’s garden, “you see the transference of those good times around the people,” Byrd added.

Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2014/07/16/3229332/nisqually-tribes-garden-program.html?sp=/99/224/&ihp=1#storylink=cpy

Number Of Gonorrhea Cases Increasing Outside Urban Hubs

By: Jessica Robinson, NW News Network

Public health officials in the Northwest say they’re seeing gonorrhea infections at levels they haven’t seen in years. Three counties in Washington state are now in the midst of an outbreak. Parts of Oregon and Idaho are set to top even last year’s high numbers.

Gonorrhea bacterium

Credit Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

And health departments are seeing some unusual trends in the data.

Washington public health officials say King County often drives statewide trends, just through the sheer heft of Seattle’s urban population. But the 31 percent increase in gonorrhea cases over last year has largely been from spikes in Snohomish, Spokane and Yakima counties.

Oregon is seeing increases in unexpected places too.

“We’ve seen during the last year and a half increases in counties that are more rural than our metropolitan area of Portland,” the Oregon Health Authority’s Dr. Sean Schafer said.

That includes places like Jackson, Douglas and Lane counties. Schafer said he hasn’t seen such a high overall gonorrhea in Oregon since the early ’90s.

Idaho’s usually low gonorrhea numbers have risen dramatically as well. The infection rate around the Boise area has more than doubled since just two years ago.

North Idaho, far southwest Idaho and the Magic Valley have also sharp increases. The cause remains a mystery. One theory is the cyclical nature of the disease, another points to the higher rate of meth use in some rural areas.

Health departments are working with doctors to increase screening for the disease and are encouraging people to practice safe sex.

The Northwest’s rates – at around 20-50 cases per 100,000 people – are still better than the rest of the country, which hovers around 100 per 100,000 people. But health officials say the increase comes at a time when there are signs gonorrhea bacteria could become resistant to the last remaining oral antibiotic treatment.

People who get gonorrhea — and women in particular — may have few symptoms. If left unchecked, it can cause pelvic inflammatory disease in women and increase the risk of tubal pregnancy. In both men and women, it has lead to infertility in rare cases.

Can we have our sustainable seafood and eat it too?

By Amelia Urry, Grist

You know the feeling: You’re standing in front of the seafood counter, running down the list of evils you might be supporting when you buy one of those gleaming filets. There’s overfishing, but also pollution from fish farming, not to mention bycatch, marine habitat destruction, illegal fishing … and that’s before getting to the problem of seafood fraud, and the fact that 1 in 3 seafood samples in a massive study by Oceana was served under pseudonym.

Programs like Monterey Bay’s Seafood Watch and the Safina Center’s Seafood Guide are helpful when it comes to sorting seafood’s angels from its demons, but only if you can be sure the red snapper you’re looking at is actually red snapper (hint: It probably isn’t).

Meanwhile, third-party certification outfits — the ones that slap their seal of approval on seafood that’s harvested responsibly — are not without their flaws. In fact, the current demand for certified “sustainable” seafood is so high that it’s driving, you guessed it, overfishing. Someone get Poseidon in here because that, my friends, is what the Greeks called a “tragic flaw.”

Still, these third-party groups may offer the best hope for ocean-loving fish eaters like myself, so it’s worth paying attention to how they operate. And while these certification programs are very much a work in progress, they’re getting better.

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The largest of the third-party labeling groups is the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Born of a partnership between the World Wildlife Fund and Unilever, the MSC was designed to bring market-based solutions to the kinds of environmental problems capitalism usually takes the blame for. It motivates fishermen, grocery chains, and restaurants to care about sustainability — because they can charge more for their product if it has MSC’s approval stamped on it.

MSC’s certification standards are based on the health of the fish population in question, the wider environmental impacts of fishing for it (such as habitat destruction and bycatch), and the quality of the fishery’s management. If fishermen want their fishery to be certified, they must pay hefty fees to independent assessors, who gather testimony from scientists and stakeholders, then submit a draft report which is peer-reviewed by other scientists, followed by public comments, more revisions (I assume you’ve tuned out by now), and so on — all adding up to an intimidating tangle of checks and balances. (If you like to geek out on this stuff, you can read all the reports of all the committees at every step of the process yourself.)

