EditorDesigner

Contributors

Photography

featured Artist

Mica Valdez, Media Program Director

Lina Blanco, Graphic Designer

Jackie Webster, Oneida Martin Waukazoo, LakotaLillawa Willie, Pomo, PaiuteLina Blanco, Ódami Tepehuan, XicanaMica Valdez, MexicaParke Ballantine, EuropeanLauren Baehner, IrishPatricia Leyva, Navajo, Choctaw, CubanTahnee Camacho, Otomi, Xicana

Parke Ballantine, Video Production ManagerLina Blanco, Graphic Designer

Cover Art: Beadwork

JACKIE WEBSTER works at 3124 and helps keep things running smoothly in the building. Sha has a cheerful face to people who come to NAHC.

A Message from our CEOJ

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Medical Department Launches EHR!By: Lillawa WillieJ

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On April 8th, the Pilot Medical Team went live on EHR at two of NAHC’s school-based health centers. Bonnie Trinclisti, Jayme Mejia, Topaz Persons, and Kristin McK-ean-Brown are now using EHR at Alameda, Island, and Encinal High Schools. The Pilot Medical Team has been extremely positive, team-oriented, and quick to pick up the new EHR workflow. They have helped to identify issues and come up with solutions, and have even sub-mitted several upgrade requests to NextGen.

The team is exceeding productivity expectations which are usually reduced after an EHR launch. Bonnie, Jayme, Topaz and Kristin are working quicker than anticipated in the new system, and taking a shorter amount of time to return to a full schedule of patients. This is great news as it reduces impact of the EHR launch on student access to services and increases our financial produc-tivity. We would like to congratulate the Medical Pilot Team on their successful launch and thank them for all of their extra work in helping us to fine-tune the EHR flow for the upcoming Medical launches at main clinic sites.

In addition to the school based staff, the Community Wellness Department launched another group on April 2nd. The first group of behavioral health pro-viders at 3124 – Katherine Lewis, Shunkila Black Calf, Violet Lundberg, Kitty Budd, Nina Gutierrez, Virgil Moorehead, Robert Brown, Anna Albuquerque, and

Catherine Lively (SF) -- are also documenting patient visits in EHR. Congratulations to all of these staff for successfully completing training and moving forward in the new system.

The EHR Project Management Team would also like to acknowledge and thank the IT Department as well as the EHR Trainers (David Samlan, Chir Patel, Maggie Wong, Aarati Sawhney) for their hard work and long hours spent supporting the staff during training and launch.

Behavioral Health Team 2 at 3124 on launches on May 7th School Based Team 2 launches on May 21st Capp St Behavioral Health launches June 4th 7D Medical Team1 launches on July, 9th 7D Medical Team 2 launches on August 5th SF Medical launches on September 3rd

Up next!:

LILLAWA WILLIE is the EHR Project Assistant who helps manage the EHR rollout, and coordi-

nates the Meaningful Use Program at NAHC.

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Over the past several months Urban Trails San Francisco

has been working in collaboration with NAHC Media on a

dynamic public arts outreach project. Youth participated

in digital arts trainings and focus groups to design slogans

that directly address historical trauma and destigmatizing

mental health services for self-identified Indigenous youth.

OUR VOICES, OUR WAY

By: Lina BlancoJ

This campaign was developed through a series of community photohoots, Photoshop design workshops, focus groups and creative brainstorming sessions, and committees of youth and families who gave input on the designs. Many thanks to Paloma Flores, Crystal Marich, Tommy Orange, April McGill, Lauren Baehner, Catherine McLively,

Serena Wright, Esther Lucero, and Angie Tsosie and all our community partners. Funded by SAMHSA.

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LINA BLANCO is the Graphic Designer at the Native American Health Center and photog-

rapher, social marketer for this campaign.

