A Family Death Can Be Fatal Blow for Native Higher Education White
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Follow Us on Twitter page 3 page 4 page 6 Facebook.com/TheCircleNews @TheCircleNews AUGUST 2020 CELEBRATING FORTY YEARS VOLUME 41, ISSUE 8 White Earth Tribe to vote on Medical Marijuana A family death can be fatal blow for Native higher education BY LEE EGERSTROM study conducted at Using data from a 1997 the University of study starting with 13 to 17 A Minnesota finds year-olds and 2013 data of 29 that students of color, and to 32 year-olds, the researchers especially Native American found: students, are far less likely to • 13.8 percent of Native finish college educations when American, 9.1 percent of they have experienced a death Asian, 8.3 percent of Black, in the family. 5.0 percent of Hispanic and While some academic insti- 4.2 percent of white youth tutions are developing pro- experienced a family death in grams to reach adult learners the tracked years. who have interrupted their • Young adults (age 19-22), educations, the new research when a parent or sibling died, Cannabis (marijuana) has been shown to have many health and emotional benefits, including helping with is a call for colleges and uni- were about half as likely to insomnia, PSTD, Epilepsy, some forms of cancer, and many other health related issues. versities to develop policies for graduate from college. BY WINONA LADUKE helping these students who • Adolescents of high school have drifted away. age when a sibling or parent “The findings show that it’s died seemed to be less affected n August l8 the White Earth Tribe Hibbing and one in Moorhead. Those are important to design college with finishing college degrees. will have an election. There are two pretty far apart. That makes it hard if you actu- policies that consider and sup- The researchers suggested O things on the ballot – the District ally would benefit from cannabis legally. Now port all aspects of students’ the latter may be because the Three Representative: with a choice between let’s get clear, this spring both the Harvard lives, including their own adolescents had time to Cheryl Jackson and Umsy (Eugene) Tibbetts, Medical School and Mayo Clinic did big stories health and the health of their recover from grief before start- and Medical Marijuana. That’s right, White on the benefits of cannabis to treat a wide vari- families,” said Naomi Thyden, ing college. Earth, is going to vote on legalizing medical ety of medical conditions. These include an epidemiologist and PhD Thyden said surprising dis- marijuana, according to the Tribal Council Alzheimer's disease, ALS, HIV/AIDS, Cancer, candidate at the University’s coveries included looking at Meeting Notes of July 16 . Crohns Disease, glaucoma, PTSD stress and School of Public Health. 29 to 32 year-olds. “People had That would mean that White Earth would more. It seems like Native people should get Thyden, formerly with the time to go back and finish, but be the second tribe, after Red Lake (in northern those benefits, but the closest medical mari- Minnesota Department of they hadn’t. Minnesota), to legalize Medical Marijuana. juana dispensaries are in Moorhead or Health, was the lead “It was like a window of That will make these medicines more accessible Hibbing. researcher in the study. opportunity had closed.” in the north. Currently there are only four med- Collaborators included Nicole People think of health as an ical marijuana dispensaries in Minnesota, Medical Marijuana M. Schmidt and Theresa individual issue, Thyden said. owned by two Twin Cities based corporations. The Cannabis sativa plant and it’s derivatives Osypuk, faculty with the “It really is a community-wide Red Lake’s regulations will allow for a longer are used to relieve serious and chronic symp- Division of Epidemiology and issue. You may be healthy, but approved list of diagnoses and will include toms. Cannabis sativa contains many active Community Health, and the it can have effects on you if cannabis in flower form, something not avail- compounds, but two are of interest for medical Minnesota Population Center. your community isn’t able under state regulation. Opioid addiction purposes: THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) Their findings were recently healthy.” recovery is one of the eligible conditions. and CBD (cannabidiol). THC is the primary published in the academic That becomes more relevant “I hope it helps the opioid crisis, we got hit ingredient in marijuana that makes people journal Annals of Epidemiology now with the coronavirus pan- hard with that,” Kevin Jones, of the Chippewa “high”. in an article “The unequal dis- demic causing disproportion- Cannabis Party, said. “I hope that changes a There are, of course side effects: some of tribution of sibling and parent ate illness and death within lot of it and helps families bring parents, aun- them include increased heart rate, dizziness, deaths by race and its effect racial and ethnic minority ties and uncles back to where they were before. impaired concentration or memory, slower on attaining a college degree.” communities, she said. It won’t bring the ones we lost back but will reaction times, increased appetite (known as Thyden said in an interview The study was supported by make a new path for the ones on that journey the “munchies”) and in youth, it’s also a her research interests focus on the National Institutes of today.” dopamine suppressor (that’s the enzyme that institutional policies and racial Health and the Minnesota Why is it important? It’s important because motivates you). and ethnic health disparities. Population Center, with a of the nine medical marijuana dispensaries in This project’s research started grant from the Eunice Minnesota, only two are up north – one in – CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 – long before the coronavirus Kennedy Shriver National pandemic struck early this year. Institute of Child Health and 5 – MN Food shelves brace for bigger demand 12 – Book review: For Joshua But now, she said, the impact Human Development. 13 – Young grad works with Amnesty Int’l of COVID-19 on families and 10 – Native Americans in Sports 14 – Community thanks AIM for protection students “makes the research 11 – Political Matters 15 – It Ain’t Easy Being Indian all the more timely.” – CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 – Health care can be expensive, especially as we age. If you have trouble paying for your Medicare, you may be able to get help. Medicare Savings Programs can help pay some health care costs, and the Extra Help program can cover some prescription drug costs. Save money for yourself and for your tribe. Call Minnesota’s Senior LinkAge Line® to find out more. 2 August 2020 The Circle: News from a Native American Perspective http://www.thecirclenews.org NEW Native Vote 2020: The Primaries and the Tribal Elections BY WINONA LADUKE August l8, on a ballot which also includes a medical marijuana referendum. At any don’t actually have a dog in this turn our tribal communities and our cities, fight, I am technically a member of and the country face some major chal- I the Green Party, not a Democrat or lenges ahead, as we plan for what will be a Republican. I may not be fond of the a very different future. I for one think that candidates running for President – Joe future needs to have Native people at the Biden and Donald Trump – but what I table, not on the menu. do know is that I am going to vote, and Now just because you are a Native this year it really matters! And it’s not going doesn’t mean that you advocate for Native to be easy to vote. Pandemic voting, lack issues. Take Representative Steve Green of local polls in our tribal communities, for instance, who represents Clearwater and snafus with ballots mean that we will County and Clearbrook – with well over really need to be attentive and make sure 9000 Native voters. His voting record has that our voting rights are upheld. The best been spotty at the least, and as a represen- way to do that is to register early, and just tative, he supports Line 3 and pipeline do it. Vote! August 18 is the White Earth expansion, as well as opposing the alloca- Nation Tribal Election, and August 9 is tion of state funds to support White the Democratic primary. Earth’s recovery of land illegally taken by Why Vote? Because your vote counts the state and Clearwater County. It’s an irony for sure. Santee philosopher There’s some visionary leadership mov- The bills would allow a court to order Representative Green, on the appropri- John Trudell used to always point out that ing this country’s politics. Minnesota is anyone convicted of such offenses to pay ation, “said he is a member of the White they did not give Native people the right one of those leaders, and Lt. Governor for “the costs and expenses resulting from Earth Nation. He said that he did not want to vote until we were l% of the population. Flanagan has been part of that change the “crime”. Utke was a supporter of the to take the property, now privately owned, You can be sure that we would not have along with many of her colleagues, of all work on Missing and Murdered off the tax rolls. As a tribal member, I can elected Andrew Jackson or Knute Nelson colors.