Once a fishery is certified, it receives yearly audits for five years, at which point the certification lapses and the whole process starts over again. Somehow, hoops and all, the MSC has managed to certify over 220 fisheries since 1996. According to MSC, its certified fisheries, along with about a hundred currently under review, make up over 10 percent of the global seafood catch, worth around $3 billion. Meanwhile, many companies are getting generous returns on their investment in sustainability: The wholesale value of MSC-labeled products rose 21 percent in 2013 alone.

But as MSC has grown, it has broken bread with larger and larger partners, whose appetites may outstrip the ability of certified fisheries to sate them. Critics claim MSC has slackened some if its rules to keep up with the demand from retail chains such as Walmart. Al Jazeera reported on the company’s struggle to keep buying Alaskan salmon after the fishery’s MSC approval lapsed:

Jennifer Jacquet, an environmental studies professor at New York University … said Walmart’s allegiance to MSC put a lot of pressure on the nonprofit to certify more fish.

“You have two options,” Jacquet said of MSC’s situation. “You can make seafood sustainable or you can redefine the word ‘sustainable’ to match existing resources.”

Likewise, when McDonald’s pledged to sell only MSC-labeled Alaskan pollock in the U.S., it strained the ability of the fishery — with only a mediocre sustainability score from Seafood Watch — to keep all 14,000 restaurants in Filet-o-Fish sandwiches.

Furthermore, NPR’s excellent in-depth series on MSC’s sustainability (or not) focused on a few fisheries the group had certified despite less-than-cheery evidence on the ground, er, sea. These included a swordfishery in Canada, where sharks are snagged more often than actual swordfish, over- and illegally fished Chilean sea bass, and volatile sockeye salmon populations in Alaska:

“Originally I thought [MSC] was a good idea,” says Jim Barnes, director of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, a network of dozens of environmental groups around the world. … [But] the controversy over Canadian swordfish illustrates why the booming demand for sustainable seafood actually threatens to hurt the movement more than help it. “The bottom line is that there are not enough truly sustainable fisheries on the earth to sustain the demand.”

One result of that skyrocketing demand is that new, less stringent certification programs are popping up. After allowing its MSC’s certification to lapse, a powerful salmon fishery in Alaska persuaded Walmart to make room for a new certification, Responsible Fisheries Management, which puts less emphasis on sustainability and comes with no logo-licensing fees. Walmart still carries some MSC certified goods, but the company reneged on its all-MSC-all-the-time pledge.

You can imagine how this could quickly become a race to the bottom: If Alaskan pollock stocks continue to decline, the fishery may no longer meet MSC’s standards of sustainability. And if that happens? MSC could drop the pollock fishery and risk losing the McDonald’s account, too. Or it could lower the bar, in hopes of improving fishery practices down the road.

MSC has insisted that it never loosened its standards, and that those standards and the oversight that comes with them are high enough to guarantee sustainability — although it does offer a provisional certification for fisheries that are working toward sustainability, but aren’t quite there yet.

When I talked to MSC’s CEO, Rupert Howes, a few months ago, he told me that MSC has taken the global seafood scene a long way: “When MSC started, it really was innovative. There wasn’t really a sustainable seafood movement,” he said. “When you get leadership within the industry and within the market saying, we want sustainable seafood, we care where it comes from, we want to be part of the solution — it really is a huge, powerful force.

“I hasten to say: MSC is part of the solution,” Howes added. “Overfishing is a huge challenge — you need public policy reform, you need the work of advocacy groups to raise awareness of the issues, and then you need a program like the MSC that’s actually going to empower consumers, you and I, to use our purchasing decisions to make the best environmental choice.”

