WAP is alive and well and living in...

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I was just in southern Arizona and I went to a famous mission that

also happens to be on a current day Indian reservation. I first went

to the mission museum. There were many photos of the native people

who lived in the area at the turn of the century. Beautiful people

with excellent bone structure! The current residents were having an

annual Pow-Wow and were selling " native " foods from a long row of

stands on the church courtyard. Everyone was selling the same

things: Fry bread (a tortilla-shaped puffed bread that is made out of

white flour and deep fried in vegetable oil), beef chile, and every

kind of canned soda you can imagine. You can probably guess what I

noticed in the people selling these items: obesity, acne, and bad

teeth. There were exceptions, but these were far and few between.

I'd bet my eye teeth that a look into the medical records of many of

these people would tell a very sad story as well.

I know this is a far cry from a scientific study, but the contrast

between the modern-day Native Americans and their ancestors in the

photos were so striking to me. Much has been said about the cultural

devastation that native people have suffered in this country--it was

profoundly disturbing to me to see their physical heritage destroyed

as well. I wonder with the cultural and language revitalization in

some native communities if there isn't a movement to return to

traditional food preparation as well?? The ultimate irony was the way

the mission museum presented the heroic " selfless " acts of the Jesuits

as they built the mission.

Just my thoughts...