(This story was reported in collaboration with KGOU reporter Hannah France and supported by a grant from the Oklahoma Media Center funded by the Native American Journalists Association.)
TAHLEQUAH — On her first day of work, Patti Mitchell walked into the National Indian Women’s Health Resource Center filled with pride. The walls were covered with black and white photographs of Native American women. As a Cherokee, Mitchell was thrilled to serve her people.
From the middle of Indian Country, the nonprofit mentored girls in tribal communities nationwide. It advised federal agencies on policies that would benefit Indigenous women. It advocated for women to be included in research that could help reduce and treat cancers and other conditions that disproportionately impact Native women.
It didn’t take long for Mitchell to realize how far the center strayed from its mission, which was shaped by a White House directive 30 years earlier.
Instead, the National Indian Women’s Health Resource Center was educating teens at the Tahlequah skatepark about the dangers of underage drinking. Pamphlets around the office advertise sex education for middle schoolers. A brochure titled “Your Life is Worth Living” lists signs that someone might be suicidal and the national suicide hotline.
None directly addressed Indigenous women, Mitchell said. And according to her new coworkers, the nonprofit wasn’t living up to its new mission to care for Cherokee County youth.
Emails confirm that the...
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