Armstrong, Jeanette. 1996 "Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community." Pp 460-470 in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds.), The Case Against the Global Economy, San Francisco, CA: Sierra club books.

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,”. This article focuses on the importance sacred places hold to Indigenous communities because it’s important we remember our history and identity as native peoples. Some of these sacred places' names have been replaced with colonizers we don’t honor, keeping the trauma of lost homelands. These places have stories tied to them and are passed down through generations. Toastie states, “Stories are important for us to remember because they’re really telling us something about ourselves and our past.” but there aren’t many elders left to tell them, making people question what the true story is. When places are renamed, the connection weakens, but remembering the original names can be an agent of healing. 

Toastie, B. "How Place Names Impact the Way We See Landscape." High Country News, 1 May, 2022.

In the article, “And Then I Went to School,” by Joe Suina he tells the story of what it was like growing up in a changing world. Growing up he lived with his grandmother who told him stories and taught him the ways to live. He felt like he had a part in the world and that made him feel proud of who he was. When he was six years old, he had to attend school and that was a major change because it was like he had to relearn everything to fit into a whole new world. He had a rough time throughout his educational experience, especially when he left his home for boarding school. He started to doubt himself and all those things that once brought him comfort, he hated. With that he states, “I was receiving two very different messages; both were intended for my welfare.”. He knew that in order to succeed and survive in times of change, that meant he had to leave his home.

Suina, Joseph. "And Then I Went to School: Memories of a Pueblo Childhood." Vol. V, No. 2. New Mexico Journal of Reading, Winter 1985.

 In the article “The Persistence of American Indian Health Disparities” the main focus is the disparities in health status between American Indians and other groups in the United States and how they’ve persisted over 500 years since the Europeans arrived. When the Indian Health Service was established in 1955, they faced challenges surrounding Indian populations living in rural poverty who suffered from disease. Since then there have been improved health conditions, but still Indians experience some of the worst health conditions in the United States. Even before the Europeans came to the Americas, they already struggled with poor health, tuberculosis being one of the major issues. Because their health was already poor, it made them more vulnerable to European diseases. Americans as well as Europeans struggled to respond to the disparities, so they either worked towards relieving them, or took advantage of the ill health of American Indians for their benefit.

Jones, David S. "The Persistence of American Indian Health Disparities." American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 96, No. 12, 1 December 2006, pp. 2122-2131. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2004.054262.

Chapter 4 and 5 of the book entitled, “Empty Beds” focus on the morality and morbidity in result of its lasting perception of boarding schools as death factories. Student health improvement became an important issue and implementations of preventive measures began between 1902 and 1922 at Sherman Institute. These implementations worked but also students still continued to be plagued by epidemics, accidents, and a variety of illnesses throughout the research period. Between 1902 and 1922, six diseases reached epidemic proportions at Sherman, but the most common were smallpox and measles. Victims were housed in huts since there wasn’t a hospital at the institute until later years. As for measles, the greatest threat to students wasn’t measles itself, but the secondary infections including pneumonia and tuberculosis. Because of that, Superintendents of various boarding schools considered measles one of the most threatening diseases to Indian students. 

Jean, Keller A. Empty Beds: Indian Students Health at Sherman Institute, 1902-1922. Michigan State University Press, 2002, pp. 103-105 & 121-127.

Allison Keller, a Native American physician and board-certified M.D., has learned many reasons for the decline of life expectancy in Native Americans, going back to even before the COVID-19 pandemic. It is well known that Native Americans have the lowest life expectancy rate of any racial or ethnic group in the United States with a drop of average living years by 6 and a half years since the pandemic. Diabetes is one of the main causes of death by twice as much as non-natives among other disparities. The result of underserved healthcare in Native groups means there are fewer physicians and lack of technology, furthering their access to primary or emerging care. 

Kelliher, Allison. "COVID-19 Shortened Native American Life Expectancy, but It's Not the Only Factor." PBS NEWS HOUR, 3 February, 2023, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/analysis-covid-19-.

Sioux San Indian Health Service Hospital saw a six month old patient named James Ladeaux, whose mother was reassured that he just had a cold. 12 hours later, James was struggling to breathe so he was rushed to a different hospital where he was given a life-threatening diagnosis. Some patients who have gone to Sioux San have died from inadequate care, often given wrong diagnoses, and were treated by staff who hadn't been screened for tuberculosis and hepatitis. An analysis of government data shows that healthcare professionals are vacant within the IHS, death rates for preventable diseases are 3-5 times higher, funding lags far behind all other groups, and is on a high risk list of programs that need transformation, still after some changes were already made. With that, tribes have declared themselves fed up with government run healthcare and are working on taking control. 

