‘Health’ Archives
Native American Teens Honor Traditional Tobacco & Fight Commercial Tobacco Use
Sophia Sarenpa and 7 other Native American Mashkiki Ogichidaag (Ojibwe for “Medicine Warriors”) teens, worked all summer on anti-commercial tobacco smoking public service announcements (PSAs). The teens brainstormed concepts, developed scripts, conducted interviews, handled the lighting and cameras ”“ and premiered their new works August 25th at the Division of Indian Work”'s Dakota Lodge, 1001 E. Lake St., Minneapolis. “I”'ve learned so much about the difference between traditional and commercial tobacco use,” said Sophia. “Like how something so sacred has caused so many of our people to die. I”'ve come to care about the issue a lot.” Tiana LaPointe, a Native film artist project mentor says, “They really took on the leadership for the project. They worked in front and behind the camera, and were in charge of their own shoots.” Armando Rivera loved learning about filmmaking, and discovered a [...]
Needed: Thousands of Running Wolves!
By Jake (Richard) Jacobi Shortly after Running Wolf Fitness Center opened last fall in the Phillips Community Center, I and my neighbor joined. I”'d never exercised in a gym, and I”'m pushing 70 years. My neighbor”'s about my age. We found Running Wolf through our diabetes support group, A-POD (A Partnership of Diabetics). A-POD moved into rooms in the same newly reopened Phillips Community Center. In my prime, I was a pretty good walker, and I swam in lakes in the summers and irregularly swam laps in a club in the winters. Just the same, I developed longstanding ankle issues and let myself get too big. In 2009, five years into my retirement, I ran into my own personal buzzsaw: a torn hamstring from doing the splits on sidewalk ice, renewed ankle pain on both sides from favoring the hamstring and in August of that year, a diagnosis of Type Two diabetes with peripheral neuropathy of the feet, which makes me slightly balance-impaired. (more…)
At the center of all of our work is our Definition of Health
Health is a state of physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being. It is not only the absence of infirmity and disease. Health is the state of balance, harmony, and connectedness within and between many systems ”“ the body, the family, the community, the environment, and culture. It cannot be seen only in an individual context. Health is an active state of being; people must be active participants to be healthy. It cannot be achieved by being passive. This issue of The Alley Newspaper is largely dedicated to reflecting the voices and the activities over the past year of the Backyard Initiative. Each of 12 CHAT teams have contributed their own stories and photos.