And like a good overseer, MSC is turning its eye on itself this year, in a thoroughly documented (naturally) self-review of its “chain of custody” program, which assures that MSC’s fish can be traced through the supply chain, from the water all the way to the seafood counter at the grocery store.

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It’s worth pointing out that none of this controversy is unique to seafood. Other food labels, from USDA’s widely applied “organic” to “fair-trade” to the virtually useless “all-natural” have at some point come under fire for being less idealistic in practice than they are in theory. The same is true of green building standards. Things get messy as any system gets bigger.

Of course, with billions of people eating from the sea, any movement toward oversight and accountability is almost certainly better than nothing. At the very least, by making sustainability visible, and desirable, to consumers, MSC has raised the stakes for the supply chains that serve them.

But what to do if the MSC’s logo isn’t enough for you? Here are a few tips for getting sustainable seafood, certifications be damned: 1) Eat as local as possible and many other concerns become moot; 2) eat low on the food chain, as in, more oysters and, seriously, no more Bluefin tuna; and 3) stick to restaurants or markets whose mission you trust instead of trying to decode the signage at your city’s everything emporium.

Did I miss anything? Uh, yeah, definitely. This whole labeling thing is a sticky issue, but it only works if producers know what the people want. So, by all means, weigh in.

New exercise classes at Tulalip Health Clinic

New exercise classes for Tulalip tribal members and patients of the health clinic

Complicated relationship with tobacco puts American Indians at high risk for cancer

By Lorna Benson, Minnesota Public Radio News on Jul 8, 2014 at 2:31 p.m.

Brainerd Dispatch

The American Indian Cancer Foundation holds a Powwow for Hope each year to raise money for cancer education, including smoking prevention efforts, on Saturday, May 3, 2014 at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis. Jennifer Simonson/MPR News

Minneapolis – Inside the cavernous Base Camp facility at Fort Snelling, a long line of cancer survivors made a slow procession around the perimeter of the former cavalry drill hall where a century ago Army troops trained their horses. Their presence at a gathering of American Indians is solemn, supportive and startling.

“A lot of survivors,” an MC announced over a drumbeat. “So survivors come on out.”

Cancer has devastated Minnesota’s American Indian population, stripping families of breadwinners and robbing children of their parents and grandparents.

Nowhere is the scale of the problem more evident than the annual spring Powwow for Hope, where dancers dressed in vibrant traditional costumes escorted the survivors until their line morphed into a vast circle.

Overhead a projector cycled through dozens of photographs and names of American Indians who have lost their cancer battles in the past year. The tribute also included stories of hope and cancer remission.

Among the cancer survivors whose picture flashed on the screen was Robert DesJarlait, a 67-year-old member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa. Ten months earlier, doctors removed a cancerous tumor from his colon.

“It’s kind of ironic that I was at this powwow last year and didn’t know for sure that I officially had cancer,” he said.

When it comes to cancer — Minnesota’s number one cause of death — American Indians are almost always on the wrong end of the state’s data on the health disparity that exists between whites and minorities.

Their risk of dying from lung cancer is more than two times higher than it is among non-Hispanic whites. Their rates of cervical and larynx cancer are four times higher.

American Indians also have the state’s highest rates of colorectal, kidney and oral cancers.

While the statistics are grim, they are not immutable. Striking new research has revealed that more than half of the state’s American Indians smoke. Their smoking rate is so high it likely explains much of their excess cancer burden.

The stark data are making it easier for some native people to question their community’s complicated relationship with tobacco. The research is also providing much-needed direction on where native people can most effectively focus their cancer-fighting efforts.

DesJarlait, a visual artist, is among those who have changed their lifestyles.

During a break in the program DesJarlait said he considers himself fortunate. His cancer was detected at an early stage and his treatment has been successful. After being weakened by the disease and treatment, he felt strong enough to dance at this year’s powwow.

One of the biggest lifestyle changes he made was quitting tobacco. He switched to electronic cigarettes after his doctor warned him that his cancer could return, if he didn’t quit his two-pack-a-day smoking habit.

