Blends of traditional and modern treatments are used to improve health

By William Kates

ONEIDA, N.Y. (AP) - Joellene Adams is nearing 70 and sees her doctor on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation regularly for her diabetes medicine.

She also is a faithful follower of the tribe's traditional healers and sees no conflict with turning to them for treatment of other ills.

''The medicine is the only way to treat the diabetes in my body, but the old ways also help the mind and the spirit. Life requires balance,'' said Adams, one of 150 Iroquois elders at a recent health conference for American Indian senior citizens at the Oneida Indian Nation in central New York, member of the powerful Iroquois Confederacy.

American Indians have long experienced more health problems compared to other groups of Americans. Inadequate education, disproportionate poverty, discrimination in the delivery of health services and cultural differences are among the factors contributing to their poor health, according to the IHS.

''We have more access to doctors and drugs now than we've ever had. We need to find different ways to heal,'' said Dr. Marilyn Cook, a Cree who practices on the Canadian side of the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation.

''Western medicine is good. We can't do without it,'' Cook said. ''But we have our own ways of healing. We have our own ways of looking after ourselves. We sometimes forget that.''

Read full article here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415241