In the article, “Sharing One Skin,” by Jeanette Armstrong she shares the four different selves that the Okanagan people identify with and look to as individual beings. She expresses the importance of community and what views and practices they follow to stay connected as a whole. Armstrong also touches on how important land is, and an important statement is, “I have learned that a crisis can help build community so that it can face the crisis itself.” From this she is explaining that even though a negative outcome is occurring you can still find the positive within it. Community is important and it is connected to that land, so as said, “Indigenous rights must be protected, for we are the protectors of Earth.”

Armstrong, Jeanette. “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community.” In Jerry Mangeler and Edward Goldsmith (eds), The Case Against the Global Economy. San Francisco, CA, Sierra Club Book, 1996. Pp460-470.

Memories and stories are connected to our land as described by, B. Toastie in the article, “How place names impact the way we see landscape." Toastie deeply explains why stories are significant. The form of storytelling will never go away as Toastie writes, “It’ll always be there, it’ll be attached to the land as long as we remember that story. I don’t think those stories ever go away.” Storytelling not only connects to memories but it connects to the land and how this especially plays a role in the world we live in. We need to understand why landscape is important because we should be glorifying the right people that make up history. 

Toastie, B. “How Place Names Impact the Way We See Landscape.” High County News: Know The West. 1 May 2022. http://www.hcn.org/issues/54.5/people-places-how-place-names-impact-the-way-we-see-landscape/print_view.

From the article, “And Then I Went to School,” by Joe Sunia it touches on the idea of loss of identity and heartache. Living within two different worlds can be confusing, especially when you are told to do things completely different. In the story his younger self is telling his narrative of attending a boarding school and having his culture be taken from him. He becomes unsure of himself and this takes a toll on him. At such a young age he is confused about his identity and knew that his life would forever be changed. Many Native Americans have faced these challenges of attending boarding schools and having their culture be taken away from them.

Suina, Joe. “And Then I Went to School.” Pp 1-6. Reprint with permission of the author from the New Mexico Journal of Reading. Winter 1985, Vol.V, NO.2, “Rainbird” Illustrated by Tom Lea from H.P. Mera, Pueblo designs. 

In the article, “The impact of historical trauma on American Indian health equity,” by Ana Sandoiu, the historical trauma of American Indians is unpacked and connects to how their health equity has been impacted throughout history. Historical events that play a crucial role in American Indian and Alaskan Native health is first the creation of boarding schools. Thousands of young children were forced to attend, so they would integrate with other people and get rid of their indigenous culture. From all of this young children faced physical abuse, mental abuse, and sexual abuse. These health disparities are not talked about, and they result from historical trauma. Another historical event that affects the health equity of American Indians is genocide, as it is stated, “A long history of genocide and the American Indian boarding school experience has led to pervasive and unresolved historical trauma.” Many American Indians and Alaskan Natives' lives have been put at risk throughout history because white and European settlers wanted to remove Indians and altogether get rid of them. Health inequities were developed centuries ago because of American Indians being underserved, mistreated, and having no form of support. 

Sandoiu, Ana. The impact of historical trauma on American Indian Health equity. Medical News Today, 5 July 2022, Pp 1-10. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/the-impact-of-historical-trauma-on-american-indian-health-equity. 

“Health American Indian,” is about the health challenges Indians had faced in the 20th century. Most of the hardships that were brought amongst American Indians resulted from the healthcare system. The system was very poor and did not support Indians the way it should have. Many Indians developed illnesses and diseases that led to thousands of deaths. The life expectancy for Indians decreased throughout this time period and it is stated, “the lack of health facilities for Indians is a disgrace to the nation.” Native Americans throughout the United States have faced health inequity, but when will that stop and when will American Indians receive the healthcare they deserve?

Ewen, Alexander, and Jeffery Wollock. “Health, American Indian.” Encyclopedia of the American Indian in the Twentieth Century, Facts On File, 2014. American Indian History, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=18626&itemid=WE43&articleld=358860. Accessed 19 Oct. 2023. 

“Forgetting What the Old People Endured During the Long Walk - Navajo Teachings,” embraces the hardships that Navajo People encountered during the Long Walk. The history of the Long Walk is tragic because of the thousands of deaths and how this impacted their health and wellbeing. The Dine people faced disease, and sickness, that resulted from suffering in harsh elements, having a lack of nutrition, and women getting sexual diseases. It is to say that Navajo peoples health was underlooked and mistreated. This time in history will not be forgotten because of the thousands of Dine people that suffered. 

Forgetting What Old People Endured During the Long Walk-Navajo Teaching. Navajo Traditional Teachings. 2022. Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekmNKIdPOyQ. 

"Native American health care remains vastly underfunded," is an article about a conversation with Trula Ann Breuninger who earned her MHP from UC Berkeley School of Public Health. She is an expert when it comes to health equity. Within the conversation she addresses the many issues that Native Americans still currently face to this day. An issue that remains a problem is the underfunding, the government levels of funding are not where it should be and services like behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse all need higher funding levels. The overall problem is that the federal government is failing to cover the needs for Native Americans and address all of the disparities that they face, but a change needs to occur so that the underfunded programs can better protect the people. 

