Siletz
Community
Cha-may weeya
Medicine Talk
Health
Clinic
Cultural Influences on
Breastfeeding
Culture is shaped by values, beliefs,
norms, and practices that are shared by
members of the same cultural groups.
Culture guides our thinking, our doing,
and our being. Culture becomes
patterned expressions of who we are.
These patterns are passed down from
one generation to the next.
Different cultures of the world have
different patterns of breastfeeding.
Cultural tradition dictates when
breastfeeding begins, how often a baby
is breastfed, and how many months
breastfeeding lasts. The degree of body
contact between mother and baby and
exposure of the breast during feedings
also are dictated by culture.
The subject of food and sex are
more deeply rooted in culture than
perhaps any other subject. Everyone
agrees that the breast provides food
but in American culture, breasts are
viewed more as a sexual object than a
nourishing organ.
Historically in Alaskan cultures,
babies were kept inside mother’s parka
for warmth and frequent feedings. In
warm climates where clothing is
minimal or absent, babies are frequently
held and the breast is easily accessible
for frequent feedings.
The pattern of breastfeeding in the
early “hunter-gatherer” society were
longer because meat and roots were
difficult for babies to chew and digest,
whereas the agriculture society could
prepare softer foods for babies to eat
and they were weaned sooner.
North American and European
women are concerned that exposing the
breast is indecent and that too much
handling of a baby and breastfeeding
too long spoils the child.
Native Americans are still feeling
the impact of 4(X) years of domination
by European cultures. Indians have
been pushed away from their own
cultural patterns, specifically in relation
to breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding can help establish
and restore families. It deepens a
mother’s confidence in her ability to
meet her family’s needs, but she also
needs to rely on the support of other
family members to maintain her nursing
relationship. The family and community
are important parts of breastfeeding.
Native women all over the country
are organizing their own breastfeeding
education and support groups/circles.
They provide outreach services for
home and hospital visits, and weekly
breastfeeding support groups are offered.
The return to breastfeeding is not
easy. Some women feel uncomfortable
using their breast in this way. Some
women have had sexual or physical abuse
in their life. Natives also have bought
into Western medicine and Western ideas.
They don’t believe that breastfeeding
is any better than formula feeding.
There is, however, great cultural
pride around breastfeeding for some
Native families. Women are proud to
say they breastfeed their children,
sharing how long they breastfeed and
how they feed their baby in public.
Some women have been brought up in
a breastfeeding family.
There is a hunger in the Indian
community for traditional things,
traditional values. Respect for children
is a traditional part of the culture. The
Lakota word for baby, waken heja,
means “sacred being.”
Please watch for breastfeeding
articles each month in Siletz News.
Attention Siletz Tribal Members!
If you are a diagnosed diabetic, think you may be diabetic, or just feel that
you are at increased risk for becoming diabetic and you do not receive primary
care at the Siletz Clinic, you need to contact us!
Without your mailing address and telephone number, we are unable to
include you in our diabetic events and monthly mail-outs! Pleasecontact us at
SCHC, Attn: John Jasper or Laura Duarte, P.O. Box 320, Siletz, OR 97380;
541-444-9611 or 541-444-9659; toll-free, 1-800-648-0449; or fax, 541-444-1278.
Dental Adds
New Chair
The Dental Department at the
Siletz Clinic recently added a new
dental chair. A former office was
remodeled to add a fifth chair, which
went into service on Feb. 3.
The new chair brings much-
needed space for the two full-time
dentists, one full-time hygienist, and
three dental assistants.
Now each dentist can see more
patients per day by utilizing two
chairs. The hygienist will continue to
work out of one chair. In private
practice, one dentist usually works out
of two chairs, alternating between two
different patients. When one person is
“getting numb,” the other person is
getting a filling. In
this way, more pa
tients can be seen in
a more efficient way
each day.
The clinic’s goal
is to offer more
appointments
to
dental patients in a
timely manner and
the best way for
Dental to do this was
to add another chair.
Moms and Babies Breastfeeding Circle
< oolerlented Tribe* of Siletz Indians oTOregon Breastfeeding Program
2nd Tuesday
of each
month
6 - 7:30 p.m.
Housing
Department
Conference
Room
Nurture your baby
Nurture yourself
—,
Contact I jura Duarle or Barbara Danna, RN, at 541 -444-1030 or 1 -&i)0-64K-0449
You’re invited to come eat, visit, and learn
about the many benefits of breastfeeding.
Sponsored by Siletz Tribal Diabetes Grant
March 20Öä Q SrletzNews’
O
1Ö