@ NEWS SCIENCE ATECHNOLOGY —STATEAGLOBAL SOCIETY ACULTURE HEALTHAWELLNESS CAMPUSNEWS —UWINTHENEWS — FORMEDIA Lifting from the center: Lac du Flambeau partnership rethinks preventative health PMS LL Ts “Tim Fans an oreach pis lhe Cllabratve Cntr for Heth Ey sed athe OW Mado School else nl Pu Hest an afin the Depart of Comparative Literatur and Fore tues, He work withFrandy spends most ofhistime withthe Lae du Flanbeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, cor the Waaswaaganing Anishinasheg. In 2012, q tribal educator Wayne Vallis invited Frandy ° tothe fir-ever Ojbwe Winter Games, “A a {otkors, ssid absolutely,” Frandy says. "The umes offer frm of healing and create strong sense of identity forthe kids that sonnets thera, in healthy ways to their ancestors Milde school students throw non sraesat the Frandy and Vallierebegan workingtogetherto Ose Wer Gunes nar du Fans Phot: ‘expand the games andthe cor idea behind Maas Codes them ~ that clturally relevant knowledge ould be used to improve the health and wel- being of Native cildren — into a wide range of community projets. In 2013, Pandy helped Vallire lad middle-school students through the entire process of building a birchbark canoe, all the way from harvesting trees to launching the eanoe nto Lake ‘Mendota, (Watch anew short film about the canoe project below) eal? Building a canoes good for physical health for sure, because youl definitely be sore after hauling timber out ofthe woods, butts more than that” randy says Emotionally the kids build relationships with each other and with elders. Mentally they're problem solving using math, physics and eclogieal science. Spiritually, they're elearning ceremonial harvest rituals that are centr to traditions elke, belief and worldview‘Thisholsti perspective ie rotedin a Native American concept called the mice ‘whee, says Frandy. Looking at health through the lens of medicine whee! gives it four parts: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Overemphaszing one part atthe expense ofthe others puts the whee out of balance. “You have oli it from the center,” Prandy say. “If you remove environmental barriers to health and give kids the tools to overcome historical tua, tele whol health improves, You raise all four part up together” If you remove environmental barriers to health and give kids the tools to overcome historical trauma, their whole health improves. Ton Fandy “The works gaining attention fom national heath care advocates n October, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation presented the tribe with a Cultre of Health rie, a significant award and grant that wil help randy, Valliere and other community advocates scale up their work. Theyre curenty partnering with the Lac du Flambeau Public School to incorporate more cultural projets, such as building canoes and ‘wigwams, into the curriculum and to encourage more family and community engagement a the K-12 school “our partnership with UW-Madison is mutually beneficial and a win-win for both ‘communities, sys Vallee “The university has ben a great partner in ll of our work, fom writing grants and helping with implementation of ou programs, to documenting the work we're doing and pushing the effectiveness of culturally responsive programs out toa wider audience. Our young people are being exposed to some of the many’ good ‘people a the university, and there learing that they don't nec to give up their Anishinaabe identity to get an education.”Many ofthe deus being explored in La du “lames could als translate to nonteibal communities, sys Tom DuBois, the Hall- Bascom Profesor of Scandinavian Studies “More nd more, searchers in health ere and scholars of ealture are finding common round, realizing that one ofthe key elements ‘ofhealth or any person isa sense of integration, of bonding with other people, with animals, wih one's environment, with one's istry and identity." he says. “People who fel connested, supported and Photo Jel Mler validate in their existence ead healthier ie, ‘They make beter choices about behaviors, {hey display greater resistance to disease and greater resilience after sickness, an they help spread sens of helt n thei families, their communities andthe wider soci” says DuBois “Human beings are socal nimals, anda sense of connection isinteral to our schievmient and maintenance of health” Tage ts, Coleg of Ltrs Scenes, dest heath & meine ovreach, Schal of Mice and Palle Heath The Wisconsin es