While needs are great, Ms. Seanez is optimistic about the progress the Nation has made and the steps it must take to continue to move forward.
“Being on the Governor’s Council has broadened my perspective, particularly about the importance of public awareness and prevention,” says Ms. Seanez. “There’s so much more we could be doing.”
For example, she notes, “Rodeo is a big sport here, and ATVs are becoming more and more popular. We need to increase people’s awareness about how to prevent injuries during both of those activities.”
She also is committed to increasing public awareness of the importance of using car seats for infants and children. “We need to make sure that every family goes home with a car seat and knows how to use it,” she says. “There’s always more we can do.”
Urban Indians – those living outside of tribal lands – face somewhat different challenges when dealing with a disability. They often face the rigors of coming to terms with their disability and negotiating a complex service system within a culture that is unfamiliar and without the supportive community that exists on tribal lands.
Urban Indians “face the same challenges as any immigrant,” says Bryan Longie of the Phoenix Indian Center. “They are in an unfamiliar environment, often separated from their family and their culture.”
Mr. Longie, a Turtle Mountain Chippewa, has spent 13 years at the Center providing support services for Urban Indians with disabilities.
The Phoenix Indian Center is a nonprofit human services organization that provides employment, education and social services targeted at Native Americans living in the Phoenix area. It also serves Indians who have traveled from reservation lands to Phoenix to receive medical services for an injury or other disability as well as some non-Indians who need support services.
Mr. Longie’s clients find him through referral from hospitals, schools, vocational rehabilitation programs, tribal organizations, as well as word of mouth.
“Clients see me and they feel they can talk freely,” says Mr. Longie, who has cerebral palsy and uses a walker. “I can ask, ‘If you’ve been able-bodied all your life, and now you’re disabled, how are you going to cope with it?’ And then we talk.”
Mr. Longie’s patience – combined with his knowledge of the health care and social services systems – enables him to advocate successfully for his clients and to teach them to advocate for themselves.
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“People come here and they’re frustrated, confused and don’t know where to turn,” says Mr. Longie. “I help them create a plan and follow through. If they do it, great. If not…we’ll start again.”
To Mr. Longie, creating a plan may mean appealing the denial of SSI benefits or it may mean helping a client find a sweat lodge. “Whatever their needs are, we start there,” he says. “We treat everyone professionally.”
Many of the Center’s clients are in crisis when they first arrive. “We start with basic needs, like shelter, food and transportation,” says Mr. Longie. “Then we move on to other needs.” One of his goals is to see his clients move beyond “being stuck in crisis mode” to engage them in long-term case management.
For Urban Indians – both with and without disabilities – a special challenge is to come to terms with what Mr. Longie describes as “a two-world system” – living as a Native American in a non-Native environment.
Mr. Longie enjoys helping his clients become more comfortable with that aspect of their lives. “I always tell people,” he says, “let your history guide you into the future but not determine your future.” |
