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In the U.S., Seva supports Native American communities in recovering traditional, healthy food sources that address health disparities like Type II diabetes. Here, our Native American Community Health (NACH) program shares the latest inspiring stories from the field: Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska; Lake Andes, South Dakota; & Oakland, California.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Seva at Longest Walk III: Reversing Diabetes Kickoff

Beginning February 14, 2011, the Longest Walk III was set in motion to fight Diabetes in Native American Communities.  The walkers travel a path across 26 states, close to 10,000 miles, to encourage a lifelong path of planting, growing, harvesting crops and healthy eating. The goal of the walk is to bring awareness and education about Diabetes and its effect on the lives of so many Native Americans. Two NACH staff joined a group traveling from the Bay Area to be present at the walk’s kickoff in San Diego and support the Northern Route runners. The event welcomed walkers, runners, and people in wheelchairs to join the journey. The two Routes of the walk join in Washington DC on July 8.

Stories from our Partners: 2010 in Review

Our partner organization Ilinniagvik Attautchikun ( Inupiaq for “learning together”), coordinates subsistence food revival among 11 villages in the NW Arctic Borough, and has seen major progress in the community’s activity planning and trading routes. They've yielded over 40,000 pounds of food for themselves, impacting more than 900 tribal members with the results. Currently, we’re helping Ilinniagvik Attautchikun to set up a freezing and processing facility for the distribution of the year’s game and harvests.

In the Ihanktonwan Dakota lands, the Brave Heart Society has grown an inspiring 20,400 square feet community garden that is helping to change the eating habits of the local people. Brave Heart aims to revive a traditional food storage system to act as a food hub, and even hopes to develop a Native owned grocery story that carries Native goods and foods at an affordable price for reservation residents.


Here in the Bay, the Intertribal Friendship House, which serves as a multi-tribal community center for urban Native Americans and Alaskans, has recently partnered with public health organizations such as the Northern California Society for Public Health Education. In hopes to prompt healthy eating habits and diabetes education, IFH has rapidly developed a community garden of over 60 new plants, herbs and vegetables. The first year alone has drawn over 2,900 community members into the projects, and as the New Year dawns NACH looks forward to being a part of the community center’s growth.