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Basketball, Motivation, and The Making of Relatives: Native American Athlete Martin Waukazoo Induct-ed to the 4th Annual South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame By: Mica Valdez

The first word that comes to mind when I think of Martin Waukazoo is “respect.” Raised in Rapid City, South Dakota Waukazoo, 63, is Lakota and remem-bers a difficult time when there was more intense racism and segregation than there is today. Reflect-ing back on his childhood he says,

“Our family lived in a trailer behind the Mother But-ler Center and I was only fifteen, twenty feet from the gymnasium. So every morning I would be in the gymnasium and the priest there Father Collins would give me a basketball and have me shoot baskets when I was a little guy. Every morning he would, I would play basketball. Years later I would ask my parents why did we live in a trailer and why did we live behind the Mother Butler Center (when there were trailer courts here and trailer courts there that had all the hook ups and everything that you needed)? My parents told me that Indians weren’t allowed in the trailer courts within the city and we had no place to park our trailer and the only place we could park it was behind the Mother Butler Center. So that negative and the prej-udice and discrimination that took place actually benefited me because I don’t know if I would have been that involved in basketball…growing up and walking around the streets of Rapid City I can still recall…6, 7, 8 years old as a young boy seeing signs in the doorway ‘No Indians or Dogs Allowed.’” Later reflecting on his high school experience the climate toward Native Americans was not much better, sharing a story playing a game for a large-scale audience he says,

“At the state tournament in ‘67 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota I think the arena held 8 or ten thousand people and it was packed for the state tournament and I had an outstanding game. I did very well at the first game at the tournament and there…the crowd rather than saying I did a good job, they booed me and there were all kinds of negative words that were said. I was seventeen years old. They would call you ‘prairie nigger,’ ‘dog eater’ and this again was in the sixties and I think that kind of fueled me. Thinking back on it, I saw it as something although negative, something that motivated me.”

This struggle is but one thread of the story. This story is about celebrating the athleticism and talent of an amazing basketball player from the state of South Dakota. The fact that Waukazoo in the face of adversity overcame tremendous obstacles and persevered in reaching his goals academically and in particular through his love of basketball, is what is most inspiring. His former coach, David Strain of the Cobblers describes Waukazoo as his greatest player in his 28 years of coaching. Strain says,

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Basketball, Motivation, and The Making of Relatives:

MICA VALDEZ is a contributing writer and editor for My Medicine and the Media Program Director

at the Native American Health Center.

to scratch off the color. I didn’t want to be Indian and that’s damaging. It takes years of recovery.

Being proud of who they are and where they come from and learning from the older, positive role models around you and be proud of who you are and taking responsibility for your future and dreaming about the dreams, and never giving up, never giving up, never looking back, looking forward and face those difficulties head on like a warrior.

A warrior is not being ‘macho’ and strong, a warri-or is taking responsibility and the reflection of your spirituality is how you treat other people. Every day you should be getting up and thinking about making a relative. Finding someone who you can make a rela-tive of. The worst thing that can be said of you, as an American Indian, is that you act as if you have no relatives.

When you have relatives, you know you’re going to get the support, you know you’re going to get the encouragement and you’re going to have them wrap their arms around you in difficult times. Making of relatives, that’s what (Richard) Movescamp teaches us. Then, when you become an ‘uncle’ to someone or you become a ‘grandpa’ to someone, or you be-come a ‘brother’ to someone, then you’re obligated to help that person. There’s a relation and we all are related…I’m very honored and blessed when a young man greets me with uncle or grandpa. ”

“He brought to his high school and college basketball careers not just his amazing athletic achievement, but also the values of his parents and the Lakota Sioux culture. The values of sharing, generosity and cour-age.”

On Saturday, March 23 the basketball community of about 400 people came together at the Dakota Prairie Playhouse in Madison, South Dakota to recog-nize Waukazoo and some of the state’s greatest con-tributors to the sport. It is a ceremony that San Fran-cisco Bay Area’s Martin Waukazoo will remember for many years to come. As one of the newest members of the crop, Waukazoo was one of 16 athletes hon-ored at the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame.

