Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Indigenous peoples have suffered from discrimination, violence, and inequities since the arrival of the first Europeans in the Americas. Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a reminder to reflect upon the history of mistreatment, how these inequities continue to manifest today, and our role in facilitating or addressing these issues. It is also a time to appreciate the resilience of American Indians, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians as we celebrate their traditions and cultures.
In Washington, there are 29 federally recognized tribes today, totaling ~140,714 people, and several other tribes without federal recognition. In R2R’s area, the Wenatchee Valley is named after one of the first peoples in the area, called the Wenatchi tribe by the Yakimas but who called themselves Pisquoses. The other tribe from the area also has a familiar name, the Chelans, who inhabited the area along the southern end of Lake Chelan. A series of wars broke out in the 1800s, ending in the taking of most of these tribal lands and forcing both groups onto the Colville Reservation alongside many other tribes.
Colville Indian Reservation Welcome Sign
At R2R, we have four pillars of health: mental, physical, environmental, and social. With each of these, Native Americans face adverse outcomes.
American Indians and Alaska Natives have the highest rates of suicide and meth use of any minority group, experience higher rates of alcohol-related deaths and PTSD, and are 2.5 more likely than the general U.S. population to experience psychological distress.
Health disparities are also prominent. One in six Native Americans have diabetes, and they suffer from increased mortality from heart disease, diabetes, respiratory diseases, stroke, liver disease, influenza, and kidney disease, as well as tuberculous rates seven times higher than the white population. The expected lifespan of Native Americans is 5.5 years less than the U.S. as a whole.
Historically, many Indigenous communities were forced onto lands that were undesirable and have increased susceptibility to climate change. Native American households are more likely to lack indoor plumbing and access to clean water, have substandard housing and infrastructure, and forced migration is once again a real threat. In the Pacific Northwest, erosion and sea level rise threaten relocation on the coast, while wildfires and lack of food sources are increasingly common vulnerabilities inland. Institutional barriers may restrict tribal ability to manage these increasingly impacted lands.
Chiricahua Apaches arriving at the Carlisle Indian School, 1886
After populations were decimated, native peoples were forced onto reservations, mixed with tribes of different languages and traditions. Children were put into Christian boarding schools as late as the 1960s, and most people could likely name more than a few mascots based on racist stereotypes of native peoples. Communities today also experience disparities in education, income, violence, including domestic, and more.
The list of issues facing Indigenous populations is extensive, but they do not have to continue this way. We can start by learning - taking a virtual tour, visiting a museum, or reading native authors. We can look at the land we currently inhabit and acknowledge who was here first, and find ways to celebrate, honor, and respect native peoples and traditions. Most importantly, we must ask ourselves what role we play in facilitating these consequences and how we can challenge them. When we know better, we can do better. It is upon each of us to not only recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day but to take steps to make equality a reality.