Maternal Health, ICWA, and Buffalo | Health Equity Round-Up, May 14

In the past two weeks, Minnesota’s Native maternal health crisis made headlines, an ICWA challenge was filed, and on buffalo are feeding kids and increasing test scores on the Wind River Reservation. Here is our health equity round-up.

In the Headlines

Sixteen years ago, Jenson Yazzie and his father embarked on an experiment: eat a plant-based diet for 30 days and see if it could affect their health. After a month, the father and son both lost weight and had more energy.

Now, Yazzie spoke with KUNM about the Native Food for Life Program, an initiative that aims to combat chronic disease through plant-based diets rooted in traditional Navajo foodways. Yazzie pointed to the challenges of finding fresh foods on the 27,000-square-mile Navajo Nation reservation, where there are only eight grocery stores, and how starting small is the key to making lasting dietary changes.

The Sahan Journal examined Minnesota’s Native American mothers dying at 12  times the rate of the state’s white population. The disparity fits into a national crisis across Indian Country, where preventable material health deaths are high.

MMIP, ICWA

On May 5, tribes and advocates across Indian Country led communities in marches and rallies for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Day. The day was first declared in 2017 to bring attention to the high number of unsolved cases of missing and murdered people in Indian Country.

According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, there are 4,200 unsolved MMIP cases, but advocates say that the actual number is likely much higher. In 2023, homicide was the fourth leading cause of death among Native men, and the sixth leading cause of death among Native women.

For some states, the day of awareness was followed by the announcement of dedicated MMIP task forces, including Alaska and California. Two days after Native people marched, Minnesota state officials fired the executive director of its  Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives office.

The Indian Child Welfare Act may once again be in front of the Supreme Court, thanks to a petition filed by an Arizona-based conservative think tank. The petition challenges a Minnesota Supreme Court decision denying two non-Native foster parents’ request to intervene in custody proceedings that placed their Native foster children with a maternal aunt.

Grants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is granting $135,000 to Wichita and the Affiliated Tribes to fund its environmental priorities. Additionally, the agency awarded $195,000 to the Pueblo of Laguna. According to an announcement, the Pueblo will use the  grant to build environmental capacity and administrative infrastructure, provide oversight into tribal priority projects, conduct outreach, enforce solid waste codes and regulations, and implement solid and hazardous waste programs.

Healthcare Systems

The Indigenous Healthcare Advancements launched a free, web-based locator that maps Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities, tribally operated 638 programs, urban Indian health organizations, and community health centers that provide care to Native patients.

Good Read

This week, we published the first of a two-part series about how the return of buffalo is increasing attendance and reading comprehension for one school on the Wind River Reservation.

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