Something positive is happening in race relations west of the Missouri River in South Dakota

It was a scorching hot day at this year’s Central States Fair until dark clouds drifted slowly over the Black Hills and brought the temperatures down. It was a special day for Native Americans because a man named Roon Jeffries and his assistant, Dixie Holy Eagle, took the challenge of the Year of Unity...

August 30th, 2010 | American Indians, Featured, Talk About Race | Read More

A fast year: Lessons from the Indian Health System

A year goes by fast. Way too fast. Thirteen months ago I plunged into my “year-long” exploration of the Indian health system. It’s been fascinating because there has so much activity: Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and included with that bill the permanent authorization...

August 26th, 2010 | American Indians, Featured | Read More

“Government-run” no longer defines the Indian health system

A single phrase is often used to define the Indian health system: “Government-run.” Add those two words to any discussion about health care or reform and most people reach an immediate conclusion about the merits of the agency. Now it is time for the phrase to disappear because it no longer accurately...

August 17th, 2010 | American Indians, Health, Politics, US | Read More

Wolper’s ‘Mystic Warrior’ never became another ‘Roots’

David L. Wolper died last week at age 82. Many of you will wonder what the connection is between Wolper and Indian country. Wolper will go down in media history as the film producer who brought you the epic story of slavery with his award winning “Roots” which aired in eight parts on ABC in 1977. The...

August 16th, 2010 | American Indians, Culture, Featured | Read More

“Docs or Cops?” Domestic violence is a public health issue in Indian Country

WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s trite to say, “everything is connected.” It’s a phrase that comes up in the context of family, the environment, or perhaps, philosophy. When the subject is reservation violence, however, that same notion could be rewritten as a blunt question: Docs or cops? Cops are...

August 3rd, 2010 | American Indians, Featured, Health | Read More

The Haudenosaunee right of return

by: Steven Newcomb For some 30 years, the Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse), often known as the Six Nations Confederation, have been accustomed to traveling internationally from and back to North America on Haudenosaunee passports. Now, however, the United States government has evidently taken...

July 16th, 2010 | American Indians, Featured, Racial Equity | Read More

The liquor merchants in Nebraska won the last election on prohibition

Notes from Indian Country By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji) © 2010 Native Sun News Prohibition doesn’t work! It lasted 13 years in America and gave life to nationally syndicated crime, the income tax and opposition by the United States Brewers’ Association to Women’s Suffrage: the right for women...

July 12th, 2010 | American Indians, Featured | Read More

Speaking about unity at the Mount Rushmore Memorial

It was shoulder to shoulder and hip-to-hip this weekend at Mount Rushmore Memorial where tourists flocked to the He’ Sapa (Black Hills) to celebrate the 234th birthday of the Declaration of Independence. A slowing economy? You wouldn’t have thought that over this 4th of July holiday. I was asked...

July 6th, 2010 | American Indians, Featured | Read More

A tiny Native American newspaper was born on July 1, 1981

On July 1, 1981, a small, weekly newspaper was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The paper was named The Lakota Times for the people it would serve. My great admiration for the Navajo Times prompted me to add Times to the title. I started the newspaper because the Indian reservation,...

June 28th, 2010 | American Indians | Read More

Expanding access to oral health through innovation

A philosophical question: How much medical training is needed to treat patients? Some say it’s the full course as proscribed by existing medical, nursing or dental schools. But when the shortages of doctors, nurses and dentists are ginormous, does the need require a different answer? Consider oral...

June 22nd, 2010 | American Indians, Health | Read More

Multiple Sclerosis is incurable, but science is getting closer solving it

It contributed to the death of the black comedian, Richard Pryor. Actresses Annette Funicello, formerly of the Mickey Mouse Club and Beach Blanket movies, and Terri Garr, Young Frankenstein and many other movies, have it. It is the debilitating and incurable disease known as Multiple Sclerosis (MS). As...

June 22nd, 2010 | American Indians, Health | Read More

High rate of suicide on Indian reservations near epidemic proportions

I don’t know who said, “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem,” but it certainly makes sense. Teen suicide, it would appear, is a problem throughout America, but it seems to happen more frequently among young Native Americans. A “study” on any topic usually does not offer...

June 1st, 2010 | American Indians | Read More

Measuring the progress in native health – life expectancy for Native Americans

Has the Indian Health Service been an effective, government-run delivery system? Consider this from a White House memo: “While there has been improvements in health status of Indians in the past 15 years, a loss of momentum can further slow the already sluggish rate of approach to parity. Increased...

May 4th, 2010 | American Indians, Featured, Health | Read More

I fear for the life of President Barack Obama

The old saying that one should never discuss politics or religion may have made sense 50 years ago, but in the year 2010 politics and religion are in the forefront of every conversation. The 24/7 news channels and blogs are filled with stories highlighting the religious differences of Muslims and Christians...

May 3rd, 2010 | American Indians, Featured | Read More