A vibrant elk herd could reverse diabetes rates among American Indian tribes, which have long been the highest in the world.
Elk and other protein were the foundation of many Indian meals before the U.S. government moved tribes to reservations and started providing their food.
After that, Indians started to develop higher rates of obesity and diabetes, said Mike Fox, executive director of the InterTribal Bison Cooperative.
The South Dakota group works with tribes to restore bison herds and reintroduce that meat to Indian diets.
Here in the Pacific Northwest elk are one of the most important animals, revered as the source of many of life’s necessities.
Traditionally, tribal members preserved meat and lived off it through the winter. Elk hides were used as clothing and shelter.
Today, tribal hunts take less than 1 percent of the annual deer and elk harvest, according to Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
Many tribes around the country are taking action to restore their traditional food systems, said Kibbe Conti, an Oglala Sioux and nutritionist who focuses on Indian health issues.
Racially, Indians are prone to obesity and diabetes, Conti said.
“In Indian country, there is four to five times the rate of diabetes as in the general population,” Conti said. “We’re disproportionately affected by the American diet.”
There is clear evidence that Indians benefit from traditional diets, whether wild rice, corn, elk or bison meat, Conti said.
Tribes in the Midwest have restored bison herds over the past 15 years, and the meat is being incorporated back into the daily menu of many Indians, Conti said.
It’s too soon to measure long-term health benefits of a traditional diet, but Conti and other experts say short-term results suggest that obesity and diabetes rates among tribes who have worked to restore native diets will soon decline.
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@ heraldnet.com
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