Education | Health | National

Cabinet members hear from urban Indian community in Maryland

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, left, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan listen to representatives of the urban Indian community in Baltimore, Maryland, on June 15, 2015. Photo by Andrew Bahl for Indianz.Com

Urban Indians share concerns about 'invisibility'
By Andrew Bahl
Indianz.Com Staff Writer

Two members of President Barack Obama's Cabinet joined a roundtable discussion on Monday to explore ways to better serve urban Native communities.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited Native American Lifelines in the heart of Baltimore as part of a day-long trip to the largest city in Maryland. Topics included urban gardening, improving nutrition in schools and integrating Native culture and history into the curriculum.

“One of the things we experience as urban Indians is a sense of invisibility,” Kelly Hawk Lessard, the center's executive director, said during the discussion. “So having you here today lets people know that we’re here. When people don’t know that you’re here they don’t know the issues that you have.”

Parents detailed their struggles in ensuring that their children were being fed while also not being stigmatized by their participation in the National School Lunch Program. They also discussed efforts to create avenues to nutritional food and cultural education for Native youth

Native American Lifelines is located at 106 West Clay Street in Baltimore, Maryland. Photo from Facebook

Jess McPherson, the fiscal manager and cultural educator at Native American Lifelines, underscored recent efforts to reconnect Native youth to the land by creating urban gardens. The gardens are viewed as a positive example of both healthy eating and cultural education.

“A lot of [Native youth] are completely unfamiliar with where their food comes from and for us, as indigenous people, that is a really scary thought,” McPherson said. “It teaches them how to find food that they may not necessarily be able to pay for … and in turn helps them make healthy choices with their eating. It helps us to build healthier kids.”

Both Duncan and Vilsack pledged support from their departments in bolstering the center’s programs. They also said they would take a look at larger scale issues that affect Native youth in urban environments.

Native youth participate in programs at the Native American Lifelines in Baltimore, Maryland. Photo from Facebook

“We need to see what we can do to continue to give [Native youth] hope,” Duncan said.

McPherson considered the event to be productive and called on Duncan and Vilsack to stick to their word and redouble efforts to provide opportunities for urban Natives. The Cabinet secretaries spent about 40 minutes at the center.

“I feel like they came here to hear us because they care about what we are doing and saying,” she said. “If we can express to them that we care about investing in our people and in our future, hopefully they will make some efforts to do the same.”

Native American Lifelines provides health and community outreach services in Baltimore and throughout the Mid-Atlantic. The center operates under an urban Indian contract with the Indian Health Service.

About 2,500 Native Americans live in Baltimore, according to 2010 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.