“And I said, ‘You mean smoking caused the tumor in my colon?’ And she said, ‘Yes, well it’s one of the factors.'”

While there are many potential causes of cancer — from genetics to poor diet and lack of exercise — tobacco use is strongly related to the cancers that most affect Minnesota’s native people.

“We can’t talk about cancer in American Indian communities without addressing the high rates of tobacco and the rates of second-hand smoke exposure in our communities,” said Kris Rhodes, a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and executive director of the American Indian Cancer Foundation. The non-profit organization sponsors the Powwow for Hope and is one of the community’s biggest voices in urging Indian people to quit smoking.

A recent tribal tobacco use survey found that 59 percent of Minnesota’s native people smoke. Nearly 3,000 people completed the questionnaire, making it the largest tobacco survey ever conducted among American Indians in Minnesota.

Jean Forster, co-author of a report on the survey, said a 59 percent smoking rate is “an unbelievable number” because it is nearly four times higher than Minnesota’s overall adult smoking rate of 16 percent.

“Fifty-nine percent means that most people smoke, most adults smoke. Most kids see that most adults smoke,” she said. “It’s a normative behavior for those communities.”

The survey wasn’t designed to reveal why the smoking rate is so high in American Indian communities.

But Forster, a University of Minnesota epidemiologist, said it’s obvious that Minnesota’s anti-smoking campaigns have either failed to reach native people, or have had little effect on them.

“What we’re doing for the population just is not working,” she said. “This is the same smoking rate that the population as a whole experienced at its peak in the ’60s.”

By that measure, Forster said, it could take decades for American Indians to change their minds about smoking.

A few days before Mother’s Day, 24-year-old Ricki LaMorie of Hayward, Wis., grabbed her pack of cigarettes and headed toward the back porch of her grandmother’s Minneapolis home.

“I’m gonna go smoke my cigarette,” she said. “That sounds bad.”

Ricki LaMorie, of Hayward, Wis., smokes a cigarette outside her grandmother Margie LaMorie's home while visiting during Mother's Day weekend Thursday, May 8, 2014 in Minneapolis. LaMorie said she knows that smoking is bad for her health and tries not to do it often. Jennifer Simonson/MPR News — Ricki LaMorie, of Hayward, Wis., smokes a cigarette outside her grandmother Margie LaMorie’s home while visiting during Mother’s Day weekend Thursday, May 8, 2014 in Minneapolis. LaMorie said she knows that smoking is bad for her health and tries not to do it often. Jennifer Simonson/MPR News

Her grandmother, Margie LaMorie, objects to her smoking habit, but understands how hard it is to quit. LaMorrie, 75, has been a smoker for over six decades. She started smoking before she was even in her teens.

“My grandma bought me my first pack of cigarettes when I was 11,” she said. “So I had to go to the neighbor kids to teach me how, because she thought I was sneaking, and I wasn’t sneaking.”

LaMorie’s grandmother did ask her to follow a few smoking rules. But they were designed to prevent the 11-year-old from burning down her family’s outhouse, or possibly even their home, on the Lac Courte Oreilles Indian Reservation in northern Wisconsin.

“There was no smoking before breakfast in the morning,” she recalled. “There was no smoking after dinner. There was no smoking upstairs. There was no smoking by oneself without someone paying attention.”

LaMorie said no one in her community knew anything about smoking’s link to cancer back then. It was just something that everyone seemed to be doing and it made her feel grown-up and glamorous.

She still smokes and is not sure why she hasn’t quit. Even her colon cancer diagnosis a few years ago wasn’t enough of an incentive.

Still, LaMorie believes anyone can quit — if they want to.

“Some days I can go without any until someone will come along and, ‘Oh I’m gonna go sit out. Oh, I’ll go join you,'” she said. “For me it’s a social thing.”

Jackie Dionne, the American Indian Health director at the Minnesota Department of Health, has heard that many times before.

