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Robert F. Kennedy jr. Have spent time emphasizing ways that can prevent tribal communities in Arizona and New Mexico chronic illnesses among indigenous Americans and Alaska natives, something he said is one of his most important priorities.
But Kennedy, secretary of health, did not seem to publicly address an indigenous health program with traditional medicine and food to tackle unbelieving rate of conditions such as diabetes and liver disease.
The program, called Healthy Tribes, is in the federal discharge of this month’s health.
Some indigenous leaders say they have trouble understanding the dissonance between Kennedy’s words and his actions. With little information, they wonder if healthy tribes are part of the Trump administration’s attempt to end diversity, equity and inclusion. There is also confusion about what and who is at the 11 -year program, which is part of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, under Kennedy’s agency, and $ 32.5 million a year.
Tribal leaders and health officials told The Associated Press that cuts to the Healthy Tribes program are another violation of the legal obligation of the federal government, or trust responsibility, to tribal countries among treaties, legislation and other actions. This includes healthcare financing through the Indian health service, as well as education and public safety for citizens of the 574 federal recognized tribes.
But the federal funding has not met these needs for a long time, so that tribal governments relied on additional grants and programs such as healthy tribes.
“So many low communications of collaboration and partnerships have just been turned off,” said Onawa Miller, a Quechan Indian Nation Citizen and director of Tribal Public Health for United South and Eastern Tribes, which served 33 tribes in those US regions, she said her organization had already received its annual $ 2 million to healthy tribes.
Several tribal facilities received a post from a CDC employee on April 1, informing them that the positions of many people who manned the Healthy Tribes program were eliminated “as part of reducing power efforts to CDC.”
The US Federation of Government Officials, which represents thousands of workers at the CDC in Atlanta, said more than 30 officials of the official are or are eliminated. This includes 11 positions in the Healthy Tribes program and others in the greater distribution of population health.
‘Ne -post that after the report of the Director of Healthy Tribes, Dr. Julianna Reece, a registered member of the Navajo Nation, was sent, was given with an automatic answer: ‘Due to the recent HHS reduction in power, I was placed on administrative leave and I will be separated from the agency on June 2. ‘Reece did not respond to requests for comments sent to her federal and personal email accounts.
Part of the government’s upheaval in the past few weeks includes the top officials in the National Institutes of Health offered transfers to Indian Health Services offices far from Washington, DC the National Indian Health Board also said the government had key staff and programs at the office of the Health Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health.
The government should consult with tribes on decisions that affect them, such as mass dismissal in February at the Indian health service that was revoked hours later, and tribal leaders have warned the Trump administration that such consultations are not happening. In some cases, tribes can take legal action against the US because they do not fulfill the responsibilities of trust.
“It is without a doubt a violation of confidence,” said W. Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S’Clallam tribe in the state of Washington.
The US Department of Health and Human Services did not answer questions related to the cutting of the healthy tribes, but told the AP in ‘Ne -mail that the Indian health service was not influenced by the reduction of this month’s reduction and that there are no plans to consolidate any of its offices.
Kennedy’s swing through the southwest included a visit to a community health center in Metro Phoenix that provides physical and mental health care to indigenous people and a hike with Navajo Nation president. He also moderated a panel at the Tribal Self-Management Conference held at the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona, but did not ask questions from the audience, tribal leaders on stage or journalists.
Allen said he had a constructive conversation with Kennedy, and he reminds him that IHS is already underfunded and under -man and that tribes rely on additional federal grants and programs.
“Your problem is to reduce the central office, and we are in order, but move the functions that the tribes serve to the tribes,” Allen told Kennedy. “Because if we do not have the resources, how are we going to heal our communities? He agrees. ‘
Research shows that indigenous Americans have a shorter life expectancy than other ethnic groups, and the Indian health service says they face higher mortality rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes and liver disease.
In Seattle, pay money for healthy tribes for a program called Gather, which focuses on integrating traditional tribal medicine into healthcare. Suppliers of the Seattle Indian Health Board can use medicine from plants grown in a community garden. A traditional apprentice or healer of indigenous medicine is part of a patient’s care team.
Esther Lucero, president of the Indian Health Council of Seattle, said that her staff met with people from the CDC and other healthy tribal beneficiaries to discuss project updates and to fulfill the grants. But after last week’s dismissal, they struggle with someone.
“If you can’t administer the dollars, how are you going to pull it out to the programs?” she said. “With this current administration, it’s almost like every day an unexpected notice, and then we get a follow -up notice that says … You have to go forward as usual.”
Lycia Ortega, interim CEO of the United American Indian involvement in Los Angeles, reflects concerns about the ambiguous and somewhat confusing messages. Her organization uses money for healthy tribes to promote connections between younger people and elders in indigenous communities in the American and Alaska.
Indigenous communities had to push back against the Trump administration’s efforts to cut programs that could be considered dei initiatives, she said, with the help of advocates, policy experts and watchdogs showing areas where the government may not honor the responsibility of trust.
Indigenous people have “clear political power,” says Ortega, a citizen of the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, but “there are policymakers who regard tribes as a threat rather than a partner.”
Gila River Indian Community governor Stephen Roe Lewis said he said Kennedy privately said that consultation with and to consult in reverent partnerships with tribes is the key to fulfilling the federal government’s trust responsibilities.
As the Trump administration began to make great cuts to the federal workforce, many tribal leaders with newly appointed federal officials had to explain that services to tribes were not based on race, but rather on the political status of tribal countries.
“I made it very clear, we are not Dei – as tribal nations, as a political entity,” he said.
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