Lil’ Ones & Limited Funds:
Medical Financial Resources To Support Young Parents
Chasity Cherisse Yazzie
Navajo Nation
Embedded Files
Healy, Donald. Navajo Nation Flag. "Flags Of The World", 2008. Navajo - Arizona, New Mexico, Utah (US), https://www.fotw.info/flags/xa-navaj.html. Accessed 13 September 2024.
Simpson, Alexander, May 24 2023, Author's personal collection
Chasity Yazzie.mp4Identity
"Sharing One Skin : Okanagan Community" by Jeannette Armstrong
Armstrong discusses the characteristics of being an Okanagan woman and what it means to be an Okanagan woman. She breaks down the spiritual interpretations and meaning within her culture in a way that makes her story unique. "I do not speak for the Okanagan people, but my heritage comes from my Okanagan people." (Pg. 463) She presents personal stories that display a bliss over the Okanagan culture while highlighting how interconnected humans are to this planet and addressing global issues. She ends by telling her desire to use her Okanagan heritage and teachings to help defend against those disorders. This represents how distinctive and special her culture is to her, her family, and everyone born into the Okanagan tribe.
"First Nations unite at Okanagan Indian Band powwow". Eagle Valley News. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024.
Armstrong, Jeanette. “Sharing One Skin: The Okanagan Community,” in Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith (eds), The Case Against the Global Economy. San Francisco, CA, Sierra Club Books, 1996. Pp 460-470.
"How place names impact the way we see landscape" by B. Toastie
Toastie clarifies the effects of place identity in the Native American culture. She includes the various original Navajo names that were given to landscapes prior to Westernization. She emphasizes the meanings and importance of landscape names while including how much these names mean to Native Americans and their pasts that link them to this land. "There's philosophy attached to these mountains. They have beauty and strength." (Pg. 3) She helps put into perspective how place identity conveys the importance of passing on teachings about land that were once occupied by our past ancestors. While doing this she touches base on Western thinkings. They name a place after a person for glory but to Natives that just gives "the trauma of dispossession fresh." (Pg. 4) She also adds that it's disrespectful to take the names of the dead without the permissions from when they were alive.
"Shiprock NM". Reddit. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024
Toastie, B. “How place names impact the way we see landscape.” High Country News: Know the West, 1 May 2022, https://www.hcn.org/issues/54.5/people-places-how-place-names-impact-the-way-we-see-landscape.
"And I went to school" by Joe Suina
Suina writes about his experience of growing up within his Native American culture and gradually losing pride in his ethnicity caused by schooling. He showcases his emotional state before, during, and after school. While doing this he illustrates problems many Native American children go through during their school years, this includes language loss, abuse, degrading, etc. These conditions cause Native American kids to lose not only their touch with their own culture but their self identity. "Needless to say, my Super Indian self image was no longer in tact." (Pg. 3)
"U.S is accounting for it's role in operating Indian boarding schools". Santa Fe New Mexican. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024
Suina, Joseph “And I went to school” memories of a pueblo childhood,”. New Mexico Journal of Reading, Winter 1985, Vol. V, No.2.
History
"Understanding The Indian Child Welfare Act" by the ICWA Law Center
The ICWA Law Center goes through the backgrounds of why the ICWA was made. They mention boarding school and adoption, which are the main two causes for the creation of the act. The main concern is the "permanently severing .. connection between Indian children and their families and their tribes." (Pg. 1) ICWA is made to ensure that these kids stay connected to their roots as much as they can to help honor those that loss their cultural connections and hopefully, revive the culture that was mistreated so many years ago and even to this day.
"ICWA STANDS! Supreme Court Affirms Indian Child Welfare Act". Native News Online. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024
“Understanding The ICWA | Indian Child Welfare Act Law Center.” ICWA Law Center, https://www.icwlc.org/education-hub/understanding-the-icwa/. Accessed 3 October 2024.