“It’s just so commonly accepted, that it’s, ‘Yeah, I know these are going to kill me, but I’m going to smoke anyway,'” said Dionne, a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe and a former smoker. “It’s just that ’cause everybody else is smoking.

“We have to really go through a social change like the state did in the mid-’80s when people stopped smoking and then didn’t want to be around people who did smoke,” she said. “And so then it becomes socially unacceptable.”

Dionne said anti-tobacco advocates don’t fully understand the reasons why native people smoke. In part, she said, that explains why anti-tobacco strategies that have worked well in the general population have not been particularly effective in the American Indian community.

A Health Department report released in February attributed health disparities in American Indian communities to government efforts to uproot them from their land and destroy their way of life. The report concluded that the displacement has led to high rates of unemployment, poverty and high-risk behaviors among native people.

Smoking, Dionne said, is a coping mechanism for many American Indians.

“You have trauma that is generational, you know, my grandma, my mom and then me,” she said. “Highly traumatized people and populations tend to report higher levels of depression and anxiety. And when you’re reporting higher levels of depression and anxiety in a population, nicotine is one of those drugs that will relieve it almost immediately.”

The use of ceremonial tobacco may be another factor that has influenced American Indian smoking rates.

Tobacco is considered a sacred medicine given by the Creator, said Rhodes, of the American Indian Cancer Foundation. Tobacco is used regularly in ceremonies, but it also is common for American Indians to use leaves from other plants. On occasion, herbs are burned in a vessel.

However, she said there has been some debate within the community about whether it is appropriate to translate that spiritual meaning to smoking commercial tobacco.

Rhodes said it has also been challenging to send a strong message about the ills of commercial tobacco when it affects the livelihoods of so many people. In the age of the Indian casino, cigarette sales are an important part of the tribal economy. They have helped impoverished tribes build new roads and schools.

“Those of us that work in tobacco control in tribal communities know that the economics associated with tobacco in our tribal communities are really sensitive issues,” she said.

To a certain degree, American Indians already know what they need to do to reduce the terrible toll that cancer has taken on their communities. Better data has revealed that reducing the smoking rate is an obvious start. But it will be a complicated journey.

Some native leaders acknowledge feeling a bit overwhelmed by the task.

But in the same breath, they’re optimistic — they’ve noticed many more people talking about the link between smoking and cancer in the months since the tobacco use report was released. That, they say, is a good start.

Study finds widespread oral health problems among Navajo

By Medical Press

A new study from Colorado School of Public Health shows that despite some modest improvements, poor oral health remains a major problem in the Navajo Nation and among American Indians overall.

“The oral health among Native Americans is abysmal with more than three times the disease of the rest of the country,” said Terrence Batliner, DDS, MBA, associate director of the Center for Native Oral Health Research at the School of Public Health. “The number one problem is access to care.”

The study, published recently in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry, showed that 69.5 percent of Navajo children had untreated tooth decay. While that’s better than the 82.9 percent in 1999, it’s still unacceptably high.

“The percentage of children with untreated decay appears to have declined in the past decade, although it remains today substantially higher (three to four times) than national averages,” the study said.

Batliner and his colleagues, including Patricia Braun, MD, MPH, who directed the study on the Navajo Nation, looked at 981 children in 52 Head Start classrooms on the reservation. Of those, 89.3 percent had oral disease in the past and 69.5 percent had untreated tooth decay.

That 69.5 percent of untreated decay compares with 20.48 percent among all other race and ethnic groups.

The Navajo Nation is the largest reservation in the country, stretching over 25,000 square miles. Much of it is remote with 22 dental clinics serving 225,639 residents. The dentist-to-patient ratio is 32.3 dentists per 100,000 residents, among the lowest in the country.

The researchers found that half of all Native American children need to be treated in the operating room due to the severity of their oral disease.

To increase access to care, Batliner advocates the creation of dental therapists for the reservation.

