ALASKA NATIVES COMMISSION
JOINT FEDERAL-STATE COMMISSION
ON
POLICIES AND PROGRAMS AFFECTING
ALASKA NATIVES
4000 Old Seward Highway, Suite 100
Anchorage,
Alaska 99503
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Witness List | Exhibit
List
| PDF Version
Native Health:
Group B
COMMISSIONER SEBESTA: Thank you very much. I think,
if there are no further questions, we should move along here.
We've got about 12 minutes for a long program. Okay, it sounds
like we can probably go a little bit longer, so let's still try
to restrict the comments to five minutes; and I would invite
Group B to come up: Rose Ambrose, Mim Dixon, Margaret Wilson,
and, let's see, Melinda Peter has already given her testimony,
so.. . . . (Pause.) Dennis Taddy? Okay, would you like to each
introduce yourself, and then we can start with Rose Ambrose?
MS. AMBROSE: My name is Rose Ambrose. I was raised
on the Kikuk (ph.) River, kind of half and half -- Kikuk (ph.)
River and Yukon
River. I went to school in Holy Cross Mission. I worked in a
clinic for about 23 years, and I thought that the two most important
subjects for village needs -- I have lots down, but my -- a top
priority was the elders concerns, elders' care. Elders are the
most ignored people in the villages. They need some -- we need
some stuff out there for the elders. We should have at least
one hospital bed to each village, and a little commode right
by the bedside. I have seen elders fall off the bed, because
the bed is not the right kind; and this hospital bed will also
help the caretaker, because it’s really hard to stand right
there, and trying to pack them around, and trying to move them
around. And also a body lifter for bathtub. I experienced all
these things from taking care of my mother. It's really hard
to pack them around.
Also, we need elders' dinner out in the
villages. We don't have this anymore; it's always they tell us:
"No money."
Okay? We can't have nothing.
Everything is we can't have no money.
Another thing I had in
mind was we send up a escort with each elder patient, and this
escort doesn't get paid. All they get
is their airplane ticket, and maybe about three meals, and eat
with the patient wherever they end up. It's hospital cafeteria,
or it's somewhere in the restaurant. And it's very little that
what they ate. And us health aides, when we're go-to send up
elder, I'm going out to the houses, and I'm trying to get a escort
for this elder; and some of them tell me:
"I don't know. I got to have money. I just
got to have money to make that trip, or else I use my own
pocket money; and I cannot
do that. I cannot do that anymore."
At the same time, it's
not health aide's job to escort everybody for a routine checkup.
Health aides are only supposed to escort
emergencies: somebody that's on oxygen; somebody that’s
on I.V. And I believe that the health aides ought to be at the
clinic, because they got enough work today, and they got to keep
up their work right there at the clinic and let somebody else
escort. I was thinking why don't we pay -- they pay the person
who is going to escort? And then the people give back time to
health aides, because they say:
"Well, that's your job to escort these elders.
That's your job. That's your job. That's your job."
Somebody
else can do that. The health aides say:
"You're --"
The people say -- they tell
us:
"You're not helping us."
Okay? If we're
always flying on the airplane, and we're not at the clinic to
work, how are we to get all our work done? We wish
that we could keep up. In the bigger villages, it’s still
worse yet. The people just run over the health aides. They tell
the health aides:
"It's your job. It's your job to escort
all these people."
Not for routine things. Not to bring somebody
to Fairbanks for audiologist to get hearing aid. Not for a routine
eye checkup.
Those are routine things. Their families, or their friends, or
somebody can do that part. Not the health aides.
Also, I thought
to myself that many of those old people; they can't hear. They
can't communicate with people. And they spend
a lot of lonely times, because they can't hear nobody. I thought:
"Why don't they hire language sign teacher
in school, so we can get started on that, so this can be
for later on?"
Just hire somebody that can teach language sign,
so people could communicate with each others, especially the
elders. They're
the wise people, and they're the people that's going to leave
all the information to the rest of the people.
Another thing,
too, that always get me stuck is there's no room over at Tanana
Chiefs Patient Hospital. It's always filled; it's
always filled. Why don't you make it bigger? It's hard for the
old people to stop in hotel, because they don't really understand
those people behind the desk. It's easier for them, if it's bigger
over there, and if everybody stop over there and have cafeteria
in there that make it altogether easier for the older people –for
anybody. So all these Native people, they could help each others
over there. Somebody will be on wheelchair, and they got to go
back and forth over there, too, because the cafeteria is over
at the hospital. That's dangerous for somebody to be on wheelchair
and go back and forth. Not only for them, for all the old people;
because they can't hear, and their eyesight is poor, too. They
can't see the traffic. Sometime we'll have accident. And we're
also so sick to go back and forth. Even me, last winter, I was
so sick that I don't know how I go across and I come back. And
when we're that sick, too, we could care less what happens to
us. Sick people are sick people. That's all I have down on that
one
And I was thinking that, speaking on alcohol still
it's a real problem. Drugging and alcohol is still yet a real
problem.