Former Rapid City High School standout, Waukazoo was a First Team All-State selection in 1967 when the Cobblers finished as the state runner-up to Mil-bank. He was selected All-State Most Valuable Play-er and during that time also happened to be one of the first American Indians to be named to the All American Team, a top selection of a hundred players from throughout the country. The 15 others to join the hall this year were Mitchell’s Mike Miller, Ab-erdeen’s Scott Bosanko, Brookings’ Amy Mickelson Brecht, Doland’s Chris Divich, Winner’s Carol (Free-man) Brecht, Webster’s Clyde Hagen, Hayti’s Garney Henley, Onida’s Kent Hyde, Belle Fourche’s Gerald Lund, Yankton’s Chad Nelson, Castlewood’s Renee Reusink, Mobridge’s Jim Schlekeway, and Mitch-ell’s Wayne Stone and Warner’s Chuck Welke, Jr. Athlete and graduate of Black Hills State Univer-sity, Waukazoo now enjoys life with his wife in San Leandro with his three children and grandchildren nearby. He is a cultural advisor and elder in the com-munity health care movement, currently leading the Native American Health Center as the Chief Executive Officer. When asked what message he would give to the Native youth, Waukazoo said,

“The youth are the future. We expect and will do our part to make sure that they are proud of who they are and I think that is so terribly important that they know who they are, where they come from and being proud of who they are. Growing up in the late fifties and early sixties as a young man, I remember walking down the street and looking at my hand and wanting

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Manhood Ceremony The Ripple EffectBy: Parke BallantineJ

Martha Martinez, NAHC’s Cultural Facilitator, picked me up at 5:30am every morning and we would drive through winding roads, foggy skies, and have thoughtful conversations until we reached the ceremony grounds in Sebastopol. I had no idea what to expect. We had talked about the logistics, who to be in contact with, my role and ceremony protocol; I had interviewed three of the four young men who were preparing for the ceremony, but I still felt a sense of mystery. I was nervous about my role and concious of being a white woman in a Native ceremony and the need for humility and respect. I felt timid to be an outsider at such an intimate and historical ceremony.

Every morning I found myself in the warmest picturesque kitchen. Open, with vibrant colors, mouth watering scents, and women buzzing around chopping, slicing, cooking, laughing, chat-ting—the kitchen was the women’s arena. I had always heard of women’s spaces like this; cook-ing in the kitchen, sharing stories, finding healing, connection, and warmth in the hands of elders and

peers, it was incredible. Every morning I looked forward to sitting at the table or standing at the kitchen island helping to cook and clean, listening and feeling that nurturing and loving steadfast energy all around me.

I had conversations with the helpers, drummers, and mentors. One of the mentors, Leon Chief Elk, spoke of Sundance ceremony and the four days.

A quarter of the time is the best feeling ever—never have you been closer to creator/god, felt so connected, alive, vibrant. Another quarter of the time is the worst—you can feel every breath and heart beat, you haven’t eaten in days, and you strug-gle to quiet the mind. The other half of the time is middle of the road—prayer, breathing, staying constant. “Like is like that,” a quarter of the time will be amazing, a quarter of the time will be challeng-ing, and the rest is practicing how to walk steady. What he said is that ceremony helps teach us how to move through those changes. It helps us remember how to gather strength for the hard times, and be grateful for the good times.

I have struggled with spirituality throughout my life. As a child I was brought up very right wing conservative Christian until my family split. I had already experienced some traumas in my life, but it was at this point that many things shifted and I

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found myself in the midst of daily complex trauma, and as a result turned away from spirituality seeing it as false hope. I experienced a spiritual connec-tion again seven years later, and it had a profound impact on me, yet I have still kept spirituality (in all its largeness) mostly absent from my life. Work-ing at the Native American Health Center has given me the opportunity to revisit this connection and being a part of this ceremony has helped take me further.

I found a deeper connection, time to sit with myself, and share in collective healing. This ceremony con-nected me to the many sorrows, feelings of discon-nection and loneliness, and traumas that not only I as an individual have experienced but also that many others have as well. On the fourth day, at the Wel-coming Ceremony held at IFH, it was apparent how the work these men, their supporters, and mentors did, is bringing healing to the community. Richard Moves Camp spoke of this healing as a ripple ef-

fect; each individual’s healing creates a ripple effect through the community, effecting each of their rela-tionships and interactions for generations to come. I know that being a part of this ceremony has had an impact on me. I can feel it and see it. I don’t know how, at what moment, or what the words were. All I know is that in going through it all, I came out more connected, stronger, and inspired.

