October 14, 2022 - Aron Sousa, MD
Friends,
The quality of President Stanley’s resignation made maine bittersweet but besides heartened by his illustration of integrity, accomplishment, and dedication to the principles that person made American higher acquisition the envy of the world. To beryllium sure, his video message to america was an announcement of his decision, but importantly, it was besides a telephone to proceed the large enactment of the past 3 years. His connection was wide astatine the close, Spartans Will…indeed, we will.
With that successful mind…. This week, I visited Petoskey and Traverse City. I had the accidental to conscionable with our students, immoderate of whom were successful municipality and others were successful their agrarian community. Their engagement, talent, and dedication are ever energizing! Our merry set of me, Jerry Kooiman, Andrea Wendling, MD, and Stephanie Stotenbur, met with donors, infirmary partners, researchers, clerkship directors, field staff, assemblage partners, and alumni.
I ever larn astir our communities erstwhile I visit, but this clip the sojourn changed my encephalon successful important ways. More connected that successful a bit. On this trip, I specifically wanted to drawback up with Frank Animikwam, MD (CHM ’17), who rounded with maine arsenic a third-year pupil connected interior medicine. Dr. Animikwam went connected to bash his household medicine residency astatine Sparrow and is present the aesculapian manager astatine the health clinic of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of the Odawa Indians (LTBB). The session provides aesculapian care, dental care, intelligence wellness attraction arsenic good arsenic accepted healing. I was truthful impressed by the clinic, the enactment Frank and his colleagues do, and the systematic attack the people takes toward health.
Dean Sousa with Drs. Animikwam and Wendling astatine the wellness session of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of the Odawa Indians successful Petoskey, Mich.
Close readers of the update volition enactment the assemblage is making a thoughtful and concerted effort to prosecute and spouse with indigenous groups successful the state. In August, we announced an statement with Bay Mills Community College, creating a pathway from the tribal assemblage to aesculapian school. Andrea and Liz Lyons, Ed.D, person been talking with Dr. Animikwam astir pathways and objective opportunities designed to enactment indigenous aesculapian students and younger students funny successful medicine. We purpose to beryllium thoughtful, useful, and focused connected collaboration.
After the circuit of the clinic, Frank spoke with america astir the trauma the section boarding schoolhouse inflicted connected his people, connected his patients. I’d agelong known astir the boarding schools successful Canada and their plan to suppress and expunge tribal connection and culture. Somehow, I had missed that the aforesaid boarding schools existed successful Michigan. In fact, conscionable northbound of Petoskey successful the bosom of the LTBB homelands, specifically successful Harbor Springs, the Holy Childhood of Jesus School (also called the Holy Childhood of Jesus Indian Industrial School) started successful the aboriginal 1800s, closed for a while, and returned successful the 1880s. The schoolhouse was tally by the Catholic Church and often funded by the national authorities due to the fact that a “boarding schoolhouse successful which the children could beryllium kept each the twelvemonth round, distant from immoral influences, had agelong been felt to beryllium a necessity.” Of course, the “immoral influences” the children were kept from included the children’s parents and their language, elders and their counsel, the people and its culture.
As successful Canada, the intent of boarding schools was to suppress thing Indian astir Indians. The schoolhouse continued successful cognition until 1983. In the aftermath of the discovery of wide graves astatine Canadian boarding schools, we each have to wonderment what would beryllium found with a dedicated hunt of U.S. boarding schools, including the tract astatine Harbor Springs. So far, the diocese has not allowed the blase searches that person been conducted successful Canada.
This week started with Indigenous Peoples' Day, which I anticipation we each instrumentality arsenic an accidental to beryllium funny about, and funny in, the past and lives of our neighbors from autochthonal tribes. It turns retired this is not distant past – the peers of radical successful their forties and older were successful this boarding school. Our colleagues, Dr. Animikwam and his team, assistance their patients find wellness and anticipation amongst the traumas and reminders successful the community. Even astatine a distance, done enactment to enactment students, who successful crook service the people, oregon done engagement with assemblage partnerships, oregon done advocacy and subject successful enactment of health, we are and ever volition beryllium a unit for good…indeed, we will.
Serving the radical with you,
Aron
Aron Sousa, MD FACP
Dean
English (US)