11/1/2019 2 Comments Day 6Tulsa’s first snow was last night. Last night also happened to be the night we managed to leave the heat completely turned off while we were sleeping. We woke up at 7:30am to an ice cold apartment, and, surprised to find ourselves un-frostbitten, we began the longest day of our trip so far. We spent the day back on the Osage reservation. Our first stop was the office of the tribe’s Community Health Representatives (CHRs), where we talked with Crystal Standingbear, one of three current Osage representatives. She spoke to us about the nation-wide CHR program and its important role in their community. CHRs like Crystal facilitate healthcare access in rural communities by performing home visits and driving patients to and from appointments. They form close personal relationships with their patients, and perform individualized care that can go above and beyond traditional medical services; Crystal discussed her experiences helping clients navigate IHS, connecting patients with child or adult protective services, making referrals for home repair, and, most importantly, convincing patients to care about their health and take the necessary steps to maintain it. Next we met with Osage Nation Tribal Congressman Eli Potts. He took us into the Osage Nation congressional building for some lunch. Congressman Potts talked with us about the Osage Nation’s complicated and unique history in relation to the US government and other tribal nations in Oklahoma. We learned about the pre-contact Osage land base which covered more than 100 million acres. Settlers pushed the Osage off their land, claiming it as their own. Today the Osage Nation has just 1.4 million acres of their original lands. We also heard about the Osage Nation’s great prosperity in the 1920s from oil extraction. Unfortunately, this great wealth resulted in mismanagement of Osage money by the federal government which still persists today. After our meeting with Congressman Potts, he then took us to meet Dr. Ronald Shaw. Dr. Shaw is an accomplished physician; he previously served in the Osage Congress, was the board-president of the Association of American Indian Physicians, and is the current CEO of the Osage Nation Health Services. Our talk with Dr. Shaw was very informative, and covered a range of topics that affect Native American health. He told us about the way his research tries to engage teenagers in the area and his attempts to stop opioid-addiction in parents through strategic commercials. We are very thankful for Dr. Shaw taking the time out of his day to meet with us and share his personal experiences. We ended our day with an excursion to a bison reserve in hopes of spotting some wild bison. While our mission was unsuccessful, we were able to snap some stunning pictures with the beautiful grasslands as our backdrop, before heading back to Tulsa. All in all, our day and our trip as a whole left us all with lots to think about and some amazing memories from all our community partners and our time spent with each other. The sun was setting we drove back with our minds full, and our stomachs ready for one last dinner before our departure the following day. Erin, Jessica, and Brayan
2 Comments
9/2/2022 01:01:08 pm
this is very valueable thing shared, I just wanna thanks t=for letting us know about this wanderfull information
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9/2/2022 01:45:37 pm
Congressman Potts talked with us about the Osage Nation’s complicated and unique history in relation to the US government and other tribal nations in Oklahoma. Thank you for the beautiful post!
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This trip aims to explore Native American experiences with healthcare in the US, including both the prominent issues and the solutions being worked towards. The trip will take place in Tulsa, a city that approximately 30,000 Native Americans call home, as well as on the Osage Nation, a Native American reservation just outside of Tulsa. By talking to various community partners from the University of Tulsa, to Non-Government Organizations, to healthcare providers, we will aim to hear from various perspectives to begin to gather an understanding of what it means to be a Native American seeking healthcare in the United States today.AuthorNatasha Thomas '20 |