Sacred Tobacco: Culture is Prevention III

09/19/19 • 24 min

In part 3 of our series on Sacred Tobacco, we’ll talk about “Healing Generations" in the Lower Sioux Indian Community.

Throughout these conversations we’ve learned that “culture is prevention.” Cultural practices and traditions, including the use of sacred tobacco play an essential role in healing and wellness.

We hear from Mat Pendleton, Lower Sioux Youth Recreation Director, reflecting on sacred tobacco traditions that he has learned and shares through his work.

We also hear from Darin M. Prescott, CEO of the Lower Sioux Health Care Center about how traditional practices inform and transform conventional medical practices.

Lastly, we hear from Kara Siegfried, Assistant Tribal Planner/Grant Writer for Lower Sioux, reflecting on the holistic approach to health at Lower Sioux.

In part 3 of our series on Sacred Tobacco, we’ll talk about “Healing Generations" in the Lower Sioux Indian Community.

Throughout these conversations we’ve learned that “culture is prevention.” Cultural practices and traditions, including the use of sacred tobacco play an essential role in healing and wellness.

We hear from Mat Pendleton, Lower Sioux Youth Recreation Director, reflecting on sacred tobacco traditions that he has learned and shares through his work.

We also hear from Darin M. Prescott, CEO of the Lower Sioux Health Care Center about how traditional practices inform and transform conventional medical practices.

Lastly, we hear from Kara Siegfried, Assistant Tribal Planner/Grant Writer for Lower Sioux, reflecting on the holistic approach to health at Lower Sioux.

Previous Episode

Showing Up and Standing in Truth

Minnesota is one of the healthiest states in the country, but it has some of the worst health disparities. A primary driver of health and chronic disease starts in people’s social and physical environments. This could be transportation, education, childcare settings, or their housing. All communities can experience poor health outcomes, but due to systemic inequities and the racial hierarchy on which the United States was built., they disproportionately occur in communities of color and the American Indian community.

In this episode we take a closer look at what we mean by “systemic inequities,” and talk with two people deeply engaged in this work in two large health institutions in Minnesota: Vayong Moua, Health Equity Director at Blue Cross, and Maria Sarabia, Racial and Health Equity Administrator at Ramsey County. They both serve on the Cultural and Ethnic Communities Leadership Council in the state of Minnesota’s Department of Human Services (DHS).

DHS is the state’s largest agency and provides or administers a variety of services to help people meet their basic needs and live as independently as possible. The agency makes up approximately 42 percent of state spending and approximately 80 percent of the agency’s $18.65 billion fiscal year 2019 budget is devoted to health care and related services. DHS is working to implement equity practice and capacity within its core functions, through implementing a health equity policy, and the formation of the Cultural and Ethnic Communities Leadership Council, that serves to track equity, accountability, and systems change throughout the agency.

Next Episode

Sacred Tobacco: Culture is Prevention II

In part 2 of our series on Sacred Tobacco, we’ll talk about “Tradition versus Addiction” for American Indian tribes in Minnesota.

There are 11 federally recognized tribes in Minnesota, comprised of seven Ojibwe federally recognized reservations, and four Dakota communities, all with their own sovereign governments: Bois Forte, Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, Leech Lake, Lower Sioux, Mille Lacs, Prairie Island, Red Lake, Shakopee Mdewakanton, Upper Sioux, and White Earth.

Ojibwe and Dakota people in Minnesota have tobacco traditions that were passed down for generations, for centuries before the arrival of Europeans. Using Native tobacco in a sacred manner is not a health risk. Teaching youth about their power and spirituality allows them to see tobacco differently, as a protective factor against harmful behaviors.

We had the honor to sit down with Sharon Day and Suzanne Nash from the Indigenous People’s Task Force to talk about sacred tobacco traditions that were passed down to them as Ojibwe people, and how they are sharing these practices across generations in their community.