{"id":22243,"date":"2022-03-08T02:30:45","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T02:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/03\/08\/native-american-veterans-encompass-resilience-overcome-health-care-challenges\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:08:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:08:25","slug":"native-american-veterans-encompass-resilience-overcome-health-care-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2022\/03\/08\/native-american-veterans-encompass-resilience-overcome-health-care-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Native American veterans encompass resilience, overcome health care challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Melodi Serna, 44, serving in the military is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/pay-benefits\/2021\/10\/07\/two-thirds-of-military-teens-want-to-follow-in-their-parents-footsteps-but-these-kids-are-not-okay-survey-finds\/\" target=\"_blank\">family tradition<\/a>. Her great grandfather served in World War I, her great aunt in World War II, her grandfather in Korea, and her great uncle in Vietnam, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThen it was my turn,\u201d said Serna, who is from the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, based in North Dakota, and the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/off-duty\/military-culture\/2019\/11\/15\/a-warrior-tradition-why-native-americans-continue-fighting-for-the-same-government-that-tried-to-wipe-them-out\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"174\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_16340059478105.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">A \u2018Warrior Tradition\u2019: Why Native Americans continue fighting for the same government that tried to wipe them out<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Since 9\/11, nearly 19 percent of Native Americans have served in the armed forces, compared to an average of 14 percent of all other ethnicities.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She enlisted in the Navy as a hospital corpsman in 1996 and now works as the executive director of the American Indian Center of Chicago, a cultural and community resource that has served the city\u2019s Native American community since 1953.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Native American women, like Serna, comprise a higher segment of the veteran population compared to other races, proportional to the size of their demographic group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Women make up 11.3% of the Native American veteran population, which is a higher percentage than women in other demographic groups. For all other races, women only make up 9% of the veteran population, according to a 2020 report from the Department of Veterans Affairs that used data collected in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Serna attributed Native American participation in the military to their role as protectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think when you get down to the fundamental, traditional values of who we are as Native people, we\u2019re water protectors, we\u2019re land protectors,\u201d Serna said. \u201cWe\u2019re protecting what\u2019s normally and what was ours, and has always been ours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Angela Pratt, 46, speaker of the Osage Nation Congress, many Native American women join the military because of their \u201cwarrior spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI just think it goes back to our spirit and just having that feeling of wanting to make a difference \u2026 because that\u2019s what our people teach us, to be better and do better,\u201d said Pratt, who served as an Army specialist from 1996 to 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But many face challenges accessing health care after exiting the military, including the distances to and from clinics, managing families, culturally competent health care and historical mistrust in the health care system. Despite these hurdles, Native American female veterans exhibit resiliency and continue to serve their communities and country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Going the distance<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After leaving the military, many Native female veterans struggle with transitioning back to civilian life, said Sonya Tetnowski, an Army veteran who now serves as CEO of the Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the largest challenges facing Native female veterans is the distance it takes to reach health care services provided by the VA. This holds true for Natives living in urban areas, but especially for those living on reservations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe distance to travel is a huge thing just throughout Indian Country, period, for both male and female,\u201d said Mary Culley, a 20-year Air Force veteran who is Seminole and Creek and enrolled with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. Culley currently works in the VA Office of Tribal Government Relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If treatment requires care from a specialist, commuting can be a multi-hour endeavor, as many VA clinics provide urgent care services but not specialized treatments, said Rose Mcfadden, an Army veteran and a member of the Navajo\/Din\u00e9 tribe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While living on the Navajo reservation in Arizona, Mcfadden said she regularly traveled up to six hours one way to Phoenix to get treatment for a service-connected disability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMost of the time that higher level of care is going to have to be at one of the main VA facilities, and most of those are in the bigger cities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mcfadden also serves as the vice president of Native American Women Warriors, a group focused on raising awareness of issues encountered by female veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mcfadden and Pratt pointed to the balancing act many women have at home. Between childcare and work, health care frequently gets pushed aside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA lot of time, women don\u2019t make time for themselves to even go to the doctor on a regular basis,\u201d Pratt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Historic mistrust &amp; barriers to receiving care<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many older Native veterans don\u2019t necessarily want to receive services from the VA due to a historical lack of trust in the medical system, Tetnowski said, adding, \u201cThere\u2019s still some difficulty and trust there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Throughout U.S. history, many Native patients have been subject to discriminatory medical practices and an establishment that structurally prioritizes traditional Western medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/hrd-77-3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Government Accountability Office report<\/a>, between 1973 and 1976, Indian Health Service records show that over 3,000 Native women were sterilized without their consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This lack of trust has led many Native veterans to seek care that merges their cultural practices and traditional Western medicine, providing them with \u201cculturally competent care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2022\/01\/26\/new-committee-to-help-improve-care-for-native-american-veterans\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21027792851595.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">New committee to help improve care for Native American veterans<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs will help suggest innovative approaches to serving Native American veterans.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Native community is not a monolith, and their traditional methods of healing are also not the same across various tribes and nations. However, finding culturally competent care remains a priority for many Natives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In her role at the VA, Culley frequently looks at what services can be improved for Native female veterans, asking \u201cWhat are we not doing that we need to be doing? What do we need to bring to the table for you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She added: \u201cIt\u2019s interesting that for a lot of the female vets \u2026 it\u2019s cultural.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The VA is planning to expand an initiative established in 2020 \u2014 the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npaihb.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/7_Dr.-Shore_RNV-HCNP-NPAIHB-October-2020.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Rural Native Veteran Health Care Navigator Program<\/a> \u2014 that connects Native veterans with peers in their communities to help them find culturally competent care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While veterans often use the VA for specialty medical services, Tetnowski said for \u201cday to day &#8230; regular medical needs\u201d Native veterans tend to prefer their local Native health clinic, where they feel a strong sense of community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tetnowski, who is the CEO of the Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley, said her clinic has a veteran advisory committee dedicated to meeting the needs of Native veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finding culturally competent care is especially important for veterans seeking assistance with mental health issues, including PTSD and various forms of trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Culley pointed toward work she is pursuing in Oklahoma, where she is connecting VA psychologists with tribal mental health in order to merge care for Native female veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey\u2019re on board with that, it\u2019s just now getting all the key players together to figure out how we\u2019re going to map that out,\u201d Culley explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the many hurdles facing members of the community when seeking health care, Native female veterans say they continue to persevere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve survived a lot of things over many generations. We\u2019ve survived boarding schools, separation from our children, and the resiliency of our communities specifically is around survival,\u201d Tetnowski said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Native American women comprise a higher segment of the veteran population compared to other races, proportional to the size of their demographic 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