I
just want everybody to think about it and to try to find out
what to do about it. We done quite a bit in our village to try
to control this alcohol; and it's really hard work, but it's
worth it. In our village, we have watched all the planes, but
it's hard to be working in the clinic and be running up to the
airport. We meet the airplane, and we cut open the boxes when
we think that there's -- somebody is bringing in booze. And,
by doing that, we held it quite a while; and still it's like
that.
We're holding the alcohol down in our village, and that -- I
just talk about it, because I want people to think about it and
trying
to find ways to help the rest of the villages.
And VPSO -- old
people are pretty important in all the villages. I keep on hearing
that there might be no VPSO after while, because
there's no money, and that's the most important thing in the
village is VPSO and the clinic workers. That's the two most important
positions that we have in the villages. I hate the VPSO’s
job to be cut out. From the time that VPSO was hired in our village,
I did less tutoring and less medi-vac from right there on. So
I hate that to be cut out. I think that's enough on that one
now. I think that's all I had.
COMMISSIONER SEBESTA: Rose, thank
you very much. (Applause.) I think you speak very well for the
elders, and I think it's
something that we have to be aware of; and I would like to ask
you a little bit later about maybe some of your suggestions about
how to address this problem of drugs and alcohol. But I think
we should move on with the testimony right now. Let's see. Mim
Dixon?
MS. DIXON: Hello, I'm Mim Dixon. I'm the Director
of Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center in Fairbanks. I've prepared
some written
testimony on a number of subjects, including cancer prevention,
detection, and treatment; birth control; alcohol and mental health;
long-term care; the effectiveness of the Public Law 93-638 Contracting
in our region; and the need for health facility construction.
I know the time is late and I want to give my time so that more
Native voices can be heard, especially the people that have come
from far away today.
COMMISSIONER SEBESTA: Okay, wel --
MS.
DIXON: But I'll submit this to you in writing. Thank you.
(TESTIMONY OF
MIM DIXON ATTACHED AS EXHIBIT #8)
COMMISSIONER SEBESTA: Okay,
thank you very much. That would be very good to read that, and
it'll be very seriously considered.
Thank you very much for relinquishing your time. And I'd like
to pass it on then to Margaret Wilson?
MS. WILSON: Good morning.
My name is Margaret Wilson. I'm originally from Kaltag. I work
for Tanana Chiefs as a Community Health Services
Director. Under Community Health Services, we have several different
programs. Some of those programs address alcohol and substance
abuse. Some of those programs address FAS. Safe -- some of our
other programs address health promotion and injury prevention.
What I have is written here, and I'll just go over it real quickly.
(TESTIMONY OF MARGARET NELSON [sic] ATTACHED AS EXHIBIT
#9)
(Ms. Nelson [sic] broke down while reading her
testimony, saying she could not continue.)
COMMISSIONER SEBESTA: Okay, Margaret,
thank you very much. I know these are very difficult problems,
and that's one reason
the Commission was asked to come into existence. I would like
to talk with you personally about your own suggestions of how
this very difficult problem might be approached. But thank you
for what you have given us, and we -- you will submit the written
-- what you have written?
MS. WILSON: I guess I will continue.
(She continued with reading written testimony.)
(Applause)
COMMISSIONER SEBESTA: Thank you, Margaret. Your
report certainly encompasses a lot of things that we need to
investigate
much
more completely. But, given the time, we should move on right
now. I do have some questions for you afterwards though. Would
you introduce yourselves and --
MR. TADDY: I'm Dennis Taddy.
I'm an engineer with the Tanana Chiefs, and I also manage the
Low-Maintenance Worker Program,
which is one where Cindy did so well. She basically made my whole
talk, because I purposely had where -- Cindy Wiehl -- and I
do want to apologize. That was one of the things I guess, which
a lot of times we do, we hurry and do something for the Natives,
and we forget to think about them when we're doing it. We're
-- the comment:
"We’re from the government; we' re
here to help you."
And I made that blunder. I knew she got married,
and I spaced it.
