Health Care for the Underprivileged in the Land of Affluence: California Native Americans

Abstract

The American Indian has demonstrated all too clearly, despite his recent move to urban centers, that he is not content to be a poverty statistic. He has demonstrated the strength and fiber of strong cultural and social ties by maintaining an Indian identity in many of the nation's largest metropolitan centers. At the same time, he aspires to the same goal of all citizens—a life of decency and self-sufficiency. The non-Indian population of California needs to keep in mind that at the time the Indians agreed (under coercion in most cases) to turn their ancestral lands over to the white man, treaties were signed by the Indians which promised that, in exchange for Indian lands, the white man would provide for the health care, education, and welfare of Indians. Indians are attempting to achieve a life-style compatible with individual dignity and personal peace—the base of Native American culture. There must be rediscovery and preservation of that culture to insure the physical, mental, and environmental well-being of its members.