Description:

American Indians have some of the highest rates of type 2 diabetes worldwide. In the latter half of the twentieth century, while rates of diabetes began to climb in Native populations, significant numbers of Natives were migrating to cities under the pressure of the Federal Relocation Program that aimed at assimilating Natives and ultimately ending all federal obligations to American Indian Nations. In this talk, Margaret Pollak will discuss her work on the diabetes epidemic in Chicago's inter-tribal Native community, including the rise of diabetes rates in the community, contemporary experiences with the disease, and how this epidemic plays a role in shaping some aspects of modern urban Native culture and community.