My part, which I'm going to talk about just
briefly; and I wish I could be as brief as Mim, but then some
people wouldn't believe
it if I was that way. I have a reputation to uphold. Mine is
dealing with the sanitation facilities in the villages, and deals
primarily with Public Law 86-121,which came into effect July
31, 1959, and we're still, 33 years later, trying to provide
the key part of it -- essential sanitation facilities in villages.
Most of what I have already written covers a lot
of it. There is a couple of other items, which I want to briefly
go over,
which I happened to omit. Several of them are -- one of the major
ones is somewhere the State needs to recognize that Natives do
have some rights. The biggest one, which we just went through,
TCC was a real battle to get the Village of Circle sanitation
facilities, which we were going to put on airport land; and the
Village of Circle was not eligible to -- well, they were eligible;
but probably not in their lifetime to complete all of the legal
headache to get control of it. So TCC leased it, and turned out;
and we sub-leased the land to the Native village, so they
can have a washateria built. It's been a three-year process,
which, hopefully, we'll see start this year,
Another one, which
Andy Jimmie talked about just briefly, very, very many of our
clinics in the villages do not have running
water; and, as Andy had stressed, how many of us would continue
to go to a doctor, who he washed his hands under an igloo cooler?
And that's prevalent in a good share of TCC villages, and it's
also prevalent throughout the whole state of Alaska. It's definitely
something that needs to be addressed. It is being worked on;
and, as Andy said, there was a half million dollars allocated
a year ago; that took care of 13 villages. That's not a. very
good success, when you consider there's over 200 of them out
there. At that rate, we will be at it quite awhile.
Another issue,
which Cindy had mentioned briefly, was the operational maintenance
costs of sanitation facilities in villages which
are living on a subsistence lifestyle. A washing machine costs
money to run; it costs money to replace; but it's real hard to
shove that moose in the coin slot and make it work. So they have
a real problem of trying to adapt our culture; which we, in some
ways -- and I guess I don't have to -- I commented to Mim earlier:
"At least I don't have to show that I'm
credible."
I
think poor sanitation facilities are poor sanitation facilities
no matter who they're for.
But we've made -- and because of the
health -- the improvements of providing sanitary facilities,
has made a big difference; but with it goes a lot of the things which
cost money; and they don't have the money. Many times their needs,
or interests, are not considered when the facilities are given
to them. So it's very frustrating on their side to accept ownership
for something that they were never even asked to be involved
in the development of.
And, with that, I'm actually going to
read my conclusion, 'cause I did -- the one thing which our office
at TCC we've come up with -- we believe probably the most important
step in solving some of the issues of sanitation facilities is
recognizing that people in the villages are a member of -- need
to be a member of the team that solves the problem and provides
these essential sanitation facilities. And I will stop at that.
Thank you very much.
(TESTIMONY OF DENNIS M. TADDY ATTACHED AS
EXHIBIT #10)
(Applause)
COMMISSIONER SEBESTA: Dennis, thank you very much
for that, and for being brief. I think that what you conclude
with is very
important, that the Native people need to be involved with the
planning, and on that level; and I think that that's one of the
reasons that this Commission has been brought into existence,
because of Tanana Chie -- or AFN asking that Native people be
consulted on the programs which come into their villages. We're
asking for that input now, and thank you very much for giving
it.
Let's see. Are there any questions from the other
members of the Commission for each one of the members of this
particular
board?
COMMISSIONER MASEK: I had one thing I'd like to
comment on in regard to Margaret Wilson's testimony about the
alcohol
problem
and everything that's been happening in the villages with the
suicide. I’m originally from Anvik, and there have been
a great deal of people who I grew up with that are gone because
of suicide and accidental deaths; and I was listening to your
testimony, and you mentioned something about informal help before
-- I'd like to know, how can you capture that back to get to
informal help? Maybe through the traditional councils, or there
should
be some type of incentive for the healthy, young people? I think
they should start working and helping the elderly. This is something
that is so important for the villages, and for the people who
are living there, and how do you think you can obtain that informal
help, or how can we help in stressing that out in the village?
MS. WILSON: What we have done over the past year
at TCC is we've formed our own task force within our agency.
And some of the
people who are involved are psychiatrists and a couple of mental
health people, Substance Abuse Trainer, myself, our Youth Program
Director, who is Richard Frank, and there is a group of 12 of
us who are trying to get together to try and figure out how we
can address this problem. And, at this point, we've kind of come
up with three different elements that we have decided that we
needed to address. And, as yet, again, because of lack of funding,
we’re still trying to
address some of the issues. What we have come up with is both
short-term, which is like a suicide crisis intervention team.
