ALERT:  Info on H1N1 Influenza A "Swine Flu"

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Public Health in Indian Country is consistently overlooked but is a key component in building Resiliency against Public Health Threats. NWTEMC works with agencies and organizations to better help Tribes build Resiliency and develop Public Health programs.

Tribal communities in the Northwest have been most vulnerable to pandemics. The explanation below which help illustrate this point.

If you have any information to add to this page, please let us know by e-mailing to info@nwtemc.org





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American Indian & Alaska Native (AI/AN) Populations

 

 

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Pandemics among Native American peoples of the Northwest

To better understand the urgent need for better public health and pandemic planning in Indian Country here in the Northwest , one need look no further than in the very recent past.

Beginning with the arrival of Old World explorers and traders  in the 1770s, numerous pandemics of measles, smallpox, malaria and tuberculosis spread rapidly throughout the Indian communities. With no natural immunity and a culture based on communal living and close family ties, the diseases rapidly decimated whole villages and Tribal Nations, not only wiping out populations, but entire histories and cultures that are now forever lost.

It is believed that from the time of first contact with Spanish traders to the times of the Treaties in the 1850s-60s,  80% of the Native population was lost to pandemic diseases.  This does not include subsequent epidemics and pandemics that disproportionally affected Native Americans in the 20th century.

Without adequate Public Health planning and resources in Indian country, it is quite possible for these diseases as well as newer potential pandemics (such as avian flu) to come roaring right back.