"May 28, 1830 CE : Indian Removal Act" by National Geographic
In the article it explains how deeply the Indian Removal Act really runs beyond just this act itself. They start from the early 1800's to 1839. Throughout this article they include the push and pull resilience the Native Americans had against the United States government. They also include how Natives adapted to their ways and the promise the U.S promised to Natives, but the U.S still decided to give away their land despite that promise. "Though there was significant Native American resistance, many of these earlier efforts at ethnic cleansing were successful." (Pg.3) This quote shows how inhuman Natives were treated just between these 39 years of fighting back just for their ways to wash through Natives in another way other than just land.
"The Indian Removal Act of 1830". Native History Association. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024
“May 28, 1830 CE: Indian Removal Act.” National Geographic Education, 1 October 2024, https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/indian-removal-act/. Accessed 3 October 2024.
"Dawes Act (1887)" by National Archives
The purpose of this article was to break up the before of the Dawes Act by starting with the Federal Indian Policy that broke up lands from Native reservations to try and separate the people from their Native ways to a more ethnic cleansing way of life. "they would gradually drop their "Indian-ness and be assimilated into White American culture." (Pg. 1) They mention the Five Civilized Tribes ( Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles) and the negative impact they made from trying to do good. They also include the transcript which includes the bases of the act that was approved on February 8, 1887.
"The Dawes Act of 1887". Youtube: UNUM Ken Burns. Accessed 15 Nov. 2024
“Home > Dawes Act (1887).” National Archives, 8 February 2022, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/dawes-act. Accessed 3 October 2024.
Current State Of The Issue
"New Study-Reveals More Struggling To Afford Healthcare" by West Health
West Health demonstrates how rapidly medical costs are growing. They focus on the American population and the implications of medical costs on the population as a whole. While doing this they make sure to showcase the dramatic changes of costs from 2022 to 2024. "High prices are one of the biggest impediments to a healthy aging population and a prosperous economy." (Pg.2) This quote alone puts an emphasis on how important medical costs actually are in the economy and how detrimental these costs can be over American citizens.
Yu, Tiffany. “New Study - More Americans Struggling to Afford Healthcare.” West Health, 17 July 2024, https://westhealth.org/news/new-study-reveals-more-struggling-to-afford-healthcare/. Accessed 4 November 2024.
“ECONOMY GOV & POLITICS HEALTH New safeguards may help those who are drowning in medical debt.” Source NM, August 20 2022, https://sourcenm.com/2022/08/30/new-safeguards-may-help-those-who-are-drowning-in-medical-debt/. Accessed 28 February 2025.
"100 Million People In America Are Saddled With Medical Debt" by Noam N. Levey
""I wanted to be a mom," she said. "But we have to have the money."" is what Allison Ward stated in this article. Levey goes through the depths of how medical debt is affecting Americans. They mention the lack of support given by both Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This includes percentages over the years prior to now, showing a declining difference of support provided. They then highlight how medical debt is being hidden through credit card bills and borrowings.
“100 million people in America are saddled with medical debt.” The Texas Tribune, 16 June 2022, https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/16/americans-medical-debt/. Accessed 4 November 2024.
“To $50 Trillion Debt (And Beyond).” Forbes, 30 September 2020, https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmauldin/2020/09/30/to-50-trillion-debt-and-beyond/. Accessed 28 February 2025.
Global Connections
"Inadequate Healthcare For American Indians In The United States" by Ballard Brief
Ballard Brief goes over the health and healthcare disparities of Native American communities. This includes Native focused financial programs, environmental issues, health diseases, and affordability. This article puts into perspective the "lack of funding decreases the effectiveness, quality, and reach of the care" (Pg. 14) that goes in the reservations. They dive into lack of funding for the Indian Health Services, displaying the shortcomings of the IHSs distribution of money and how that impacts Native healthcare. Another big contributor to the lack of Native healthcare access was how rural tribal land is. They go beyond funding and access to healthcare, they then show how important Native healthcare is because of how many health disparities this specific community has that need to be tended to.
