Reporting

Mainstream media is full of stories about how trauma can affect our bodies, minds and even our genes. That's left some in Indian country wondering why science took so long to catch up with traditional Native knowledge.

Elder abuse is a huge and growing problem, but it gets no where near the budgetary or political recognition of child abuse and domestic violence. It's underreported and government resources are scarce.

Desperate to stem the recent spate of youth suicides in their community, residents of South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation have turned to an unlikely ally — crowdfunding.

In communities without running water and flush toilets, 11 times more children develop pneumonia than other Alaskans, and some develop complications that can lead to lifelong respiratory problems.

This week is Infant Immunization Week. It calls attention to a growing concern. Nationally, and here in West Texas, children are not being vaccinated due to a fear among some parents that the MMR vaccine leads to autism. MMR stands for measles, mumps, and rubella.

What if you didn’t have piped water and sewer, and the government wasn’t picking up the tab to extend such resources to you in rural Alaska? How would you go about finding a low-cost system that you could keep running through the winter?

Even rural Alaskan communities that have raised the money to build modern sanitation systems face the threat of their ultimate failure due to the lack of funding for operations and maintenance, wiping away whatever health gains were achieved.

In her Kick the Bucket series, Joaqlin Estus tells the stories of rural Alaskans who are just getting used to modern plumbing, as well as others who are still waiting for running water.