Kaplan, Sheila. Native American healthcare remains vastly underfunded. Berkeley Public Health, 1 November 2023, publichealth.berkeley.edu/news-media/native-american-health-care-remains-vastly-underfunded/. 

A major issue that American Indians and Alaskan Natives face today is decreasing life expectancy. Parker and Kelley compose the article, "American Indian and Alaskan Native Life Expectancy: Writing a New Narrative," and they address the issues that Native Americans are currently facing. The article explains that all of these, "advances in public health, policy, and medicine have not equitably increased American Indian and Alaskan Native life expectancy during the last 79 years." Part of this issue results from treaty rights with the U.S government that have not been honored. The issue in low life expectancy must be addressed and supported by the U.S Government, so that Native Americans are being funded adequately in the health care system. 

Parker T, Kelly A. American Indian and Alaskan Native Life Expectancy: Writing a New Narrative. JAMA. Published online November 06, 2023. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.22614.

After reading about the current solutions to improve health care in New Mexico from, "Governor signs bill to significantly improve health care access, affordability for New Mexicans," I learned what action is being taken to support New Mexicans. This press release discussed five healthcare bills that will strengthen New Mexico's healthcare workforce, including affordability and access. Something significant that helps the bill uprise is when doctors begin to voice their concerns to the legislators. This will provide doctors with what they need, so they can continue to properly serve the people of New Mexico. Another thing that the bills provided are delivering healthcare to the smallest communities and bringing down the cost because one of the major issues is that health care costs are too high for many working families. These bills are significantly proving for New Mexicans and that includes many Native American communities. It starts with expanding facilities and supporting providers all in rural areas and also, "working together no matter the party, to do what is right for New Mexicans."

Author, Unknown. "Governor signs bills to significantly Improve Healthcare Access, Affordability for New Mexicans." Office of the Governor-Michelle Lujan Grisham, 23 June 2023, www.governor.state.nm/2023/04/07/governor-signs-bills--to-significantly-improve-health-care-access-affordability-for-new-mexicans/.

The article, "Intersection of class, caste, gender and unmet healthcare needs in India: Implications for health policy," is about how class, caste, and gender hierarchy are forms of barriers that result in unmet healthcare needs for those in India. It is stated that, "over the last two decades, India's health system has assumed strong commitment with innovative policies and programmes towards tackling inequalities and universalise healthcare," but there are concerns that still remain. One of those concerns is the lack of affordable health care but from the National Sample Survey the data shows respondents reporting unmet need and how it has declined. Based on the research from the survey it also shares the group difference in health opportunities for those in India. The differences are economic differences, social exclusion, and gender discrimination which explain the reason for unmet need. More reasons why it is difficult to access healthcare is: non-availability of the facility, not being able to afford it, long waiting, ailment not serious, and familial/ religious beliefs. Although in order for unmet healthcare needs to be addressed research needs to better address the limitations so there is an increase in healthcare awareness and health needs for many of lower class people in India. 

Mahapatro, Sandhya R et al. "Intersection of class, caste, gender and unmet healthcare needs in India: Implications for health policy." Health Policy OPEN vol. 2 10040. 2 April 2021, doi:10.1016/j.hpopen.2021.100040.

"An assessment of the implications of the Health Care funds for the poor policy in rural Vietnam," is an article about how out-of-pocket expenses for health care can place financial burdens on poor and near-poor households in Vietnam. The article states that, "the Government launched the Healthcare funds for the poor (HCFP) policy which offered free public health care services to help the poor access public health services and reduce their health care expenditure (HCE)," but more efforts are needed so that the individuals of vietnam can access higher levels of public health. Many of the citizens in Vietnam heavily rely on the use of go-to-pharmacies where they can buy any kind of drug without a prescription when they get sick. The idea of this explains why many poor households do not go to the hospital and see a doctor, which is because they simply cannot pay out of pocket and this will result in major health financing problems. The solution for these issues is that "further efforts are needed to facilitate them to access higher levels of public healthcare."

Thanh, Nguyen Xuan et al. "An assessment of the implementation of the Health Care Funds for the poor policy in rural Vietnam." Health Policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands) vol.98,1(2010):58-64.doi:1016/j.healthpol.2010.05.005

This is an article that discusses how Mexico's Health System Performance can be improved during the 21st century. The authors highlight important aspects and suggest principals to improve the performance and equity of the Mexican health system. It is stated that, "Primary health care in Mexico's public sector has been neglected for decades, "so this reflects the poor health care system in Mexico and how it affects the citizens. Some of the solutions so that Mexico can be strengthened is, "expanding capacity, improving working conditions for primary health workers, and ensuring effective referrals to secondary and tertiary care hospitals." Mexico is in need of an improvement within the healthcare system so there can be an increase in equity.

Karla Unger-Saldana, Martin Lajous, Micheal R. Reich. "Improving Health System Performance in Mexico." CGD Notes, 9 Aug 2023, http://www.cgdev.org/publication/improving-health-system-performance-mexico.