|
Forum
Overview Welcome, the first Native American Health Disparities Forum sponsored by the National Institutes of General Medical Science (NIGMS), the American Indian Resource Center, the Office of Physical Education, Recreation, and Sports (OPERS), and Stevenson College, at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The Forum is not intended as a discussion designed to "fix" the diseases faced by native people rather the focus is on addressing the atmosphere that promotes ill health. If we were to borrow the metaphor of miner's canary used by Lani Guinier and Gerald Torres in their book The Miner's Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy, we can easily see that native people make an apt canary. Guinier and Torres have taken their metaphor from a time when miners used canaries as a signal to determine whether the atmosphere of the mine was poisoned, because the poison in the atmosphere affected the canaries much quicker than the miners. Native people's problems with diabetes, obesity, substance abuse, suicide, smoking, and cancer have been issues that we have struggled with for years and they are significantly more problematic than other groups on our society. Addressing these problems for native people is complex and multi layered because of the interaction between culture, poverty, education, knowledge of traditional nutrition, knowledge of mainstream nutrition, and determining a useful definition of a healthy people.
While there may be a serious crisis factor in native health, maintaining a sense of humor and a sense of play are key components to being healthy. Native humor has played a significant role in the survival of indigenous people. The Forum is designed to help us infuse a sense of playfulness and humor into reaching good health. I
hope you enjoy this Forum. pictures:
top -Crown & Merrill Colleges,UCSC Campus. |
This
Forum will focus on several health issues facing native people as
well as provide practices, programs, models, paradigms, and points
of view that will enhance the health of native communities as well
as the health of those who attend. This Forum has been designed to
provide experts in science and health as well as fitness, exercise,
and athletics. We will be hosting a 5k run/walk to provide a format
for participants and the larger community to have fun exercising.
At the same time we have experts available to discuss exercise after
the run.