Public Health in Indian Country

I found Carolyn Smith-Morris' study of the three domains of factors affecting diabetes among the Pima Indians, as well as her recommendations for how to build and implement treatment and prevention programs, to be very smart and intuitive. Separating the factors into political-economic, genetic, and cultural domains allows us to evaluate the "big-picture" problem so that a proposed recommendation can be formed with a holistic treatment in mind. Like many issues facing Indians today, diabetes can be partially attributed to the influence of white people. However, even if we bear a degree of responsibility, we must be careful not to fall into the morally flawed trap of white savior complex.

In class today, we discussed the many political, socio-economic, genetic, cultural, and institutional factors that ultimately compound to maintain and proliferate the Pima diabetes epidemic. Left unaddressed, the public health problem will continue. Additionally, in a public health initiative, if the initiative does not address all of the factors that are contributing to Pima diabetes, then failure will be written directly into the plan. This same logic runs true for initiatives addressing a myriad of problems on the reservation. An outside agent cannot ride in as a white savior on a white horse and hand the Pima Indians a plan. The plan must be community-based and harness high participation from the beginning. It must be culturally specific and easily sustainable. How can anything make a change in a community--especially in such an ancient cultural community like a Native Nation--if the community is not fully invested in the change nor participating in the implementation and sustainability of said change? Who understands a community and its values better than a community member? It is no wonder that public health initiatives implemented by federal action in Indian Country have failed in the past.        

PRESENTATION SIGN-UPS

Here is the link to the presentation schedule:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V4ArEVNKh-tqxZ1Vg4YxVxiHC6huU8BOBbIorHGCCds/edit?usp=sharing

The Resource Curse

Professor Guse said something very interesting to me in Friday's class - that "some of the poorest areas in the country are always surrounding extraction industries." It is troubling to imagine that profitable and booming industries, such as mining, can result in such economic struggle and resource scarcity.

After reading further into this, I found that there is a theory for the effects of extraction industries on local economies. The resource curse hypothesizes the trends in development of an area that has chosen to single in on a particular industry and to neglect other major industries that contribute to its economy. There are numerous case studies, and much debate, surrounding this theory as many people hold conflicting views of its validity, however, I find this theory to be significantly relatable to our discussion and readings on the Rosamont mine.

Much of the resource curse is based on the example of the Dutch disease, a situation relating to the Netherlands further entwining itself with the natural gas industry. Similar to the Rosamont mine dispute, this "disease" originated from the finding of ample natural resource reserves and resulted in a shift of focus to target a popular industry. Consequently, local economies suffered.

Although criticisms of the theory exist that claim that there are other more heavily weighted reasons for damages to local economies surrounding extraction industries, I have to disagree due to the historical trend of power-hungry competitors targeting natural resource industries. The Tohono O'odham people have long been caught in the middle of the greed and natural resource depletion that whirlwind around their reservation. I am hopeful that more people will look into the negative affects of the resource curse and further analyze its results, however, I worry that Native Americans have been the victims of its effects for far too long to remove themselves entirely.

To Preserve and Protect

The mission statement of the archaeology department of the Tohono O'odham nation is remarkably similar to that of the Nation Park System: preserve and protect. In a way, this makes perfect sense. Unlike many Archaeology organizations, the TON archaeology department is not focused on unearthing archaeology sites for analysis. The oral tradition of the Tohono O'odham already connects them with their past. Instead the Tohono O'odham archaeology department focuses on primarily on defended the many cultural and spiritual sites that exist from the development interests of the area, preserve and protect.

It is clear from Peter Steere's speech, delivered to us at the Tohono O'odham museum, that there are countless archaeological sites. The land is dotted with them, and preserving and protecting them is a daunting task for anyone. The TON largely tries to achieve their goals by working closely with different development groups and the border patrol so that they can recognize and avoid harming cultural sites. Steere even delivers month speeches to new border patrol officers regarding preserving and protecting archaeological sites.

I found it particularly interesting that Steere mention that the term "Hohokam", when referring to the O'odham's ancestors, is culturally insensitive. He said that the term "Hohokam" infers that they are dead and long gone when, infact, the Hohokam became the O'odham. The belief that this term is culturally insensitive must be shared only among the most traditional of the O'odham like Joe Joaquin, one of Steere's close associates. Many O'odham used the term "Hohokam" freely, and even the employees at Casa Grande used the term.