“They learn how to do fillings and extractions along with providing preventative services,” Batliner said. “This program has proved to be a raging success among tribes in Alaska. The quality of care is good.”

The American Dental Assn. opposes dental therapists and has filed suit to block their use on tribal lands.

“The American Dental Association is fighting the idea of dental therapists,” Batliner said. “But many of us perceive dental therapists as a Native solution to a Native problem. Children and adults are suffering and this is a solution that can help.”

A Misspent Youth Doesn’t Doom You To Heart Disease

327355979 — Had a bit too much fun in your 20s?
iStockphoto

By Maanvi Singh KPLU.org

Originally published on Tue July 1, 2014

We all know that a healthy lifestyle can keep heart disease at bay. But if like many of us you spent your 20s scarfing down pizza, throwing back a few too many beers and aggressively avoiding the gym, don’t despair.

People who drop bad habits in their late 30s and 40s can reduce their risk of developing coronary artery disease, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Circulation.

“And by the same token, if you get to adulthood with a healthy lifestyle, that doesn’t mean you’re home free,” says Bonnie Spring, director of the Center for Behavior and Health at Northwestern University and the lead author of the study. Those who pick up unhealthy behaviors in middle age up their risk of developing heart disease, the study found.

The researchers looked at data from 5,000 participants in the larger Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study. They evaluated the participants’ body-mass index and diet, checked how much they exercised and whether they smoked or drank excessively.

To gauge heart health, the researchers also measured calcium buildup in people’s arteries and the thickness of inner artery walls — both early signs that heart disease may be on its way.

The participants were first assessed when they were between 18 and 30 years old and then again 20 years later. Forty percent picked up bad habits as they aged. But 25 percent made heart-healthy lifestyle changes. And that’s great news, Spring tells Shots.

“These changes were not that dramatic,” Spring says. Even slight increases in physical activity or slight adjustments in diet had an effect. “These are the kinds of things mere mortals can do,” she says. In other words, there’s no need to suddenly take up CrossFit or go vegan.

This also doesn’t mean that 20-somethings should give up on exercise and start on an all-bacon diet. “To be continuously having a healthy lifestyle is the best,” Spring says. “But the problem is, almost nobody does.”

Only 10 percent of young adults in this study were healthy by all five measures the researchers evaluated.

Too often, Spring notes, medical professionals think that by middle age the damage has already been done. “That kind of perfectionism can be very demoralizing,” she says. “We wanted to give a more encouraging message.”

Putting Native Vets to Work, IHS Launches Veterans Hiring Initiative

Indian Health Service Release

The Indian Health Service (IHS) has launched a Veterans Hiring Initiative with the goal of increasing veteran new hires from 6 percent to 9 percent over the next two years. Veterans hired by the agency would increase by 50 percent with this initiative.

The IHS will recruit veterans by setting hiring goals, engaging in active outreach, and using existing and new partnerships to create additional career opportunities. Earlier this year, the IHS and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to assist veterans in finding employment and help achieve President Obama’s National Strategy to Hire More Veterans.

As part of its Veterans Hiring Initiative, the IHS will collaborate with the VA on federal recruitment events targeting veterans. Additionally, the IHS will partner with the Department of Defense on recruitment of separating active duty service members through the Transition Assistance Program and through marketing and media outreach campaigns. The IHS will also partner with tribes in recruitment outreach efforts targeted at tribal members who are active duty or veterans. Finally, the IHS is developing its own nationwide public service announcement radio and print campaign customized to markets with large populations of military personnel.

The agency website will be updated with more resources and information for veteran candidates, and the IHS will post recruitment information on the Native American Veterans website hosted by the VA. The IHS will also be interviewing veterans who have successfully transitioned from the military to the IHS or tribal positions and post these stories on IHS and partner organization websites.

The IHS, an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 2.1 million American Indians and Alaska Natives who are members of federally recognized tribes.