And this is what we have done in the past. We've sent out some
of our own people. We'll be doing that next week, sending a group
of people down to a couple of communities that have experienced
suicide in the past month. And these are professional people
from the Mental Health, and Department of TCC, and some of our
people from our Health Education staff. And they will be in the
community for two to three days, doing presentations on several
different things like breathing, or suicide; and they'll stay
within the community.
What we're trying to do is trying to encourage
some of our village leaders to take responsibility for what is
happening in their
village. We can offer our resources. Again, our resources are
limited; but, think, until you take ownership of the problem,
it's not goin9 to be their problem. It's always going to be someone
else's problem. And I heard an African proverb, and I think it
should be one of ours; and that proverb like:
"It takes a whole
village to raise a child."
And I think maybe we should start
taking responsibility for our own, and start-addressing some
of the problems that beset us in the villages. And, so, what
we are trying to do right now is to try and raise the responsibility
level of some of the community leaders. What we are also trying
to do is looking at some other activities which
would maybe help some of our youth in the villages. One of them
is dog sledding.
COMMISSIONER MASEK: Well, I think that' s a
very, very good way to go. I believe that's one of the traditional
values, and it'll
keep you busy year round, and you don't have time to get bored,
and you' re working constantly.
During some of the testimony,
I also heard a lot of the questions is -- when you were asking
for help, or asking for some funding,
I heard the phrase used that they didn't have this, or they didn't
have that, and I'd like to know who is they?
MS. WILSON: Let
me see. I'm not really sure. I kind of went over a lot of --
COMMISSIONER
MASEK: Is that some of the nonprofit organizations, or some of
the regional corporations, or.....
MS. WILSON: I'm not really
sure in which context I used that (laughing).
COMMISSIONER SEBESTA: Let's see, where you were talking about actions, you mentioned
that after you got through, you said the
rural alcohol and mental health program, recovery camps, traditional
values, the education programs in the schools, and the HIV-prevention
educators. And you mentioned that there wasn't enough money to
really pursue
those programs, and I think -- is that where you were.....
COMMISSIONER
MASEK: Well, in -- I think it was in Rose's testimony in regard
to the elders being forgotten, and that there wasn't
enough funding available; but I kept hearing the word:
"They didn't have; they asked for help,
but they didn't have the money; they didn't have the funding."
And
I just wanted to know who is the they.
MS. WILSON: So the question
is directed at Rose, not me, right?
(Laughter)
COMMISSIONER
MASEK: Maybe so. Well, you used that term in your testimony,
too, and --
MS. WILSON: Well, I think part of what I was trying
to say is that we have tried to do a lot with limited funding.
COMMISSIONER MASEK: Okay.
MS. WILSON: And we are
still trying to do a lot, in that we're emphasizing training
for many of our para-professional
counselors
in the villages. Excuse me, I'm a little bit nervous.
Plus, we have hired new para-professional counselors this
year. We opened
a new recovery camp this year out in the McGrath
area, and these things cost a lot of money, and we don't
get a lot
of money from
the State to do a lot of these things. And I realize
everybody
is suffering from lack of funding, or inadequate
funding, but I guess I'm just expressing what we are trying
to do, even
if we have limited funding.
COMMISSIONER MASEK: Okay,
thank you.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: We keep coming back to the
state and to the federal government. How long do you
think we can
go to
that well?
Don't we have to start generating something locally,
from the land grants, and from the resources,
and from the ANCSA
Corporations,
and so forth?
COMMISSIONER MASEK: Well, that's
-- I think should start demanding help from the regional corporations,
from the
nonprofit organizations,
and what other organizations are set up to
help the people, 'cause I've seen so many causes that
are
set out to -- their mission
is to help the Native people socially and economically the well-being
of the people; and I think a lot of this that we're discussing
is fitting under that category.
MS. DIXON: If I could just say
that the federal government does have a trust responsibility
to provide health care, and there
isn't really another payer, other than billing insurance companies,
Medicaid and Medicare. And you heard Eileen Kozevnikoff speak
at the beginning about many people who resent having Medicaid
as a requirement before they can tap into contract health funds.
But, in reality, I think the federal government has got to accept
its responsibility for health care for Native American people.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: That's not the question.
MS.
DIXON: And I think, ultimately, the federal government needs
to look at a national health policy for all people, not just
Native people. And I don't think we should turn away from that
as a source of funding, just because it's unpopular right now
to keep tapping government sources. This is one program that
should be funded from government sources in my mind.
