July 2018 Newsletter

Join Us In Welcoming the 2018 AIHREA Summer Interns!

Jessica Blasio recently graduated from Johnson County Community College earning her Associates in Liberal Arts. She will continue her education at the University of Kansas in the fall of 2018 majoring in anthropology. She would like to ultimately work with the indigenous populations of Mexico assisting in the preservation of their customs. She hopes to one day provide a greater appreciation, and understanding, of these indigenous cultures to the outer populations of Mexico.  Jessica is a Kansas city local who grew up with three older sisters and her amazing mother. Throughout her childhood, her mother gracefully demonstrated integrity, hard-work, and gratitude, which greatly inspired her to be relentless in her own ambitions. She has always been very curious in her intellectual pursuits and has a great affinity for the arts. She enjoys illustrating, writing, and reading, as well as enjoying a variety of music. She loves outdoor activities such as hikes, walks, biking trails, and picnics. She also never misses an opportunity to travel.  In the future, she sees herself as a professor encouraging other like minded students into the pursuit of a more wholesome, active, and educated human experience.

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Rain Charger is currently a Master's student at the University of Kansas in the Indigenous Studies program. He am a member of the Itazipacola band of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and is from Eagle Butte, South Dakota.  His areas of study focus on social and critical theory and its relationship with Native life, film and media portrayal, music and digital humanities.  Additionally, he focuses on helping to ensure the media conversation surrounding Indian Country is productive towards self-determination and positive growth. Considering that we are in a post-Standing Rock world, the dialogue that Indigenous peoples have with media and on the world stage is crucial to healing from colonization. Working at AIHREA allows him to approach this conversation from a preventative medicine angle and illustrates the health needs that are present in Native communities. Additionally, all these insights will help him to grow as a scholar and worker in Indigenous communities with a stronger perspective. 

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Nicholas Clah is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation.  He is a student at Mill Valley High School and will be a junior this fall. In addition to gaining work experience during this internship, he is interested in learning about health disparities in Native communities and how they are being addressed.  In his spare time he likes to skateboard and play Xbox with his friends.

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Chloe Gunville is Mnicoujou Lakota and was born and raised on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation in White Horse, South Dakota. She will be starting her senior year at Haskell Indian Nations University this fall where, in addition to playing for the women's basketball team, she will graduate with her bachelor’s degree in American Indian and Indigenous Studies in the spring of 2019.  She is interested in public policy and the role it plays in health disparities among minority groups, specifically American Indians.  She hopes to gain a better understanding of community based participatory research, while also learning how to build meaningful connections with the communities that AIHREA serves.  She grew up on the backs of horses and dirt trails.  Her family is the most important thing in her life, including her two dogs that keep her life interesting. She is also very passionate about language revitalization, specifically for the Lakota language.   

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Christina Haswood is Navajo, originally from Inscription House, AZ and her clans are; Tódich'ii'nii, Dibéłzhíní, Naasht'ézhi Tábąąhá, Kinyaa'áanii.  She graduated from Arizona State University (ASU) with a Bachelor of Public Health in the spring of 2018.  She will be attending the University of Kansas Medical Center this fall as a Master of Public Health student in the Public Health Management Program.  Born and raised in Lawrence, Kansas, she previously graduated from Haskell Indian Nations University, with a degree in Community Health in the fall of 2014.  She hopes to be an advocate for Native American healthcare by conducting her own research and creating state and federal policies to reduce Native American mortality and morbidity rates. Her recent past research includes suicide in American Indian adolescents in the state of Arizona & Navajo Nation, suicide prevention on the ASU Downtown Campus, and Body Positivity on ASU Downtown Campus. Christina’s other interests include program planning, management, data analysis, evaluations and health policy. Christina plans to work at the national or international level, advocating for American Indians and other indigenous populations and their rights to healthcare and healthy living.

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Isaiah Lumpkins is a student at Mill Valley High School, where he will be a senior this fall.  He is currently interested in multimedia. During this internship, he hopes to gain work experience and more knowledge on American Indian cultures and peoples.

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Tinaya Murphy is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation from Los Lunas, New Mexico. She decided to get her Bachelor degree in Business Administration and Associate degree in Community Health at Haskell Indian Nations University, where she also played on the Haskell women’s basketball team. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) to serve as a foundation for a long, meaningful career engaging with her community.  She hopes to have the most impact and provide beneficial services to her people on the Navajo Nation reservation. Her hopes are to continue her education after receiving her BSN and get her Master of Public Health at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She is very passionate about promoting and supporting research studies addressing disparities in Native communities. She is excited to explore opportunities as a health care professional during her internship with AIHREA. She would very much like to be engaged with the community and assist in efforts to advocate for disease prevention and health promotion.

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Fatima Rahman graduated from the University of Kansas Medical Center with a Master of Public Health (MPH) in May 2018. She is passionate about bringing healthcare to underserved communities in Kansas and globally. She is interested in adolescent health and prevention efforts against risks to adolescent health. She works mainly on writing manuscripts and participating in health fairs with the AIHREA team. She spends her free time writing, reading, and taking care of her seven nieces. Fatima is passionate about working on global health research in her ancestral home, Bangladesh, and other developing countries. In the future she hopes to pursue a PhD in behavioral health interventions, so she can create and implement programs to improve health of vulnerable populations. She also wants to use her education and skills to engage youth to take active roles in public health issues in their own communities.

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Andrew Schaff is a rising senior at Miami University in Ohio majoring in Microbiology. While attending Miami University he has had the opportunity to work in a microbiology lab researching infectious diseases and has developed a new passion for public health and specifically epidemiology. After he graduates he plans on pursuing a Master's of Public Health in Epidemiology and hope to find work investigating health issues involving infectious diseases. 

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Nya Smith is Navajo and Osage. She is a rising senior at Shawnee Mission South High School and plan on taking courses at Johnson County Community College. After high school, she plans on attending college with the goal of becoming a neurosurgeon. She enjoy drawing, painting, and playing softball. She plays during the school year and summer, including on the varsity softball team at her high school. During this internship, she hopes to gain independence, learn about professional communications, new and improved skills, as well as how to apply them.

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Julian Wahnee is a citizen of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma, as well as Navajo and African American. Julian graduated with his Bachelors in Indigenous American Indian Studies, with an emphasis on Social Welfare, at Haskell Indian Nations University, class of 2016. His experience at an all AI/AN school gave him the opportunity to be in the middle of so many different tribal people at one time. Furthermore, this allowed him to witness how strong and resilient Native people are, despite how the government's failings. He graduated with his Master in Social Work with an American Indian Alaskan Native concentration, specializing in Sexual Health and Education from the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Since being at the Brown School, Wahnee has been an active member in the American Indian Student Association, as well as serving on the Washington University Contest Pow Wow committee. He has completed his practicum at Better Family Life where annually they serve more then 50,000 unduplicated clients, predominantly within the African American community, serving both the north and east side of St. Louis. After completing his final practicum this summer at The Center for American Indian Community Health at the University of Kansas Medical Center, he plans on focusing on the stigma surrounding conversations about sex, through healing those who have been negatively affected within Indian Country. 
 

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In case you missed it:

 The ALSC has renamed the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, citing Wilder's treatment of American Indians in her books.   Click here for details...

Feds may change approach to oil and gas permits to protect Native American cultural sites in Wyoming.  Click here for details...

Blackfeet Tribe bans drug dealer from reservation.  Click here for details...