Lakotas Struggling With Health Care System

[dT]

Scientists just completed a study of longevity for Americans. The people with the shortest life spans (67 years average) were those living in Oglala County, South Dakota.

The people with the longest lives can be found in a county in Colorado. They live to an average of 87 years.

There are big inequalities in living standards and health care across America, esp. for Native Americans.

Pete (dT)

[Deleted]

Thanks for the reminder dT! And much of the disparity is due to lack of economic opportunity. As this link states, "It [Allen, South Dakota] is considered the poorest place in the United States."

I've noticed that the drop-off in longevity began when the Lakota were confined. Those born in the latter part of the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth lived quite long lives.

Smoke was born in 1774 and lived until 1864. That's ninety years! His grandsons did not fare so well living in the "concentration camps" of Pine Ridge and Standing Rock.

I think the most important factor then was the loss of their culture. As Black Elk once said, "The hoop is broken."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen,_South_Dakota