For a little while now, First Nations' types across the US, from the Arctic to our southernmost part, have seen an uptick in deaths from cancers. It seems to coincide with the increased reliance upon pesticides and herbicides being sprayed to control various vectors and "weeds."
So, what does this have to do with the rise in cancers among First Nations' types?
Well, traditional ways of gathering and preparing materials for basket weaving, for food and for a variety of daily tasks often involves collecting these materials in traditional areas that are now under control of local, state or federal governments. It also means that these traditional "wild areas" are not so while as they once were -- chemical agents are sprayed to control what the governments consider vectors, "weeds," or unwanted plants.
A variety of willows are used for traditional basket weaving. These same willows are considered weeds by the governments that control the land upon which they grow and are heavily sprayed to kill them. Then, the basket weavers go out, collect herbicide covered willow and begin working their materials. I am a little fuzzy on exactly how to prepare willow for basketry, but I do know that most traditional tools include using the teeth and fingers to pry and peel. By the time the weavers know something is wrong, their health has already been adversely affected. It should also be noted that willows love water and usually tend to grow close to waterways . . . so, those herbicides are then spread downstream to other populations.
This is just one example.
Up North, cancer rates are increasing at an alarming rate. This is mainly due the the heavy reliance on subsistence as the only viable lifestyle. And, due to how all the various air and water currents run, every chemical used further south accumulates in the North. Many chemical controls for pests and plants that have been outlawed for years are still found in measurable amounts in the North. Heavy metals and chemicals accumulate the higher up the food chain they go -- and humans in the North tend to eat fairly high up on the food chain.
So, why don't these humans up North just go to the nearest Safeway, you ask? Well, the closest Safeway could be a $250 plane ticket and a long plane flight away. Closer grocery stores can only stock up on Outside goods by flying it in . . . a dozen chicken eggs in the city that cost $3 could skyrocket to $4/egg, once they finally do make it out to the village store. A gallon of gas, shipped outside of Alaska for refinement, then shipped back and then flown out to a village? Well, depending on how far out a village is, that gallon of gas could be $25/gallon or $50/gallon.
Then the question is, why does everything need to be flown out? Why don't they just truck it? Well . . . building the infrastructure for roads is just not feasible in the North. Between the harsh climate and the difficulty of building on tundra, it is just not cost effective. One guy, Wally Hickel, decided that he'd bulldoze the tundra from the Interior to the North and build a road through it, instead of over it. That road is now known as Hickel's Canal.
Plus, we are talking about Alaska, a HUGE state. Our Southeast is pretty much a collection of islands, and the country is too rugged to build roads to many communities. There is one road in from the mainland -- it connects Haines, AK to Haines Junction in Canada. But, most other Southeast communities are accessible only by air or sea. South central Alaska (where Anchorage is located) has more roads and more ways of getting there, but still is completely different from most places found in the Lower 48. Things are a little cheaper, yeah, but still are pretty expensive by comparison. Then, there are all the communities not connected by roads that are only accessible by air (small bush plane -- large runways are a luxury item not many places can support) or sea. Southwest and Western Alaska is only accessible by air or, depending on how close you are to the coast, sea. Interior Alaska has one major highway that connects Fairbanks to Anchorage. There is also the Alcan Highway, or the Alaska-Canada Highway that connects Alaska to Canada, and eventually to the Lower 48.
And, that is why Alaska Natives, or really anyone who lives out in villages, depends so heavily on subsistence and traditional ways. The minimum wage would have to be close to $75/hour to make any sense. We'd also have to have an unemployment rate lower than the current 85% (this is just for paying jobs, as subsistence is a full-time obligation, as even between seasons, there is equipment to be repaired and preparations to be made before the next season), in most communities.
The next question I get is, "So, why don't Indians just, like, you know, change?" An excellent, highly culturally-insensitive and otherwise completely ignorant question! Since Columbus first landed and the beginning of the European conquest of the Americas, First Nations' peoples have had to survive genocide, cultural subjugation and other massive campaigns of assimilation to European ways. First Nations' peoples have just as much right to live as they have always lived as modern societies evolve around them. First Nations' peoples have just as much right to continue their traditions as other peoples and cultures. First Nations' peoples' cultures are just as relevant as any other culture. Cultural domination and cultural assimilation should be shed as vestiges of a bygone era.
Many traditionally-minded peoples also think the rise in cancers has something to do with their own failings to stop poisons and environmental degradation that have adversely affected life everywhere. They think that they have done something to incur the wrath of a supernatural being. What they do not take into consideration is that there are many peoples who insist on living outside of balance with the natural world. From a traditionalist's point of view, to live contrary to nature makes absolutely no sense. Crowding peoples into steel and glass towers seems barbaric and unhealthy. Separating peoples from Nature seems equally as barbaric and unhealthy. Sure, we all see the huge metropolises on TV and in movies, but people don't actually LIVE like that?!?!? Do they? Why would anyone choose to live like THAT? Squished into little boxes, no hunting, no fishing, where do they pick berries? How do they eat? What do they eat?
Another way of thinking about cancers is that history is continuing to target the First Nations' peoples -- like small pox blankets, the common cold and flu, and other illnesses spread by Europeans and Africans and Asians. Toxins are intentionally sprayed on natural areas where traditional peoples gather materials. Poisons are used elsewhere in the world and then concentrated in the Arctic regions. What some peoples do thousands of miles away has a devastating effect on peoples who just want to continue their traditions and cultures and languages.
Traditional ways are not outdated. They should not be shed just because some other, foreign culture deems them outmoded. Rather than viewing it as one culture versus another culture, we could learn important lessons about education, ecology and cultural diversity by listening to traditional peoples.
Monday Night Cancer Club is a Daily Kos group focused on dealing with cancer, primarily for cancer survivors and caregivers, though clinicians, researchers, and others with a special interest are also welcome. Volunteer diarists post Monday evenings between 7:30-8:30 PM ET on topics related to living with cancer, which is very broadly defined to include physical, spiritual, emotional and cognitive aspects. Mindful of the controversies endemic to cancer prevention and treatment, we ask that both diarists and commenters keep an open mind regarding strategies for surviving cancer, whether based in traditional, Eastern, Western, allopathic or other medical practices. This is a club no one wants to join, in truth, and compassion will help us make it through the challenge together.