Today had to be the day of days that will forever live in my brain as the most stupid day ever, I am talking about health and dental care. We all need teeth to maul food so that it will fit in the esophogus and move down into the stomach to supply the body with nutrients and vitamins so that this same body will process and make energy to work and move along the trail of life.

In the land of you get what you pay for, I am searching for Low Cost Dental Care, I google it and find all kinds of articles stating why poor people need dental care too. Then one early morning, like 2AM, I see an ad on the Tele for Encore Dental Care, so hey what the h***!!! I call the toll-free number and request information. Several weeks later after I have forgotten that I ordered it the information arrives in my mail box. Hnmmm! My husband looks it over and says here you read this and tell me if we want to do that. So I do, not a bad price: $30./month, so lets check out what dentists are on the plan......

After not finding anything online or on their website, I call their toll free number. Nope that says my address does not exist, but of course it does because I live there. So I ask for several Dentists that are in my area, so the woman rattles off three of the Dentists on their network (a fancy way of saying they are on this plan). I hang up and call all three Dentists offices and the first one said NO, absolutely not!, I thanked her and hung up. I thought to myself “oh this is not looking good.” The second and the third calls resulted in the same message. “No we are not on their network.”

So before I actually gave this company money to provide Dental insurance to my self employed husband, am I darned glad I checked it out. We could have ended up paying $30.00 per month and have no Dentist that accepts the plan to pay for the treatment. Just goes to show it does not hurt as much to do a little research before you decide to accept something. I also checked out the care offered by a program offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) called ChampVA. Suppposedly a program that will give my dependent care since I am disabled. So my husband qualifies but they do not have dental coverage. So why not is my question???? Is Dental treatment that expensive??? I am 100% service connected disabled and have no teeth and he is not and has abcesses in his mouth that will eventually take him from me and that will be the worst day of my life.

But what kind of Dental or Medical care is a person supposed to get if they do not have employer paid insurance?? That reminded me of a statement that I heard recently about Sen. Obama's proposed health plan, He suggested that people keep their employer paid health coverage and that would help in the long run., but he does not say what if anything he is willing to do for the thousands of Americans who are homeless, self-employed or just not covered by employer paid plans.

I do not know the answer but if the people running for office of the President do not know what to do about this situation, I have no idea what we are supposed to come up with as a solution. There is one thing that most of the insurance companies will not admit but that is going to cause people to die because of it. The insurance companies say that they do not choose to provide dental coverage, but did you know that if you have an abcess in your mouth it can kill you as swiftly as a heart attack??? Poor dental health is not just a minor problem it is a dangerous problem. I knew this after taking classes in the Army to be a dental assistant. The abcess is filled with poisons that if they get into the blood stream can kill you. So what is the problem??? Why is dental care not as important as cancer or diabetes. There are programs that provide for people that are heading for a heart attack or heart disease, there are emergency situations for those who are obese and can not lose the weight because they are all dangerous situations that can lead to death, so why not dental care??? Because for years society has been lead to believe that people only want dental care for the beautiful smile and not for medical reasons. Think about that awhile.

When will people stand up and say enough is enough, we deserve better and all these stupid problems are just killing us. People are embarrassed over so many people being homeless, but during the Great Depression where were the homeless then??? Nowadays we are known as the country of too much and our children already suffering with being severely overweight. And still there is a fast food joint on every corner. Why not just let the druggies sell drugs where they want and let everyone out with a loaded gun, after all we seem to be a country who is so civilized that we can only kill ourselves by eating Mickey D's and drinking tons of soda pop an hour. Our culture is killing itself at a very high rate and I see no one doing anything reasonable to stop it. Oh, yes a few people try by homeschooling their children and trying to provide a decent home where they grow up learning values and are able to cope with a world that is getting more out of whack every day. But when I was growing up, eons ago, life was not like it is today. I recall that and think that if I had children they would have grown up hating me and that is why so many of the elderly people today reside in homes that are not theirs and end up in nursing centers to wait to die. Whatever happened to children getting after school snacks that were healthy and would not ruin their dinner?? Oh, right, that went out with Moms homemade cooking and families eating the dinner meal together. And this is called progress??? I think not.

