Shedding Light on Indigenous People of the Bemidji Area: A Cherokee Nation M2 Perspective

 From the 10/30/2020 newsletter

Student perspective

 

 Shedding Light on Indigenous People of the Bemidji Area: A Cherokee Nation M2 Perspective

  

Morgan Lockhart, MCW-Milwaukee medical student

 

 Ms. Lockhart shares what she has discovered about research gaps, cultural microaggressions, and her vision as a medical student and descendent of the Cherokee Nation …

 

 Boozhoo MCW,

 A novel coronavirus swept the nation and, along with it, many standard summer research opportunities. As a member of the lowest socioeconomic status, unemployment was not an option for me. Since research is one of the forefront pillars of MCW, I decided to pursue research in a field of interest and passion: exploration of my Native American heritage and culture, as I had never had the opportunity to immerse myself previously. After weeks of networking, I found the Great Lakes Native American Research Center of Health (GLNARCH) and was accepted into a research internship created and funded by the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council (Glitc). I was the first school of medicine applicant, and I could not be more honored and elated.

 Throughout my life, procuring health insurance, let alone quality insurance, has been an ongoing struggle: I have always been enrolled in public low-income state insurance or been uninsured. This influenced my decision to develop a research project studying health care coverage rates among Native Americans. Based on interest and compatibility, I was partnered with a mentor, Margaret Noodin, MFA PhD, a member of the Ojibwe Tribe and Professor of English and American Indian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Due to SARS-CoV-2 disproportionately affecting residents on the reservations, my project needed to be based virtually. My research objectives evolved into a literature review to identify specific barriers that prevent access to and utilization of healthcare coverage and policies among Native Americans.

 In addition to mentoring my research, Dr. Noodin had several other students working on GLNARCH projects. We all convened weekly through virtual meetings. I had the opportunity to network and develop professionally and culturally with my peers. These relationships continue to prosper and we rely on one another, which I found paradoxical because of the importance our society places on egocentrism. The sense of community and proudness of one another goes beyond the individual; it is ethnorelativism, indicative of indigenous culture.

 From Kindergarten to M2 year, I have been one of few, if not the only, Native American in my entire education system. Microaggressions borne out of envy and ignorance have referred to me as a “Native token” or under the baseless accusation that my tuition is financed from “Native American-owned casino profits.” For the first time, I was surrounded by individuals that shared not only my heritage, but unnervingly similar life experiences. For the first time, I was a puzzle piece that was congruent with the edges of those around me.

 After reviewing the literature, I was disheartened to realize how few empirical research studies identified by the NIH National Library of Medicine have focused on the health of indigenous populations in the US. The few articles that have specifically studied indigenous people often amalgamate all tribes into one, despite each being a separate, sovereign nation. It is patronizing and disrespectful to assume the needs of one tribal organization are comparable with another; that is tantamount to claiming the needs of the United States are identical to that of a foreign country.

 Every barrier had a common denominator: profound mistrust that continues to be perpetuated by non-tribal members since 1492. Without a doubt, the most indisputable finding was not the lack of health care coverage illiteracy among Native Americans, but among non-tribal health care providers. The fault of incomprehension always appears to be placed on minorities, but the cultural ignorance should be shared by the majority. To exacerbate the burden imposed by the cultural gap, tribal members often feel invisible and unrecognized by non-tribal health care systems and often do not seek care outside of Indian Health Services and Urban Health Programs.

 Prior to starting medical school, I was optimistic that a culture of inclusivity and diversity would be at the forefront of medicine, but I find that it is still wading in the shallow waters of preliminary stages. As a second-year medical student, I, too, feel invisible and unrecognized; without representation in clinical vignettes, campus organizations, and the racial demographic of all four years of cohorts on all three campuses. In 2019, the AAMC reported that 0.3% of all actively practicing physicians identified as indigenous. According to the MCW Education 2018 – 2019 Report, 0.14% of students enrolled in any program at MCW were American Indian or Alaskan Native. Without indigenous or culturally competent non-tribal health care providers available, we cannot improve the poor health care encounters and outcomes experienced by indigenous people, including myself.

 

 Recently, I had the opportunity to present my findings to the GLNARCH council. My hope is to develop a study that determines the baseline knowledge of non-tribal healthcare providers on Native health care and policy. I aspire to collaborate with tribal leaders, healers, and members to most efficiently educate non-tribal members on the complexity of Native American health care and policy. My priority is to ensure the product of our efforts focuses on the gains that can be provided to tribal nations with education of non-tribal healthcare providers as an added benefit.

 I am now an advocate for the indigenous people, my people, but we are responsible and accountable for actively learning about the culture and needs of all our patients, and it is high time we direct our attention toward the needs of Native Americans. As an initial step, I challenge you to translate the Ojibwe greetings within this text and learn the names of the sovereign nations that reside within Wisconsin.

 Miigwech

 

 Morgan Lockhart is a medical student in the class of 2023 at MCW-Milwaukee.