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By Dr. Arne Vainio
News From Indian Country 6-09
 It’s the end of the school year and the graduation announcements are coming in. I’m proud to see how many Native American graduates there are. But I’m also saddened to see how many there aren’t.
Ever since I first started college in 1976, I have known how important it is to have the support of family and community. Too many Native students in my classes dropped out of college and medical school for various reasons, but one of the biggest reasons was lack of support.
Many of them were the first in their family ever to go on to college or graduate school.
Often family members don’t really understand what a challenge it is to
further an education.I remember my cousins telling me to “go out and
get a real job” when I decided to go to college out of high school and
telling me how easy I had it going to school instead of working in the
woods.
I was drinking when I first started college and my cousins would try
to get me to go drinking on Sunday so I couldn’t make it to classes on
Monday. They were good at it and they often succeeded. My early college
grade point average of 0.00 after two quarters bears this out.
We live in a competitive world, but traditionally we are not a
competitive people. Our heritage is to share our wealth. Our heritage
is humility. Our ancestors shared their belongings and food when times
were good and knew they could depend on others when times were bad.
Having a “giveaway” and sharing your wealth is not uncommon with Native
American people who have been honored in some way.
But there is a difference between humility and hurt. I remember being
called an “apple” when I went on to college. “Red on the outside and
white on the inside.” “You think you’re better than we are.” “You act
like you’re white.”
All these words came from family members and close relatives. All from
people I loved and trusted. These words still hurt now, years after
they were spoken. There were times when it would have been much easier
to give up and go to work than to stay in college.
We have lost much over the years, but the only way we are going to move
forward is by educating ourselves. Our future leaders need to be able
to live in two worlds in order to truly help our people. This is not an
easy thing to do and we all need to support anyone who is trying to do
this. Not only in our own families, but ANY Native person going on to
Tech School, Community College, College, Nursing School, Law
Enforcement, Law School, Medical School, Dentistry or any other
profession that brings us honor.
We need all of them and cannot afford to have even one of them fall by
the wayside. Their success is our success. If they fail, we fail.
I’ve been a doctor since 1994 and have always asked kids what they want
to do when they grow up.Most often they don’t know, but some do.
I had an eighth grader come in to the office, her answer was
immediate:“I want to be a veterinarian!” She had never really talked to
a veterinarian and didn’t know how to go about it. I didn’t know any
local veterinarians, so I looked in the phone book.
The first one I called was happy to set up a meeting with her and it
was arranged before the office visit was over. That was two years ago
and she still shadows the veterinarian on a regular basis. She thanks
me every time she sees me, but my part was easy. She’s the one doing
all the work and she’s learning things they can’t teach her in school.
Her parents are supportive of her plans and because of that she’ll be a
great veterinarian some day.
Sometimes things don’t work out so well. A fifth grader wanted to be an
Orthopedic Surgeon. Every time she came in, I called her “doctor.” She
got to help set up the x-ray machine when she broke her wrist and got
to set it up again when she came in to get her cast taken off. Her
grandmother didn’t approve of this.
“Why do you have to put those silly ideas in her head, anyway? She’s
not smart enough to be a doctor.” Her younger sister was with her in
the room and laughed when her grandmother said that. I called her
“doctor” on a later visit and tears welled up in her eyes. “I don’t
want to be a doctor anymore. I think I’m going to do something else.”
But she couldn’t tell me what that something else might be.
The twins, Caleb and Jared Dunlap, started working with me when they
were still in high school. They drove the nurses crazy and they could
run circles around them on the computers in the nursing station. These
boys are bright and funny and have the full support of their mother.
They were called the same names I was called when they were growing up.
But it didn’t stop them. In the next week or so they will be graduating
from the University of California, Los Angeles. Their goal has always
been to make a difference for Native people and they are on track to do
just that. We couldn’t make it to their graduation, but want them to
know we couldn’t be more proud of them.
The cards have been stacked against most Native American students and
to graduate from college is a great accomplishment. Not everyone will
understand what this means. But we understand.
Future employer: Standing in front of you is someone who comes from a
long line of people who are no strangers to adversity and hardship.
Their ancestors survived when it seemed survival was impossible. Those
ancestors stand behind them now and future generations are depending on
the success they show here. Challenge them. Respect them. Give them a
chance. But don’t underestimate them, because they’ve already beaten
the odds.
Sincerely,
Arne Vainio, MD.
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