Grow, Brooke. “Inadequate Healthcare for American Indians in the United States - Ballard Brief.” Ballard Brief, 13 February 2024, https://ballardbrief.byu.edu/issue-briefs/inadequate-healthcare-for-american-indians-in-the-united-states. Accessed 19 February 2025.
“Grant allows Native American nonprofit to expand medical services in Phoenix.” Cronkite News, October 30 2019, https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/10/30/grant-allows-native-american-nonprofit-to-expand-medical-services-in-phoenix/. Accessed 28 February 2025.
"Health Insurance and Healthcare in Portugal Explained" by InterNations
Portugal is considered to have one of the cheapest healthcare costs in the world. InterNations broke down how Portugal's medical system works. They emphasize the low costs of their healthcare services, eg. free birth deliveries, OB-GYN appointments. both private and public healthcare, and if you need to pay for an appointment the most is usually 6-22 USD. They state, "you should not be burdened with heavy costs with state healthcare" (Pg. 5) to help envision how cost effective this country really is. However, they acknowledge the downfalls of their medical efforts, giving a balanced recognition of their medical system. They mention the long waiting times to be seen by a regular doctor and that those who don't legally live in the country do not get coverage.
“Guide to Health Insurance and Healthcare System in Portugal.” InterNations, https://www.internations.org/portugal-expats/guide/healthcare. Accessed 19 February 2025.
“The Portuguese Escudo: as a symbol and national identity.” Portugal Jewels, https://www.portugaljewels.com/en/content/146-escudo-symbols-of-portugal. Accessed 28 February 2025.
"Assessing The Experiences of Teenage Mothers In Accessing Healthcare In Rwanda" by BMC Public Health
A non-profit organization called Nyampinga Ushoboye, wanted to study the challenges teen mothers faced in accessing healthcare. Their mission was to discover the gaps in medical healthcare and how these teen parents were affected emotionally. They address Community Based Health Insurance, financial difficulties, neglected mental health of these mothers, and the areas that need more improvement. "Addressing such complex issues and enabling teen mothers to become productive members of the society could not be achieved by simply focusing on prevention." (Pg. 4) This quote states exactly the issue that causes teen mothers to face so many difficulties. Focusing on prevention is way more impactful than focusing on treating or managing.
“Assessing the experiences of teenage mothers in accessing healthcare in Rwanda.” BMC Public Health, https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-024-19769-z. Accessed 19 February 2025.
“UGHE Celebrates International Women’s Day with Teen Mothers in Butaro.” University of Global Health Equity, 14 March 2023, https://ughe.org/ughe-celebrates-international-womens-day-with-teen-mothers-in-butaro. Accessed 28 February 2025.
Personal Connection
My interest in this topic has been an ongoing thought for many years. There are only two reasons, and that’s enough for me to dedicate my Senior year to this research. My mom and dad had me at the age of 16. They started off to a wobbly start trying to manage jobs, their relationship, our living situation, money, and not to mention, me. The more I’ve grown, the more I started to gain financial awareness. The look on my mom and dad’s faces when the total price for groceries came up or the look when looking at medical bills because my brother woke up sick. My parents do everything they can to make sure we’re happy, but having 5 kids is a lot to manage and really adds up. As the oldest, I’ve dedicated myself to wanting to help them financially. This is the first step. Although it is to help my family, it’s also to take my first step into my medical career. I’ll be going into the nursery nurse unit. Having awareness of different financial supports out there can be a very big helping hand in impacting new parents in a way that, I hope, makes their life a little bit easier.
(Toledo, Sheree-Ashley. December 29,2013. Author's personal collection)
(Yazzie, Maxx. January 8, 2016. Author's personal collection)
(Toledo, Sheree-Ashley. May 14, 2017. Author's personal collection)
Page updated
Report abuse