Rooted in the Mountains

Movie about Muscogee Language Revitalization Center

Panel - Melissa Lewis (organizer)

Indigenous Languages and Health

It is no coincidence that increased mental health distress amongst Indigenous people has tracked the loss of cultural practices. Through an Indigenous holistic lens, when there is dysfunction on one domain, such as mental health, this is a sign of dysfunction within the larger societal system. Indigenous language and cultural lifeways, as well as academic research has demonstrated that Indigenous language use relates to improved mental and physical health of Indigenous peoples.

Language is Medicine. This panel will illuminate the power of Indigenous language to provide insight and solutions to mental health distress amongst Indigenous communities. Examples of Indigenous cultural and language revitalization will also be presented.

Panelists: Tom Belt (Cherokee Nation): Describe Cherokee words for depression, anxiety, historical trauma; Describe mental health improvement in language learners given Cherokee worldview. CLMAP student (Cherokee Nation): Describe their mental health improvement during CLMAP program Marcus Briggs-Cloud (Muscogee): Describe a land-place-culture-language revitalization program and health improvements among residents

Panel - Melissa Lewis (organizer)

Health improvements in the data

This panel will describe the state of the literature around Indigenous language use and health status.

Panelists: Doug Whalen: Systematic review of Indigenous language use and health status, Daryl Baldwin (Miami): Health effects of language and cultural program for college students, Melissa Lewis (Cherokee Nation): Focus group results around health effects of adult Cherokee language learning program

• Evgeline Yazzie UA-hanta virus only bothering native people. Aunt always knew about it and took precautions but people didn’t do it anymore. Aunt lived in Hogan, dirt floors. Didn’t clean bottom of shoes. Only two dresses and where them-don’t bring shoes inside. You can only gather pinon nuts until the first snow, can’t come in the house. Buried pans in sand. From deer mice.
• Cherokee origin of disease
• Story of snake, they took away, prophecy of white people. Started
  dancing and kept everybody away, tried to kill it but scales of
  steel, taking over everything. Boy saw space underneath scale
  and shoot arrow to kill it.
• Listen to children they have better since than we do. Elders said. Theycan see better, not contaminated.

Panel - Dr. Tonya Westbrook (organizer)

Health and Mental Health Issues in Indian Country: Perspectives from the Front Lines.
Participants in this panel will discuss Indigenous research regarding
behavioral and environmental health, addressing self-mutilation as a
manifestation of historic and multi-generational trauma, and a medical doctor
and senior administrator for the Indian Health Service who has dedicated his
career to Native health issues.

Panelists: Dr. Jada Brooks (Lumbee) UNC-CH School of Nursing, Tashina Pheasant Kalonaheskie (EBCI) PHHS, Dr. Michael Toedt (Indian Health Service)

Discussion and Reflections