Walker, Mark."Fed Up With Deaths, Native Americans Want to Run Their Own Health Care." New York Times, 8 October, 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/15/us/politics/native-americans-   health-care.html. Accessed 24, November 2023. 

In Some States, the life expectancy rate of Native Americans is 20 years shorter than the national average. About a quarter of Native Americans have reported experiencing discrimination when going to the doctor, making discrimination one of the many factors of low life expectancy. Margaret Moss has received IHS care and had worked as an IHS nurse, so she knows the Indian Health Service well. American Indians were promised healthcare when the federal government signed treaties in exchange for Native land, but in reality congress is actually who sets the IHS budget and it's not enough since there are very few IHS Hospitals and clinics. Moss says, "That is the idea out there in Indian Country is that I'm not even going to try because it's not going to happen." There is also an issue with discrimination for those who have private insurance because it keeps them from seeking the care they need. 

Whitney, Eric. "Native Americans Feel Invisible in U.S. Healthcare System. NPR News, 12 December, 2017. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/12/12/569910574/native-americans-feel- invisible-in-u-s-health-care-system. Accessed 24 November, 2023.

It's no doubt that historical trauma has impacted the way many American Indians feel about American systems, especially when it comes to health. The earliest days of colonization had many factors that contributed to distrust, as well as their view of medicine practiced by the colonists. Today, many American Indians experience disparities in healthcare compared to many groups. Some of the barriers faced by American Indians include lack of healthcare, lack of transportation, lack of access to specialists, and so on.  Healthcare workers are encouraged to build positive relationships with them to help eliminate these disparities. 

Bal, Daniel. "How Nurses Can Build Better Trust With American Indian Patients." Nurse Journal, 29 Aug, 2022, https://nursejournal.org/resources/how-nurses-can-build-better-trust-with-american- indian-patients/. Accessed 25 November, 2023. 

Having good mutual understanding between healthcare providers and patients is very crucial, that's why it's important that there is good communication between the two. In Mexico there are 67 living languages, but all of them are in decline, making them heavily underrepresented in healthcare. Even with this issue, there are no government sponsored interpreting services, despite the fact that they are highly needed especially for the elders. San Miguel Tenango, a Nahuatl-speaking community in the northern part of Puebla state, has established a clinic, however, little to none of their medical staff are trained in cultural competence before working there. Therefore, residents rely on the assistance of their younger bilingual relatives when they need to go to the clinic, which could often lead to difficulties translating biomedical discourse full of specialized technology and unfamiliar. In conclusion, the aim for any responsible healthcare provider should be to offer services of a high standard, even when multilingual and multicultural settings may present challenges.

Halmovich, Gregory and Mora Marquez, Herlinda. "Why It's Important to Use Indigenous Languages in Health Communication." Language On the Move, 9 June, 2020, https://nursejournal.org/resources/how-nurses-can-build-better-trust-with-american-indian- patients/. 

The Importance of living a healthy lifestyle is decided by a person’s choices regarding nutrition, amount of sleep they get, and how much exercise they get. In India, globalization plays a big role because of the revolution of transportation and communication, which has been helpful in health catastrophes. But the development of healthcare hospitals and labs, architecture and technology has made it difficult for people to get the care they need. There are many causes of inadequate health because of un Everyone should be aware of their health and should have an understanding of the biological subjects regarding it. 

The Phonetic House. "Health and Lifestyle in India." Medium, 2 April, 2022, https://medium.com/tphfamily/health-and-lifestyle-in-india3a96ldfb54c. 

All cultures have their own belief system that explains what may have caused an illness and how it can be treated or cured. These beliefs also influence the way patients perceive patient education and therefore, have an effect on how they remember information and their willingness to use it. Asian/Pacific Islanders make up a large ethnic group in the United States and have their own beliefs that their healthcare providers should be aware of. Their extended family plays a huge role in influencing patients, resulting in the patient's behavior. Cultural differences can affect patients' attitudes about medical care and their ability to understand, manage, and cope with their illness. 

Author, Unknown. "How Culture Influences Health Beliefs." EuroMed Info, https://www.euromedinfo.eu/how-culture-influences-health-beliefs.html/.