PARKE BALLANTINE is the Video Production Manager at the Native American Health Center. She is a filmmaker and producer with an emphasis on supporting,

creating, and promoting socially just and community based media. 9

Empowerment Evaluation of Urban Trails SF

By: Lauren Baehner

Urban Trails San Francisco (UTSF) is a holistic System of Care that serves Indigenous youth ages 0-21. As the evaluator for the grant, I work closely with other program staff to meas-ure progress on outcomes and goals. Because we serve such a diverse Native community, often times, the traditional Western evaluation approaches don’t quite fit, so to be truly culturally appropriate, we tailor our methods specifically to this community. The best way to do that is to involve youth and families in all aspects of our local evaluation efforts. Our community has identified their strengths and needs, and the outcomes and goals they care most about, and we have involved youth and families in designing projects that measure two of those outcomes:

(1) Increased self-esteem and positive Native/Indigenous identity

(2) Decreased stigma and discrimination at the system level.

How do you get youth and families interested in evalua-tion? I started by researching how to involve youth as equal partners in organizational evaluation, not just participants. We chose to use Empowerment Evaluation, which is a shift towards a more inclusive approach, where the evaluator is a facilitator who works with and acknowledges the com-munity as the expert and helps gather information that the community can use to advocate for their own needs.

The single most important step to involve youth and fami-lies was to reach out to staff that already had existing rela-tionships with the community; our youth coordinators and key family contact, which has been integral to our efforts. Within Congress and the national government, there’s not a lot known about urban Native communities, and so evalua-tion is not just something we have to do, it’s a chance for our community to share their stories and show Congress what makes them strong, what issues they are faced with, and why services at NAHC work and are so necessary.

Last August, Amanda WhiteCrane joined our evaluation team as an Evaluation Specialist, Peer Support Intern. She is a parent and has utilized our services since before the beginning of the UTSF grant. We collaborate on evaluation projects and she has continued take on more responsi-bilities such as presenting at meetings and co-facilitating the Evaluation Advisory Board, where we design projects to measure community-defined outcomes. She says, “The peer internship has allowed me to feel an added ownership of the program. I feel like I’ve been involved since day one of the six year grant. First as a community member on the advisory board and now as a peer. It helps me connect my personal, family and career goals… It has really opened my eyes to how the program is running, the funding it depends on, and how important evaluation is for the future.” Her contributions have proved invaluable to the success of our evaluation advisory board and projects, as she is able to make evaluation accessible and relevant for families.

We have had consistent participation from youth and car-egivers and decided to rename ourselves the IllumiNatives, an insightful name that came directly from the youth! The IllumiNatives have developed two projects to measure Na-tive/Indigenous identity: (1) a survey that will be given out at cultural events that asks how attendance impacts a per-son’s Native/Indigenous identity and pride, and (2) a youth video project that will ask about what makes youth feel proud to be Native/Indigenous. We will be using the survey at all our NAHC sites this summer and hope to showcase the video project at the upcoming National Children’s Men-tal Health Awareness Day in May.

LAUREN BAEHNER is the evaluator for our Urban Trails San Francisco project, which is a holistic System of Care for Native and Indigenous youth and their families in SF.

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HR Buzz Lucky SharesBy: Patricia LeyvaJWe are thrilled to introduce our brand new program that will give back to our organization by using the Lucky’s S.H.A.R.E.S. card! S.H.A.R.E.S. stands for Supporting Humanities, Arts, Rec-reation, Education & Sports in our community. The S.H.A.R.E.S. card program is an easy and efficient way to fund-raise!

Each swipe of the S.H.A.R.E.S. card earns us up to 3% of quali-fied purchases for our organization. For example, if you spend $150 dollars for groceries at one of the locations, Lucky SHARES will donate to us $4.50 (3%).

You will be able to use the card at the following locations: • SaveMart-Supermarkets• Smart Foods• FoodMaxx• Lucky’s stores

SHARES

You can pick up your SHARES card from each of our site Administrators:• Michelle Shawnego or Pat Want in Alameda• Dawn Luala-Claxton at 7 Directions• Amadene Castillo at 3124 Oakland• Cherie Jalipa-Shirley for our SF sites.

We encourage all to participate and use the card any time you go to the grocery store! Every purchase helps. We would like to give a huge Thank you to Essie Tuttle and Michelle Shawnego for giving us this opportunity!

