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More News from Indian Country
Pqge 7
Tribes fighting cancer through art
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)
— Specialists in Native Ameri
can health are turning to art
to correct a problem in medi
cine.
The problem is cancer, the
leading cause o f death among
all S outh D ak o tan s and a
greater menace to Indians in
particular.
A project called Circle o f
Life will take root phis fall as
an attem pt to close that gap
in cancer care. Sponsors will
use Native art, stories from
survivors and lessons on nu
trition, exercise and screen
ings as online tool kits to en
co u rag e h e a lth ie r liv in g
among tribes. The larger so
ciety has been saturated with
anti-cancer messages since
the 1960s, but the voices in
this project are new and ex
clusively Native American.
/ ‘This is cancer education
fo r N ativ e A m ericans by
Native Americans,” said Char
lotte H ofer, spokesw om an
for the American Cancer So
ciety, which is sponsoring the
project.
T he curriculum will be
available at cancer.org as a
resource for what H ofer calls
“a positive, holistic message
based on comm on tribal val
ues o f spirituality and respect
Idaho
leader
sentenced
on theft
charges
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The
fo rm e r ch a irm a n o f an
A m erican In d ia n trib e in
Idaho and Nevada will spend
nearly a year under the su
pervision o f the federal Bu
reau o f Prisons after plead
ing guilty to theft.
A federal judge has recom
m en d ed 3 8-year-old K yle
Prior o f Caldwell serve his
time at a residential re-entry
center in southwestern Idaho.
Prior, a form er chairman
o f th e S h o sh o n e -P a iu te
Tribes in southern Idaho and
n orth ern N evada, was also
o rd e re d to pay n early
$36,500 in restitution at his
sentencing Tuesday.
P rio r was executive di
rector o f the U pper Snake
R iver T rib e s F o u n d a tio n
from S eptem ber 2008 and
July 2009.
for the natural w orld.” She
expects com m unity leaders
and school teachers to use it
in seminars and classrooms
and for individuals to do the
same online.
The effort rises o ut o f a
knotty health challenge. H alf
o f South D ak o ta’s Indians
sm oke, a rate th ree tim es
worse than the full population
and a leading in d icato r o f
cancer. In d ia n s are m o re
obese, eat less nutritiously, get
less exercise and see doctors
less often, all factors in caus
ing cancer or failing to catch
it before it grows out o f con
trol. They develop the disease
m ore often, and they have a
d e a th ra te , at 252 p e r
100,000, th at is 37 percent
higher than-cancer mortality
for whites. O n top o f that,
they've had to deal with a re
luctance to face the problem
in their own tribes and exter
nal challenges that keep rural
Indians at a medical disadvan
tage.
/ “We do less cancer screen
in g b ecau se w e’re u n d e r
funded, and the result is we
do n ot have the services that
are considered standard for
others. W hen you diagnose it
later, people die,” said Dr.
Donald Warne, a senior policy
adviser to the G reat Plains
T rib al C h airm en 's H ealth
B oard and a consultant to
Sanford Health.
Cancer is becoming a more
visible problem, ironically, at
a time tribes are seeing a gain
in life expectancy. Average
lifespan m oved from 78 to
80 overall for South Dakota
in a decade ending in 2007,
and tribal people specifically
jumped from the 50s to the
mid-60s. E fforts to cut drink
ing on reserv atio n s had a
hand in that, as did progress
in reducing deaths to pneu
monia and influenza.
B ut living longer has its
side effects, and one o f them
is cancer.
“O ne o f the biggest risk
factors for cancer is getting
older. Decades back, Native
folks never lived long enough
to g e t can cer,” said K ris
R hodes, executive director
o f the American Indian Can
cer Foundation in Minneapo
lis.
The power o f imaging is
central to the Circle o f Life,
w ith the color illustrations,
photography and text from
and for Indians. It is to be a
w o rk o f art w ith p ersonal
impact, no small m atter for
m inorities often left at the
margins o f health messages.
“I f you’re from the m a
jority society, and people all
look like you, you don’t even
think about that,” said Warne
a South D akota native and
member o f the Oglala Lakota
tribe. “But if you’re n o t from
the majority society, you start
to w onder if this is for me.
