that it's very relevant. You need to include that in a more holistic approach with anything doing with mental or physical health. Senator WELLSTONE. Willa, just to hold you for a second. Again, I'm going to do-kind of apply the same time limit to myself as I've applied to Monte and everybody else. I've spent, now, 2 years working just on the mental health substance abuse area. We're in a really very, very big battle to make sure that it is included and that-because there has been so much stigma and so much discrimination, and I think we may end up having, for the first time as a part of health care reform, a really decent mental health. Mental health is diagnosable and treatable. We can do so much on a community-based program, and we have. And so what I want to make sure of is that if this becomes a part of the National Health Care Reform bill, that it would strike me, that we also have to make sure within the Indian Health Service that we build that in. I mean, it would be an irony to have it as part of one reform and then to not figure that in, in terms of what we do, actually, to deliver health care in Indian country. But we're very determined that this not be put in parenthesis. That this not be considered icing on the cake, but very much a part of health care. And so I really appreciate your comments. Ms. MORRIS. Thank you. Ms. SEEGER. Marvin Manypenny. Senator WELLSTONE. Welcome, Marvin. STATEMENT OF MARVIN MANYPENNY Mr. MANYPENNY. [Opening statement made in native tongue.] I'm one of the original people of this land. And part of a lot of the problems we're talking about here has to do with sovereignty. Before you were elected Senator, down in Minneapolis in a church, I asked you about respecting sovereignty of Indian Nation. You said that I think that you are showing some of that by coming to the community and listening to our concerns. One of my concerns is, we talk about compacts for self-governments. I'd like it understood, or for people to be cognizant of what's going on here. When we talk about sovereignty, we're talking about sovereignty that abides in the people. The administration has been meetingyou know, the President met with, what we call, recognized tribal leaders throughout the country. The Attorney General, as well as Bruce Battle also met, and were discussing self-governments. If there is going to be change in the compacts that you talk about here that were going to be entered into by the U.S. Government, then I certainly think that what you're doing must be communicated to the people. One of the problems in Indian country, and I emphasize the "Indian country"-I am not an Indian. I am not-my existence isn't based upon the Discovery Doctrine. And I think it's high time that political leaders understand. We have no voice. These so-called tribal leaders here who purport to represent us, do not. If we're going to have change, or governmental structure change amongst the nations of this Indian Nation-what you call Indian nations in this country-then I want to participate fully in that. We have been clamoring to get attention to what is going on here. Where is the people's participation? I want to participate in whatever changes that are being made here, because it isn't by the people." When we talk about the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, that is all of us who belong to that. It isn't the tribal executive committee and or the reservation business committees. Now we know that you're moving toward setting up systems here, especially on White Earth. And I could talk about White Earth. And there's no knowledge on the part of the people. And what I want done is a look at that Constitution and what it says and how the Secretary of Interior has a duty to make sure that our self-determination is protected. And with that, I will stop. Senator WELLSTONE. Thank you very much for your statement. Ms. SEEGER. Norman, we started with you; why don't you do a brief closing? Norman Deschampe? You don't want to speak again? OK Senator WELLSTONE. This will conclude our hearing Let me thank each and every one of you for coming There was very powerful testimony. I take it to heart. I think we have a very difficult struggle ahead of us, but I think that what was said was very important. I think the way it was said was equally important. And I look forward to working with you all and staying in very close touch with you. And the one promise I can make is. I'll do my very best Thank you very much for this hearing (Whereupon at 12:45 pm the hearing was concluded.] APPENDIX ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Statement to the Senate Committee Two years ago my son Neil, presently 15 years old, was taken to the IHS in Cass Lake, MN. It was a Wednesday in March the doctor that was there was a older man. It was obvious in his manner that he was new to the system however I did notice that he misplaced his pen on the desk and searched intently for it and also needed help filling out the forms. My son complained of stomach pains. Upon examination the doctor determined that nothing was wrong and sent us home. He said "if the pain continued to come back in." The stomach pains persisted that night and the next day he could hardly walk. I wanted to take him to the Bemidji Hospital but do to financial circumstances and no health insurance at that time I decided to take him back to Cass Lake. We arrived at the hospital at about 9:00 am, a different doctor that was on call examined my son. She decided to run some tests. After the preliminary exam he laid in the emergency room for a while as it was the most comfortable position for him. Later he was moved into a room. In the afternoon (about 3) the doctor decided to call a specialist in Bemidji. The specialist advised her to transfer my son to Bemidji. On the way to Bemidji the realization of what could happen hit me, I didn't want to loose my son and I wondered if I had made the right decision in taking him back to Cass Lake. I wept on the drive to Bemidji and prayed to the Creator (God) to take care of him. We arrived at the Bemidji hospital and as he was being moved into the x-ray room he began to holler in agony. The hospital did one more test and he was immediately sent to surgery with a ruptured appendix. He remained in the hospital for 10 days. In all my son was seen by 3 different doctors in Cass Lake and 1 in Bemidji When the hospital bills started to arrive, we thought they were to be taken care of by the IHS in Cass Lake, but they stated that we lived off the reservation and they could not pay. We went through the proper channels then decided to call the main office in Maryland. The director stated there was nothing he could do, to try the proper channels again After much argument and pleading they agreed to pay I think that native people living off the reservation should receive vital services they need. There are people living off the reservation that are living life in pain because they cannot receive proper treatment (such as corrective operations i.e. back surgery) There is no amount of money in this world that could have replaced my son if he had died I think we should reevaluate our priorities and policies. What price do we put on suffering and Commissioner Milbridge's Statement on Health Care Reform May 9, 1994 Statement by: Dan Milbridge. Commissioner of Health & Human Services Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians on: Health Care Reform Good Morning! My name is Dan Milbridge. I am the Commissioner of Health & Human Services for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians located in central Minnesota. I am here to submit views on Health Care Reform on behalf of the Chief Executive of the Mille Lacs Band, Marge Anderson. We applaud the goal of a federal guarantee of "universal health care coverage" for all Americans. We think all Americans should have this guarantee and hope that the United States has the will to actually implement that guarantee for all Americans. But as Indian people we find some of the discussion painfully ironic. For decades we Indian people have had a similar federal guarantee of health care coverage, at least in theory. Ours is based on treaties and agreements we made in exchange for our land and on the ensuing trust relationship our tribal governments have had with the United States. But for generations the United States has miserably failed to actually carry out this guarantee to Indian people. Our health statistics place us with the worst of the worst off Americans. We have been sharply limited to where and when we can get our guaranteed health care. When we get it, our health care has been all too often of relatively poor quality. In frustration, more and more Tribes the past twenty years have taken over the administration and management of the IHS health operations. The fatal problem with the federal guarantee of Indian Health coverage is that regardless of whether they are federally or tribally run, Indian health programs must annually scrap like pan-handlers in the appropriations process for funds out of a diminishing "discretionary" federal budget. Tribes have repeatedly asserted that Indian health funding should be treated as entitlement funding in the federal budget, like Social Security |