October 12 is Indigenous People's Day, a movement that originated in the late 1980s to address the erasure of history of America's indigenous people. Dr. Melissa Walls, director of the Great Lakes Hub for the Center for American Indian Health at Johns Hopkins and a member of the Bois Forte and Couchiching First Nation Anishinaabe, talks with Dr. Josh Sharfstein about the holiday that shares a date with a more well-known holiday. They discuss the need to overcome false narratives of the past, learn from the resilience of native communities and cultures, and appreciate the contributions that research in Native communities have made to scientific knowledge.
KEYWORDS: racial disparity; substance use; health equity
Public Health On Call