It's not smallpox, but it's just as deadly

This enemy robs our people of their sight. It leaves them in wheelchairs and missing limbs. It forces many to face the difficult choice of whether or not to live if it means with someone else's organ. The destroyer is diabetes and it's doing a mean sneak up on Oglala people.

There are almost twice as many diabetics on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation today than there were in 1992.

That year there were 700 registered diabetics and today there are 1,302.
The Pine Ridge and Porcupine Clinics' dialysis units are full. At Porcupine, the unit runs three shifts a day three days a week and staff are considering the possibility of adding another shift.

Nearly half the population over 40 years of age is diabetic. Even more alarming are the results of recent screening at all of the reservation schools and 24 Head Starts. 

The goal of Porcupine Clinic's Diabetes Prevention Project (DPP) was to screen 2,000 children from Head Start to 12th grade by June 1999. Over half of the reservation population is under the age of 19. As of now 2,005 children have been screened and results show that 305, or 15%, are at risk.

This is a disease of lifestyle, according to DPP Director Richard Iron Cloud who said, "We need to begin with the kids in changing our lifestyles. What we've gathered so far is that junk food is a major contributor to diabetes."

He told of a visiting nutritionist who went to the local trading post to get some lunch and the only healthy thing she could find there was yogurt.
A survey done with the local Coke distributor, according to Iron Cloud, "showed we drink three times as much soda on this reservation than anywhere else in the state or country."

To help combat this unhealthy trend, the DPP has a display case set up at the clinic which shows how much sugar, represented by cubes, is in of Coke. There are 10 sugar cubes per can and over 50 in a two liter bottle.
"This means that of the average person's daily 2,500 caloric intake, nearly a third is taken up just with one can of soda," Iron Cloud said.
But that is just one of several weapons in the DPP arsenal to fight diabetes.

"We need to begin working intensively with obese children," Iron Cloud said, and to that end the program has made 310 home visits. The visits included fruit baskets, introduction, information on the project and diabetes type II, a home visit plan and assessment.

The screening and home visits are beginning to make a difference. One first grader ate less junk food and drank more water while watching less television because, he told his grandmother, he wanted to prevent diabetes.

Another important weapon for healing is the Gathering of Native Americans (GONA) retreats. According to the DPP, the retreats are a community development model used nationwide to bring communities together. It was created about six years ago by a group of wellness people from across the country including Cecilia Fire Thunder, an Oglala Lakota.

The retreats held so far have attracted nearly 30 people and proven, "really effective in bringing families and grassroots people together to plan," said Iron Cloud. "People talk about their own recovery and how they come to terms with diabetes."

Other means of combating this enemy is by organized exercise, such as walking and traditional dance groups. Twenty-eight people participated in the annual Labor Day walk.

Iron Cloud said progress is slowly being made.

"What we're learning is that we need to be patient."

Shannon County, which makes up most of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, has the lowest per capita income, the highest percentage of families below the poverty level, and the lowest life expectancy of anyone living in the Western Hemisphere except Haitians.

Your support means KILI gives a voice to our people and a lifeline in tragic times such as during the recent tornado in Oglala. Allies keep the doors to the Porcupine Clinic open and help the Diabetes Program battle a dread disease. Allies help the poorest of the poor receive badly needed medicine and ensure that expectant mothers receive prenatal care.

We have the heart, the desire, and the ability to bring change to this reservation. We just don't have the means. Your support has never been so important and appreciated. Allies of the Lakota will once again be featured in a Broadcast for Unity in February. This live radio show broadcast by WLIB in New York City reaches millions of listeners. This is an opportunity to have your thoughts read on air. Please remember us when giving and send a donation along with your quote. Nearly 20,000 Oglala Lakota people thank you.

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