A Wonky Decision That Will Define the Future of Our Food

Governor Inslee Is Now Weighing the Acceptable Cancer Rate for Fish Eaters Against Business Concerns

By Ansel Herz, The Stranger

Washington State has two choices: a 10-times-higher rate of cancer among its population, particularly those who eat a lot of fish, or a bedraggled economy. That is, assuming you believe big business in the long-running and little-noticed debate over our “fish consumption rate,” a debate that Governor Jay Inslee is expected to settle, with significant consequence, within the next few weeks.

The phrase “fish consumption rate” sounds arcane and nerdy, for sure, but it really matters, and here’s why: There are a plethora of toxic chemicals—things like PCBs, arsenic, and mercury—that run off from our streets, into our waters, and then into the bodies of fish. The presence of those pollutants puts anyone who eats fish (especially Native American tribes and immigrants with fish-heavy diets) at higher risk of developing cancer.

Knowing this, the state uses an assumed fish consumption rate (FCR) to determine how great cancer risks to the general population are and, in turn, to set water-cleanliness standards that could help lower cancer rates. Currently, Washington’s official fish consumption rate is just 6.5 grams per day—less than an ounce of fish. Picture a tiny chunk of salmon that could fit on your fingertip. That’s how much fish the state officially believes you eat each day. But that number is based on data from 40 years ago. Everyone admits it’s dangerously low and woefully out of date.

Three years ago, Oregon raised its FCR up to 175 grams (imagine a filet of salmon), the highest in the nation. Now it’s up to Governor Inslee to update Washington’s FCR. Jaime Smith, a spokesperson for the governor, says he’ll make the final call in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, as with anything else, there are groups lobbying Inslee on either side. The business community—including heavyweights like Boeing, the aerospace machinists, local paper mills, the Washington Truckers Association, and the Seattle Chamber of Commerce—want our FCR to be lower. In a letter to Inslee on April 1, they warned that a higher FCR would result in “immeasurable incremental health benefits, and predictable economic turmoil.” In other words, the letter says, a one-in-a-million cancer risk for people who eat a lot of fish would hurt the economy, while a one-in-a-hundred-thousand risk is more reasonable.

Smith, the governor’s spokesperson, says the governor wants to raise the FCR in a way “that won’t cause undue harm to businesses. Obviously business has a stake in this.”

But, Smith says, “at the same time, we have people who eat a lot of fish.” Businesses have hired consultants who’ve painted worst-case scenarios, she explains, “that probably aren’t realistic.”

At the end of the day, does the governor’s office have any evidence that raising the fish consumption rate would actually kill jobs? “Not necessarily,” Smith says. She hinted that Inslee will raise the rate to a number close to Oregon’s.

In fact, businesses like the Northwest Pulp and Paper Association made the same dire predictions before Oregon increased its FCR to 175 grams per day. What happened? “We are not aware of any business that has closed that was directly attributable to those rules,” says Jennifer Wigal, a water quality program manager for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Were there job losses? “Not that I’m aware of,” she says. Broadly, Oregon employment rates have continued to trend upward since the recession, while the job availability in the paper and pulp industry, she says, has long been slowly declining.

Opposite the business community are Native American tribes, environmental groups, public-health experts, and the Seattle Human Rights Commission. (In a strongly worded March resolution, the commission said the state should raise its fish consumption rate to same level as Oregon’s.) Jim Peters, of the Squaxin Island Tribe, says the waters of Puget Sound, where tribal members have always fished, need to be better protected from pollutants. “It’s part of our life,” he says. “It’s part of our culture.” The tribes are “pro jobs,” Peters says, but “Boeing has been unwilling to come and talk with us.”

This is a defining moment for Inslee: Where he sets this number, the FCR, will send another signal about his willingness to stand up to Boeing (after his support of $8.7 billion in taxpayer subsidies for the company last year). It will also show whether or not he’s serious about following through on his commitments to do battle on behalf of the environment, promises he ran on. So keep an eye out. And in the meantime, says University of Washington public-health professor Bill Daniell, don’t eat the fish near Gas Works Park.