Hosted by Wes Studi (star of The Legend of Geronimo), this look at health care (or rather the lack of health care) on the Navajo reservation examines the struggles of Navajo health care workers. In the face of underfunded facilities, near epidemic levels of alcoholism and diabetes, and uncertainties over the domains of traditional and modern medicine, Navajo health care seems--to the exasperated interviewees--to be an oxymoron. Lorraine Thomas works 12-hour shifts, Susan Gilmore works at a clinic that is only open one day a week, and Jeffrey Harold drives an ambulance for Emergency Medical Services (a flagship of modern medicine that many of the elderly Native Americans view with some distrust). Navajo Medicine is more of a compilation of interview clips than an in-depth study of the problems plaguing Native Americans on reservations today, and that limits its usefulness. The "progress" achieved by hard-working individuals profiled in the tape, while notable, doesn't really point the way toward solutions of the larger problems posed. Still, this is definitely recommended for collections with large Native American holdings. (R. Pitman)
We Do the Work: Navajo Medicine
(1993) 29 min. $89. California Working Group, Inc. PPR. Color cover. Vol. 9, Issue 3
We Do the Work: Navajo Medicine
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