Health messaging is m ore ef
fective when it’s culturally tai
lored and culturally appropri
ate and when the messenger
is fro m th e sam e cu ltu ral
group as the person receiv
ing the messages.”
Success in this case will
require a shift o f opinion on
smoking, a greater openness
to health screening and a will
ingness to get past a barrier
to acknowledge a problem .
R oberta Cahill, director o f
community partnerships for
the American Cancer Society
in Pierre and a Yankton Sioux
m em ber in her 60s, said tribal
p eople fo r years have had
trouble owning the problem.
“People did n o t talk about
cancer much,” Cahill said. “A
lot o f time people were un
aware o f others who had sur
vived cancer. I n o th e r in
stances, there’s a belief if you
talk about something it’s go
ing to happen.”
July 25, 2012
Indian Affairs post filled
by Oklahoma Cherokee
OKLAHOM A CITY (AP)
_ An enroUed m em ber o f the
C herokee N atio n o f O kla
hom a has been nam ed the
director o f the Indian Affairs
O ffice o f B udget M anage
m ent in Washington D.C.
T hom as T h o m p so n was
selected for the post by act
ing Assistant Secretary-Indian
Affairs Donald Laverdure.
T hom pson is currently the
senior advisor to the area di
School Groundbreaking
Native Americans to
celebrate white bison
G O SH EN , Conn. (AP) -
The birth o f a white bison is
bringing N ative Americans
w ho c o n sid e r it a sacred
event to celebrate at a farm
in northwestern Connecticut.
H undreds o f people, in
cluding trib al elders from
South Dakota, are expected
to attend naming ceremonies
la te r th is m o n th at th e
G oshen farm where the ani
mal was born on June 16.
White bison figure prom i
G R A N D FO RK S, N.D.
(AP) —(R epublican N o rth
D akota Sen. John H oeven is
pushing the SenatS Indian
Affairs C om m ittee to hold
hearings about chEd abuse
and neglect on American In
dian reservations, according
to his deputy chief o f staff.
Hearings would be held in
W ashington, D.C., because
m ore senators could attend
and th e discussion w ould
draw national exposure, Ryan
Bernstein said.
“We’re working with the
chairman, and we hope we
can get that scheduled soon,”
Bernstein said. ‘W e’re hop
ing this summer, but if not,
right after the August recess.”
Both H oeven and D em o
cratic Sen. K ent Conrad o f
N orth D akota are members
o f the panel.
A Bureau o f Indian A f
fairs review eadier this year
Dave McMechan/Spilyay
Blessing of flutes was part of the ground-breaking of the Warm Springs k-8
school site.
The dispute highlights the
difficulty o f having two sepa
rate tribal governments on a
single re s e rv a tio n . W hile
o th e r re s e rv a tio n s in th e
country are hom e to fnore
than one tribe, officials have
said the W ind River Indian
Reservation is the only case
where two tribes with sepa
rate governm ents share com
m on ground.
“T he E astern Shoshone
Tribe is the only tribe with
aboriginal ties to this region,
including all areas within the
W ind River Indian Reserva
tion,” wrote Kimberly Varilek,
attorney general for the E ast
ern S hoshone T ribe and a
m em ber o f the tribe.
“A n d th e N o r th e r n
A rapaho T ribe can n either
demonstrate that same inter
est, n or any other reason why
their perm it can only be sat
isfied on the W ind River In
dian Reservation in complete
d isre g a rd o f th e E a s te rn
Shoshone T ribe’s interests,
beliefs, traditions and prac
tices,” Varilek w rote in the
brief she filed Friday in fed
eral court in Cheyenne.
V arilek said th a t th e
Arapaho could seek perm is
sion from the state o f Wyo
ming to kill eagles outside the
reservation.
A lthough th e Shoshone
use eagle feathers in their own
c e rem o n ies, V arilek said,
“T here’s n o t a process in the
S h o sh o n e b eliefs to kill
e a g le s /’ She said th e
Shoshones traditionally cap
tured Eve eagles, took some
feathers, and then released
rector o f the Indian H ealth
Service in Phoenix.
Laverdure said in a state
ment that Thompson will help
find efficient and cost-effec
tive ways to provide services
in Indian Country.