Who's land is it really? Rosemont copper and the Tohono O'odham

The staff writer for the Tuscon.com is right. It isn't surprising that Rosemont copper and the Tohono O'odham Nation hold "diametrically opposite views" regarding the continued progress of the approval of the Rosemont copper mine. What is surprising, however, is the approval by the national forest service of the new mine, implying that the national forest service holds a "diametrically opposite view" to the Tohono O'odham nation as well. This claim is further supported by the fact that the National Forest Service neglected to share their report with the Tohono O'odham nation. For me, there is suspicion of foul play here. A government organization issues a report in favor a large scale mining operation and doesn't send this report to those most directly, negatively affected. Money has power and one side has a lot of it while the Tohono O'odham do not.

An estimated 85 cultural sites will be destroyed by the mining operation, should it gain full approval, and an estimated 6,177 acres of tribal resource collection areas will be impacted. Even the most efficient and environmentally conscious of mines tend to contaminate the surrounding areas with huge quantities of ore, which should not be there. To make matters worst the Rosemont mine will located near an aquifer, which it will contaminate, and it will permanently change sacred mountains for the Tohono O'odham (the Ce'wi Duag). It is obvious that, in itself, the project poses a serious environmental risk to the Tohono O'odham and other residents of the area. But, perhaps more importantly, the precedent that a project of this scale could be tremendous.

The Texas Band of the Kickapoo and Human Rights Violations

            The part of Megan Austin’s article “A Culture Divided by the United States-Mexico Border: The Tohono O’odham Claim for Border Crossing Rights” about the relationship between the United States and the Texas Band of the Kickapoo emphasizes the societal otherization and subhuman status of American Indians and the concept of human rights in the context of that otherized, subhuman status.  Austin describes the situation of the negotiation of rights and recognition between the Texas Band of the Kickapoo and the United States government.  She identifies the pressures put on them by water shortages, water rights, and conflicts related to water and, at the height of those pressures, their quality of life as a result of those conditions as of the early-mid 1980s when they were forced to live under a bridge sharing a single water fountain.  Once conditions became this severe for this group of people, Congress chose to intervene by passing the Texas Band of Kickapoo Act in 1983 in an attempt to provide explicit recognition and ease the strain put upon them.  The effectiveness of this act may be called into question as it proved to be impractical for the Kickapoo and to do little to improve their quality of life in the following years.  However, even more upsetting than the lack of effectiveness, is the threshold of condition necessary to elicit a governmental response from the United States.  When individuals are repeatedly denied access to something necessary for life to the point that they can no longer sustain a certain quality of life, the enforcing action or lack of action that leads to that state should be classified as a human rights violation.  However, as there is some subjectivity in the concept of quality of life, it has potential to reveal racist ideology through the societal otherization and subhuman status of groups of people.

            In her article, Austin reaches the conclusion that the current state of the United States-Mexico border in relation to the Tohono O’odham is fundamentally a human rights violation.  However, as exemplified by the responses and lack of responses by the United States government in regard to the effects of the border on the O’odham people and the O’odham nation, the current situation is not viewed as being a human rights violation by the United States government.  In the eyes of the U.S. government, the Kickapoo experience represents human rights violations and thus constituted intervention and significant policy change.  This situation begs the question of what quality of life the government is obligated to support and facilitate, therefore beginning to provide some understanding of what qualifies as a human rights violation universally.  It might be a little extreme to call this situation an example of blatant discrimination and oppression based on race and ethnicity, but there does seem to exist in governmental action regarding human rights some degree of difference in the definition of human rights and the quality of life attempting to provide and uphold that falls along racial or ethnic line, reflecting discriminatory ideology that leaves certain groups of people denied of their own personhood.

Mining and the Environment

After reading about the Rosemont Mine and the lack of clarity in legislation aimed towards its creation, I am left with many critical concerns for the well-being of both tribal members and surrounding ecosystems. First, I am not surprised by the blatant lack of inclusion of tribal members in the legislation process, not to mention the exclusion of EPA itself. As an expert on environmental qualities, EPA should be expected to be included in all opinions surrounding the establishment of a mine. Secondly, these articles only further show the trend of deception when it comes to taking into account the opinions and research of tribal members. It struck me to read that the final EIS only referred to the desecration of sacred sites as "notable," when it is clear that the entire culture and environment will be negatively impacted. It seems ironic to me that people not intimate with the landscape, like the tribal members are, are the ones responsible for determining who is part of the decision-making process.

Additionally, these articles have affected my growing concern for endangered species. A study was done on the Bristol Bay watershed in Alaska, a watershed that supports 25 federally recognized tribal governments and subsistence fisheries, to further identify the impacts of large-scale mining projects. The case detailed how Alaska's native tribes have maintained a salmon-based culture and way of life for over 4,000 years. With the arrival of mining activities, it was revealed, according to the assessment, that off-channel habitats for salmon and other fishes would be reduced due to the loss of significant amounts of wetlands. This is only one example of the potential, and existent, effects of mining on surrounding ecosystems, which in turn, deeply affect native tribes/the people surrounding them.