COMMISSIONER
BOYKO: The trouble with that though is that the moment you start
taking government funds, you get government
strings, and government regulations, and government-imposed terms
that we then complain about; because they're made in Washington,
or maybe in Juneau; but they certainly don't take into consideration
the local needs, and the local concerns; and that's the price
you pay when you go there. And it seems to me there are ways
to generate these things in-house, rather than going out there
and asking for government assistance.
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: I Chink we need to keep in mind that, as citizens of the state,
and as citizens of the United States,
we as Native people are entitled to certain services; and I would
question whether we're getting our fair share of those services
that. are being dispensed to other cities and municipalities.
I can almost guarantee you that in the state of Alaska, we're
not getting a proportionate, nor a fair share of State spending
in rural Alaska. So to say that nonprofits, or the regional corporations,
should pick up these responsibilities is, number one, not appropriate;
it's not their responsibility; and if we were to pick it up,
we'd be gone in about two years, because the responsibility of
the state and federal government is so large that no nonprofit,
or no profit could assume that, nor should they. The obligation
is clearly the obligation of the federal government to perform
what they're obligated, by law, in many instances, and by statutes
in some, to perform.
That's what we're talking about; and I think
we need to -- however, Ed ha -- I mean, my good friend has a
good point. We need to
think about other sources, because these sources aren't limitless;
and we need to think of innovation; but we need to make sure
that we're getting our fair share.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: I don't
disagree with any of this. But I only wanted to again emphasize
that when you deal with government,
and get government help, you. pay a high price.
COMMISSIONER
THOMPSON: I agree, too.
MS. DIXON: I do think that the challenge
for this Commission is to find ways that the federal funding
can be spent more efficiently,
more creatively, with fewer layers of bureaucracy, where getting
money closer to the sources, to the people; and some of the written
testimony I provided has given some suggestions for that; and
I think we have a very good history with 638 Contracting for
doing that; and I do want to mention that the nonprofit regional
corporations, like Tanana Chiefs Conference, have no other source
of funding than government contracts. They are a vehicle for
government contracting. There is no way to generate money, other
than government contracting; so, I think, with the challenge
to help make that work better --
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: I don't
buy that at all. Many nonprofits and charitable organizations
in this state and other states are
able to raise funds without going to the government, and I'm
not saying that we should stop going to the government; but we
should start being creative, and raise our own; and if that means
growing some marijuana, I don't give a darn, whatever it is.
And I'm saying that for shock value, not because I advocate it.
But there are ways to do it. You can have a casino on an Indian
reservation and make all kinds of money; and we're going to have
to face those things, because they -- the well is going to run
dry one of these days. This is -- our country, at the moment,
is headed cowards total financial collapse; and ail of a sudden,
if that happens, are we going to just throw up our hands and
say: "It's over"? Can't do that.
MS. DIXON: Sir, I
would submit to you that if the government can find us the money
to bail out savings and loans -- if the
government can find the money when it wants to for various other
things, it can find the money to serve the health needs of the
people.
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: I agree with you; but, unfortunately,
it's not without limits. We are now the greatest debtor nation
in
the world, and we have the biggest deficit, and it's growing
every year; and one of these days, you're going to have a depression
and an economic collapse that you won't believe. And we better
start --
MS. GALBREATH: Well, why start with the Alaska
Natives?
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: No, no.
COMMISSIONER SEBESTA: May I --
COMMISSIONER THOMPSON: Could we -- we got to get
going here, Ed. (Laughter.) I mean, this is great; but this is
not
on the
subject.
COMMISSIONER SEBESTA: Yeah. This -- I really appreciate
the testimony; and I'd like to question both -- all of you a
little bit more,
because I think that it's very important that we get the suggestions
to make solid recommendations to both government agencies; and
I would like to follow up privately with you, because I think
you have some very good things to suggest. If there are no further
questions bearing particularly on health, I would ask the Social
and Cultural Issues' people to come forward, particularly Group
A. That's Susie Sam, Benedict Jones, Don Shircel, and Joe Neal
Hicks.
MS. FATE: I think that last statement my good friend
and lawyer -- not my personal lawyer -- Boyko said his personal
view on
growing marijuana, which I totally, 150 percent object. (Applause)
COMMISSIONER BOYKO: I said: "That's for shock
value." I don' t use it; I don't support it..; but if we had
to grow guinea
pigs, whatever it is, there are ways to raise money if you need
to.
This document was ocr scanned. We have made every
attempt to keep the online document the same as the original,
including the recorder's original misspellings or typos.
