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accessHealthNews.net
May 2024
Volume 10 | Issue No. 84
Statements like "your ZIP code is the best
predictor of your health" have all but
become a proverb in the public health
community. It is well known that social
determinants of health (SDOH) have
a potent impact on health outcomes,
both physical and mental, and Native
Americans consistently face high SDOH
barriers. According to one article, Native
Americans' federal health agency, the
Indian Health Service (IHS), receives just
half of the funding it would need to offer
care on par with federal programs that
provide healthcare to prisoners, and the
life expectancy for Native Americans is
4.4 years shorter than the U.S. average.
In light of statistics like these, the deep
scars of cultural trauma, and now the
global coronavirus pandemic, Native
Americans face a host of challenges to
their mental health. Recently, Mental
Health America hosted a webinar
featuring several Native speakers, Dr.
Martina Whelshula, Dr. Kimberly Yellow
Robe, Shelby Rowe, and others to share
their personal stories of mental health.
Dr. Whelshula, whose given name means
"dress touches the ground," is a citizen
of the Arrow Lakes Nation of the Colville
Confederated Tribes, mother of six and
grandmother of twenty. Her Ph.D. in
traditional knowledge allowed her to
travel the world and study with other
indigenous communities. Now, she works
in intergenerational colonial trauma
and healing with families and tribes.
"Passionate work that I love," Dr. Whelshula
said.
For three generations preceding her,
Dr. Whelshula's maternal family went to
boarding school — which are, historically,
institutions designed to assimilate Native
Americans with varying degrees of cruelty.
"I was parented out of the boarding
school discipline, so I have complex PTSD
as a result of that," Dr. Whelshula said. "A
lot of violence in the home […] a lot of
bullying. A lot of trauma, a lot of violence
that was happening."
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Different concepts of death, afterlife, and future generations can
make the healing process carry even more significance for people
from some Native American cultures.
