"After months of exploring "Arid-zona" while working at the Phoenix Medical Center, I transferred to the Tohono O'odham Nation - a desert green, rural environment, silent enough to hear the wind whoosh off crows' wings.

The Tohono O'odham have lived here for thousands of years. That makes them as indigenous as the saguaros and the Earth itself.

My co-workers at the Santa Rosa Health Clinic were raised in traditional homes, speaking their language, learning their history. Now older and planning for retirement, they had seen a blur of white faces over the years.

Many had been forced to leave as children to attend Indian schools where they were punished for speaking their own language. Aspiring nurses attended the segregated Indian Nursing School in Albuquerque.

Yet they were very kind. My time there felt like very gentle spiritual polishing."

Get the Story:
Kathi Sabot: Native Americans nurse a dream (The Tucson Citizen 2/10)