T h o m p s o n has also
worked for the US D epart
m e n t o f A g ric u ltu re , th e
Cherokee N ation and owned
an accounting firm in Stilwell.
nently in the lore o f many
tribes who see them as sym
bols o f hope and unity. •
E x p erts say they are as
rare as one in 10 milEon.
The bull calf is off-white—
n o t an albino— and farm er
Peter Fay says he is certain
the bloodUnes are pure, al
though he has sent its D N A
to be tested to confirm there
was no interm ingling w ith
cattle.
Sen. wants hearings
on reservation abuse
Eastern Shoshone claim closer ties to land
C H E Y EN N E , Wyo. (AP)
A dispute over the N orth
ern Arapaho Tribe’s push for
a federal perm it to kill bald
eagles for religious purposes
has p ro m p ted the E astern
Shoshone Tribe to assert that
it has older, deeper ties to the
central Wyoming reservation
the two tribes share and that
its opposition should prevent
killing the birds there.
T h e E a ste rn S h o sh o n e
Tribe filed a written argument
in federal court in Cheyenne
last week, objecting to the
N o rth e rn A rapaho T ribe’s
p lan to kill eagles on the
W ind River Indian Reserva
tion. The Shoshone were al
read y on th e re s e rv a tio n
when the federal government
settled the Arapaho there in
1878.
Spilyay Tymoo
the birds.
WilEam C’Hair, a N orth
ern A rapaho elder, said M on
day that his response to the
Eastern Shoshone Tribe’s ar
gum ent that it has deeper ties
to the W ind River Reserva
tion is that the Shoshone re
ceived full payment long ago
from the federal governm ent
for the one-half interest in the
reservation that went to the
N orthern Arapaho Tribe.
C’Hair said the federal gov
ern m en t also docked pay
ments it made to the N orth
ern A rapaho Tribe for the
loss o f ancestral lands to re
coup the cost o f payments to
the Eastern Shoshone Tribe.
“So actually, we b o u g h t
and we own the reservation.
B o u g h t and paid fo r,” he
said.
detailed problems in tribal so
cial services programs on the
state’s Spirit Lake Indian Res
ervation.
Thomas SulEvan, regional
administrator in D enver for
the U.S. A dm inistration for
Children and FamiEesj called
for suspending all state and
federal funding to the tribe
until it put quahfied officials
in place to run programs to
ensure children are n o t sub
jected to physical, sexual or
emotional abuse.
T ribal C hairm an R oger
Yankton has cited staff turn
over, high caseloads and in
adequate federal funding as
problems. Tribal leaders who
took office a, year ago insist
they are making strides, for
example offering new train
ing to social services person
nel and increasing coUabora-
tion between tribal and county
social service providers.
Lawmakers bar changes
on Mass, tribal casino deal
B O S T O N (AP) -
L aw m akers m o v e d to
block any changes from
being made to an agree
m e n t sig n ed by Gov.
D ev al P atrick and the
M ash p ee W am p an o ag
Indian tribe to pave the
way for a tribal casino in
Taunton. O rders barring
am endm ents to the ca
sino com pact w ere ap
proved by the H ouse and
Senate, deaEng a blow to
efforts by southeastern
Massachusetts legislators
to add a two-year dead
line for the tribe to win
federal approval for tak
ing into trust the land on
which it hopes to build the
casino.
T h e L egislature will
now be limited to voting
up or down vote on the
compact, w ith debate ex
pected later in the week.
S tate Rep. J o s e p h
W agner, a C h ico p ee
D em ocrat w ho was one
o f the chief architects o f
the landmark casino law
signed by P atrick ' last
year, admitted it was un
usual to preclude amend
m ents to a measure be
fore the Lègislature. But
he argued that any change
m ad e in th e c o m p a c t
w ould necessitate a re
opening o f negotiations
with the tribe and Ekely
scuttle an' agreement.
“I can teU you with ab
solute Certainty that the
com pact would not sur
vive an am endm ent by
this Legislature,”. Wagner
said.
T h e g am b lin g law,
w hich allows for up to
three resort casinos in the
sta te , gives exclu siv e
rights to a federaEy-rec-
ognized Indian tribe to
develop a casino in south
eastern Massachusetts if
a com pact is signed by
the state and ratified by
the Legislature by July 31.