Posted by [EMAIL PROTECTED] : <+>=<+>KOLA Newslist<+>=<+> 2000 -23 Why is Leonard Peltier still in jail?! ========================= [article provided by Pat Morris. Thanks!] Tue, 07 Dec 1999 http://www.spokane.net:80/news-story-body.asp?Date=120799&ID=s716454&cat= Nethercutt criticizes food allocated to Native Americans Government program contributes to poor nutrition, congressman tells clinic staff Rob McDonald - Staff writer The congressman stood in the cultural center at a Native American chemical dependency treatment center for youth, posed for a photo with the staff and turned a joke into a serious point. "Say cheese," someone said. "To Indians, you're supposed to say commodity cheese," said John Guenther, director of The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations in east Spokane. As the Indian staff laughed, Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Spokane, said, "I have something to say about commodity cheese." The government distributes fatty and high-carbohydrate foods to low- income people, he said. "That kind of food is increasing obesity among our young kids," Nethercutt said. And it worsens weight-related health problems such as diabetes among Indian populations, he added. "I said to the secretary, `You should examine what foods you are giving,"' Nethercutt said. About 20 Indian staffers, from counselors to administrators, nodded in agreement. Nethercutt has a history of supporting Indian health issues. He will be a keynote speaker Friday in San Diego at a health convention sponsored by Indian Health Service, a federal agency under the Health and Human Services Department. Monday morning, Nethercutt toured the Healing Lodge, a treatment center run by a board representing seven Indian nations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. While new spending has taken a back seat to budget-balancing concerns, Nethercutt said "I think this is a place where we can spend money wisely." Nethercutt is on the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee that affects federal spending on the Healing Lodge. Nethercutt's also working to give more power to Indian health leaders by moving the Indian Health Service director position closer to the health secretary. In January, Nethercutt introduced a bill to elevate the position to assistant secretary for Indian health, which gives Indian health leaders direct access to the secretary of health. On the Spokane Indian Reservation a year ago, Nethercutt's involvement helped the Spokane Tribe raise funds to expand its health clinic, said Doni Wilder, area director of Indian Health Service in Portland. Nethercutt earmarked funding that required the tribe to match dollars to expand and remodel the clinic, Wilder said. "It really was a model of what hopefully other tribes will be able to do to meet their facility needs," Wilder said. The Healing Lodge treats American Indian youth ages 13 to 18, but also takes in non-Indian patients for 60-90 day treatment programs. <+>=<+> http://users.skynet.be/kola/ http://kola-hq.hypermart.net <+>=<+>
