Native America Calling: The necessary, but imperfect reality of the Indian Health Service

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Native America Calling

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Native America Calling: The necessary, but imperfect reality of the Indian Health Service

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

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The necessary, but imperfect reality of the Indian Health Service

The Indian Health Service (IHS) remains largely misunderstood by those not directly connected to it, and often derided as a bureaucratic and confusing system by those who are.

The IHS is marking its 70th anniversary of providing care to American Indians and Alaska Natives. Of course, the agency’s history is also documented in the hundreds of treaties over almost 200 years in which the U.S. government explicitly signed on to its responsibility.

Tune into Native America Calling to trace the history of the IHS — from the first immunizations to the era of self-determination with Public Law 638. Also, let’s chart its future amid a major reassessment of federal government services.

The Cheyenne River Health Center is an Indian Health Service facility on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Photo by Spc. Kristin Stoneback Fleig / U.S. Army National Guard

Guests on Native America Calling

Benjamin Smith (Navajo), acting director of Indian Health Service, headquartered in Rockville, Maryland

Retired Rear Adm. Michael Weahkee (Zuni Pueblo), former director of Indian Health Service

Mary Smith (Cherokee), former deputy director of Indian Health Service

Dr. Donald Warne (Oglala Lakota), co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health in Maryland

Dr. John Molina (Pascua Yaqui and Yavapai Apache), director of Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care