The biggest problem that I see today is that we have had 20 years of the “ME” generation and now we have no concern for the people that try to exist in the world with us. As long as I get my fair share, as long as I am the first one in line. Have you ever wondered why there are so many people on the highway today that tailgate and ride your bumper??? That is because half of this country are made up of followers and the other half are leaders. So the ones who tailgate are the followers because they of course can not lead down the road, but if you slow down and force them to pass you they will race up to t he next person no matter how far ahead they are and ride their bumper, because they are afraid to lead because gee what if they are wrong??? There is not a thing wrong with not always being right, you just have to have the guts to say ok I make mistakes and I am human. But will that completely fix the problems of today???? Probably not.......

I am an enrolled member of the Lummi Indian nation that is located in the Pacific Northwest, just off of Bellingham Bay in the beautiful Puget Sound.  For generations my family and ancestors have lived near the sound and followed the Salmon, Dungeness Crab, Halibit and other water creatures.  The traditions of the Native American have been constantly purged by the ruling social class of America and even though our history includes times when we were forbad to practice our spiritualism, we have survived and the Lummi people have found a strength that has for generations been attacked.  We are one of the many treaty indian tribes that have rights that were guarenteed to them by the United States government, and even though they tried to make farmers of us, we have survived and even today fish the waters of the Puget Sound and continue to raise our children with the beliefs and culture that have been passed down by our ancestors.

If you are interested in seeing some native artwork that is done by my thousands of relatives then  you would want to go to www.ebuynativeart.com, many of my cousins have been gifted with the ability to carve in the tradition of the Coastal Salish Indians, and pass on these gifts to other family members to keep our spirit alive.  I can recall when I met on of my cousins, Jewell James, he was standing next to a rather large log and looked at me with all seriousness and said "there is a bear in here!"  I was not sure what he was talking about but a couple of years later I was amazed to see a perfect carved black bear and two cubs that he had carved.  If anyone recalls the prayer pole that was taken across country to the park for the families affected by the tragedy of September 11, he and his group were the ones who carved the totem pole and delivered it complete with prayers and blessings for all of the families especially the children who lost parents in the tragedy that fateful day.

We as a nation also were affected by the tragedy of September 11, as our entire tribal council who were divided in half, were on their way to the World Trade Center and also to the Pentagon as the tragedy happened.  Thankfully to the Creator he held them in the palm of his hand and kept them safe.  It was several days before we actually heard from them to know that they were not included in the lists of missing, and our entire tribe gathered at the Community Building to comfort the families and wait on news as to their whereabouts.  We have always had a great faith in the Creator and find peace in being thankful for the gifts and miracles that we have all experienced.  Living on a Native American reservation is not an easy task, but for many generations we have continued to survive and raise our families on land the government says is ours.  At one time our reservation encompassed the entire region from the Bellingham Bay to the top of Mount Baker.  Our tribe owns one of the last natural rainforests in North American as the keepers of the Arleco Ancient Forest region.  We also have a salmon hatchery where each year we release thousands of baby salmon into the rivers as they make their way on their three year journey across the pacific ocean to the shores of China and then return to the waters of the Nooksack river to spawn. 

Even though the government of the United States would like to have conquered us a century ago that is not the way that things happened.  We are a free people and even though we have learned all of the bad from the Indian Agents the government sent in the 1800's, we are starting to find our way out of the quagmyer and push ahead to a future that someday will be plentiful with our traditional values and culture.  I am a recognized bead artist for my people and display my wears at traditional gatherings and Pow Wows in the midwest  where I live, my family may be thousand of miles away but I am able to keep in contact with them and share good and bad news with them.  I was adopted or stolen when I was an infant and was raised by a non-Native famliy and educated in public school.  After graduation in 1971, I enlisted in the US Army and served my country until 1976.  So I am not only an honorable Native American woman, I am also a honorable Veteran/warrior and also live with my husband in the midwest as a disabled veteran. 

My interests today include discovering my land and the remarkable miracles on it and enjoying the peace and quiet of rural country life.  We had a small garden last summer and I learned how to can. We are trying to find alternative forms of energy to use on our land and enjoy just being on our own.  It has not been easy to grow up as a Native American and believe me prejudice and racism are alive and well in America.  I have found that most people see others for the outward appearances instead of recognizing the inner more realistic person.