A little recognition of tribal wisdom in Wisconsin

[Mike__M]

from Wisconsin Public Radio:

Wisconsin Tribes Recognized For Health Initiatives That Emphasize Native Culture

October 29, 2015
By Gilman Halsted
Two Wisconsin Native American tribes are being recognized for their efforts to improve health and wellness on their reservations by weaving traditional cultural practices into their schools and health clinics.

The Menominee and Lac Du Flambeau tribes are among eight communities across the country to receive a $25,000 Culture of Health prize from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Lac Du Flambeau tribal language teacher Wayne Valliere said the tribe has found that reconnecting with traditional native culture has helped the tribe deal with health problems like diabetes and drug addiction.

"For a long time, we had a lot of different systems coming from the outside telling our people how we should live and what we should do to solve some of our problems, when the answer was staring us in the face for many generations," said Valliere.

More: http://www.wpr.org/wisconsin-tribes-recognized-health-initiatives-emphasize-native-culture

First, I think it's notable that language teachers are at the forefront of so many cultural advances.

Second, I wonder what our health-care-reforming presidential candidates have to say about the type of approach these two tribes are taking. Much of the knee-jerk reaction to anything resembling "socialism" is that it will force a one-size-fits-all system on our ruggedly individualistic American selves; so how would our candidates make room for culturally sensitive approaches to health-care reform?

[Scuba]

1. Cool. Wait 'til unionthug777 sees this!

[niyad]

2. k and r