HAPPY SHOPPING! For more details please see the website: http://www.luckysupermarketsshares.com

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Employee Anniversaries!JApril Anniversaries

May Anniversaries

Virgil Moorehead (CWD)Christopher Alexander (Medical)

Julia Echeverria (7D Admin)Tamar Kurlaender (SBHC)

Josephine Ng (Dental)Amelia Snow (Oak Medical)

Lillawa Willie (Admin)Tahnee Camacho (Oak CWD)

Nazbah Tom (SF COH)Dallas Wahpepah (Oak CWD)

Sandra Tavel (Admin)Nayche Bradford (SF Dental)

Carla Carroll (Billing)Marla Preston (Billing)

Ruel De La Rosa (IT)Francisco Zamora (Fiscal)

Cathy Marin-Wisdom (Admin)Amanda Bloom (Oak Medical)

1 year2 years2 years2 years2 years2 years3 years6 years6 years6 years7 years9 years12 years12 years14 years15 years18 years24 years

1 year1 year1 year1 year1 year1 year2 years2 years3 years3 years3 years4 years5 years5 years5 years6 years6 years7 years26 years30 years

Anna Albuquerque (Oak CWD)Aisha Mays (Medical)

Ricky Santana (SF CWD)Anola Small (Billing)

Francisco Valadez (Dental)Alexis McBride (Dental)

Lina Blanco (Media)Shayla Melton (Dental)Rene Gonzalez (CWD)

Esther Lucero (CWD)Phyllis Waukazoo (CWD)Jon Williamson (Dental)

Shirley Begay (CWD)Charlene Harrison (Admin)

Rita Prado (Dental)Bhrett Lash (Medical)Serena Wright (CWD)

Bertha Diaz (Dental)Jerri Davis (Fiscal)

Martin Waukazoo (CEO)12

New HiresJTerrance BryantMedical Chart Abstractor IIMedical, 7D

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Martha LozaMedical Assistant IMedical, 7D

Mica ValdezMedia Program DirectorCWD, 3124

Patricia BeckerOn-Call Medical AssistantMedical, 7D

Rebecca RoblesOn-Call Medical AssistantMedical, 7D

Eyling ColmerOn-Call Medical AssistantMedical, SF Capp Street

Andrea RodriguezProgram AssistantCWD, SF Capp Street

Tribal AthleticsJYouth Services Tribal Athletics basketball component began in 1998, after many years of success with the Grasshoppers Soccer teams. Through our basketball programs we have given Indigenous youth a fun, healthy way to stay physically active. In 2008, we were recognized by the Surgeon General for reducing rates of diabetes and heart disease in the Native community.

We have served hundreds of youth throughout the year, and had two generations of Tribal Ath-letics program (TAP) participants play. Youth who have now become parents have enrolled their children into our program and it is becoming a family tradition to be a TAP basketball player. Our teams start as young as 3.5 years old to high school ages.

For more information please contact Oakland Youth Services at (510) 434-5330

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By: Tahnee Camacho

  Youth Development Fellowship Program

What is the Fellowship?

The Youth Development Fellowship Program is a 9-week stipend summer program for Indigenous high school

students to prepare them for college or the workforce after high school. Throughout the course of the

Program, we will spend most of our time in workshops discussing topics related to Indigenous issues. Every

summer a central theme or project is created. Past projects have included a documentary film on the needs

for low-income housing in Oakland, murals, presentations to younger youth, and various other community

service projects.

The course is designed to open the minds of our youth, and educate them on concepts that many schools do

not provide. During the term of the course we will visit colleges and universities throughout the Bay Area and

provide workshops about the admissions process and scholarships. Youth Fellows are required to choose a

community service project that will benefit their communities and conduct workshops for youth.

Program runs June 18th– August 16th Tuesdays– Fridays.

Youth must be able to commit to ALL 9 weeks.

For more information or to apply contact: Tahnee Camacho, Program Manager at Oakland Youth Services: (510) 434-5338

Deadline: Friday May 17, 2013 by 5:00pm

"When you are creating , that is when you are closest to Creator.”

For future submissions to My Medicine contact Editor, Mica Valdez at: micav@nativehealth.orgwww.nativehealth.orgfacebook.com/NAHC.Incyoutube.com/NAHCtv