Earlier this month the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a two-year pilot program to cover traditional Native American healing practices such as sweat lodges, talking circles, smudging, traditional foods, and others which address physical and mental health. The program will be available in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Oregon.
A drumming circle at a Native-led recovery treatment program in San Francisco.
According to a letter sent from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the program will be in effect from 16 October 2024 through 31 December 2026. In California, which is home to the largest Native American population in the US, Indian Health Service providers will be able to request reimbursement for their services beginning January 2025.
Screenshot from a letter sent from CMS to the director of California's Medicaid program, Medi-Cal.
A report from the National Council of Urban Indian Health, which discusses the impressive results of numerous studies regarding the efficacy of traditional Native American healing practices, is available as a free download here. You can read a recent press release by NCUIH containing information on each state's participation and pertinent links regarding coverage here.
Medicine wheel diagram from the National Council of Urban Indian Health.
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John Kinsel Sr, Navajo Code Talker 1917-2024.
One of the last remaining Navajo Code Talkers, John Kinsel Sr, has passed away aged 107. According to a statement by his son Ronald Kinsel, his father died peacefully in his sleep early on the morning of Saturday 18 October. John Kinsel Sr was born in Cove, Arizona in 1917, and attended Fort Defiance Boarding School at the age of six. Mr Kinsel enlisted in the US Marine Corps in 1942, serving with the 9th Marine Regiment and the 3rd Marine Division in the Pacific, including the Battle of Iwo Jima. Following the end of World War II he returned to Lukachukai, Arizona, where he lived for the rest of his life. He is remembered as a hero, a living symbol of Navajo cultural pride, and as a pillar of his community. The United States owes him, and every Code Talker, a debt of gratitude which we can never fully repay. (Though we should certainly try).
Tribute to Navajo Code Talkers by artist Doug Hyde, 1989. This beautiful and impressive bronze stands in downtown Phoenix. One of my very favorite outdoor bronze statues.
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