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| Ink, by Hannah Gray |
For years there has been a great struggle to combat the health problems in the Navajo Nation. Annie Dodge Wauneka was a key figure in this fight, and through her unwavering commitment and determination, she changed the lives of Navajo people forever.
On the reservation, Wauneka witnessed devastation caused by disease, particularly tuberculosis. She knew that the conventional treatments of the white Western world, or "white man's medicine," could be the answer. In her mind, bridging the gap between cultures was vital for the health of the Navajo people. At first, she tried explaining to the traditional families that they might improve their health by simply changing the way they prepared their food and sanitizing their cooking and eating areas. She also attempted to win them over through the medicine men, who the Navajo respected and trusted. Eventually, she decided she could make more changes if she were a part of the tribal government. She ran for, and won, a seat on the Tribal Council in 1951. She was the first Navajo woman ever elected to that office. Wauneka was reelected to a second term in 1954, and again for a third in 1959. In addition, she was also chosen to head the council's Health Committee.
In her three terms of office, she led a tuberculosis eradication project. One of her biggest contributions to the effort was a dictionary she put together that translated English medical terms into the Navajo language. She thus demystified non-traditional medical practices for the people of the tribe, quelling their fears and superstitions. Wauneka campaigned for other health care improvements for the Navajo, including better gynecological, obstetric, and pediatric care. She pushed for regular eye and ear exams, and also fought alcohol abuse.
In the next decade she grew to help a larger circle of humanity. She became active on the state level serving on the New Mexico Committee on Aging, and at the general level, serving as member of the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service advisory boards. In 1958, she won the Josephine Hughes Award and the Arizona Press Women's Association Woman of Achievement Award. She was named Outstanding Worker in Public Health of the Arizona Public Health Association the following year, and was honored with the Indian Achievement Award of the Indian Council Fire of Chicago that year as well.
In 1960, Wauneka hosted her own daily radio show on KGAK in Gallup, New Mexico. Broadcasting in Navajo, Wauneka covered general interest items along with important health issues. Her community out-reach wasn't limited to government and the airwaves, however. She was also active in the Head Start program, combining her belief in education with her commitment to health care.
On December 6, 1963, Wauneka was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contributions to health care services. She was the first Native American to win this honor. The citation she received from President Lyndon Johnson read, "First woman elected to the Navajo Tribal Council; by her long crusade for improved health programs, she has helped dramatically to lessen the menace of disease among her people and to improve their way of life."
Wauneka received an honorary doctorate in public health from the University of Arizona in 1976. In 1984, the Navajo council honored her as the legendary mother of the Navajo people. She still served as an advisor to the Navajo Tribal Council into her eighties.
Wauneka died in November 1997 at the age of 87. Navajo Tribal President Albert Hale, one of her grandsons, made note of her many accomplishments and declared; "She made us proud to be Navajo."
Today, the vast improvements in health caused by Annie Dodge Wauneka can still be seen. However, the people of the Navajo Nation still have serious health issues and much work is still needed. Uranium mines on Navajo land (both active and abandoned) have released toxic dust into surrounding air and water supplies, causing cancer rates among the Navajo to be way above the national average. Especially high are the rates of reproductive-organ cancers in teenage Navajo girls, averaging seventeen times higher than the average of girls in the United States. In certain parts of the reservation filled with old mines, stomach cancer rates are 200 times the U.S. average for women for women ages 20 to 40. Too many people have suffered and lost their lives because of the government's blind eye towards these toxic mines. Today, much of the damage is still untreated.
The work of Annie Dodge Wauneka has made incredible strides for the Navajo people, but there is still much work that has to be done. In the battle for Navajo health that lies ahead, we must remember the perseverance and passion of the woman who dedicated her life to helping her people. In this way, we will have great hope for the future, and the memory of Annie Dodge Wauneka will never die. This is Annie Dodge Wauneka.
