Cheyenne wrote...

>Natives make the same poor diet and lifestyle choices seen everywhere
>else.  I'm not saying we don't.  But please don't judge Natives...

I'm certainly not a Native American, but here's my insight.  I often hear
people saying "They choose to eat this way" or snide comments on what
Indians receive from the government.

It's pretty simple math that some people have more choices than others.
Whether Native American, Hispanic, white, whatever, if you're on a limited
income your food choices are limited, too.  If you know cheap pasta and
other starchy foods aren't that great but you've got a family to feed and
only $10 in your pocket, what are you going to do?  If you have to rely on
subsidies, well, we all know what that means - starch, frankenfoods and
canned vegetables stripped of both flavor and nutrients.  A practitioner
even vaguely familiar Syndrome X knows that federal subsidies do little more
than keep you breathing.  For now.  Obesity, diabetes and heart disease are
just around the corner if you have Syndrome X and can't afford to cut your
carb intake.

"So move off that pathetic reservation," I've often heard people say.
Cheyenne, you can address this personally but I've heard too many Indians
say most are there for a reason; they want to be with family.  Or they don't
want to live without their traditions.  Or they want to try and make the
reservation a better place.  Until someone has knowledge of what reservation
life is like, what right do they have to tell someone to move?

As for what Indians have gotten from the government, that's a hot potato and
not about nutrition so I won't go too deep.  But I will say (pun intended)
that if doctors and lawyers can bitch about their taxes (and we've all heard
that happen) then Indian chiefs can complain about the US government's
treatment of Native Americans.

Dori Zook
Denver, CO

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp