Bev Warne
Drawing
on Rich Experiences
In 2002,
Bev Warne, Oglala Lakota, MS, RN, became the director
of the American Indian Students United in Nursing
(ASUN) program at Arizona State University. When she
travels around the state recruiting new students into
the program, she helps motivate them to consider a
career in nursing by talking about the many exciting
nursing jobs that are possible including the jobs she
has had during her 45 years as a nurse. The many kinds
of experiences that Warne has had include serving as a
school nurse, an IHS public health nurse, a pediatric
nurse, and a nurse in a clinic in Bangkok, Thailand.
Since 1990 Warne has been on the faculty of Mesa Community
College, where she has participated in enhancing the
nursing program, including cultural diversity initiatives.
She initiated and developed the Community Health Advocacy
Program designed for Native American students, and she has
taught several nursing courses as well as other
health-related courses.
In her pre-nursing course on culture and health, Warne
invites guest speakers to talk about issues in different
cultures. To help students better understand the health and
disparity issues among American Indian people, she tells
stories both about Indian people and about her own life.
“We have a very high rate of diabetes type 2,” she says.
“One of the tribes in our state has the highest rate of any
cultural group in the world. The tribe used to be an
agricultural society with a river running through their
land. That means hard work and healthy food. A river means
fish and wild life for protein. They also had the spiritual
cultural events that are embedded in an agricultural
society, including the ceremonies for the spring, summer,
fall, and winter solstice. These ceremonies were
spiritually connected to the land, to the river to the
gardening, and to the harvest. So they were a healthy
people.
“Then the U.S. government built dams. The river dried up
and the gardens went away. This created a lifestyle change.
The physical activity connected with gardening and
harvesting was gone, so people became sedentary. The
reasons for celebrating the solstices went away. The
government provided commodity food, which our bodies were
not used to in the Old Way – cans of beef with 2 inches of
yellow lard on top, cheese, white flour and later soda and
candy. The people had gut-wrenching hunger so they were
forced to eat the fat that made them feel full.
“The end result was type 2 diabetes and all the
complications that accompany that. In addition there was
spiritual grief associated with the loss of ceremony and
the loss of life style. So depression and a whole array of
consequences enter in.”
Warne asserts, “People need to know about the high rates of
diabetes, alcoholism and suicide, but they need to know the
reasons
why this is the
situation.”
Forced
Assimilation
Warne’s own story helps students better understand both the
horrors of what the older generation went through with
forced assimilation as well the courage and spirit that
enabled Indian people, like Warne, not only to succeed but
to become leaders and mentors of others.
“I’m Lakota,” says Warne. “My first language is Lakota. I
didn’t learn to speak English until I went to a BIA [Bureau
of Indian Affairs] boarding school. When my mother went to
the same school they punished her and the other children if
they spoke our language. The people at the school didn’t
physically punish us for speaking our language, but they
didn’t like it when we did.
“We wore little military-like uniforms and were marched
everywhere. Our beautiful long hair was cut, including the
long hair of the traditional boys. They assumed we had
lice, so every Wednesday they’d march us to the basement
where we had to fine comb our hair with kerosene that was
in coffee cans on the tables.”
What kept Warne grounded and strong? “I had a wonderful
beginning on the reservation in our extended family,” she
declares. “We didn’t have material things, but I remember
the warmth, support and belonging. My mother said that in
those days I would gravitate to those who had been injured
or sick. I seemed to know they needed someone at their
side.
Gaining Confidence
When we left the reservation and I went to high school in
Rapid City, I had another culture shock. It was a very
racist town. We were conditioned to think that we weren’t
college material so I decided to be a nurse’s aid and got a
job at the local Catholic hospital.”
Warne wasn’t aware of her many gifts but two nurses helped
her gain self-confidence. One was the wife of the owner of
a restaurant where Warne worked as a dishwasher starting at
age 13. The other was the nun who supervised her work as a
nurse’s aid. Warne remembers, “ The nun told me, ‘You can
become a nurse,’ When I told her that neither I nor my
parents had money, she said that I was eligible for a
scholarship.”
The nuns coached Warne so she was reasonably comfortable
when a group of stern white men interviewed her for a
competitive scholarship. Warne was given a scholarship and
successfully completed the diploma program taught by the
nuns who she described as “strict but kind”. After one year
of work, she married and moved to Arizona where she has
spent most of the rest of her life. After 16 years as a
nurse, Warne returned to school for her bachelor’s and
master’s degrees.
Every June Warne returns home for the summer solstice. “I
immerse myself in my language, my home, and my land. That’s
how I get my spiritual strength. I used to take my sons
with me. They continue to go. Both are very traditional and
wear their hair long. Both work with Indian people – one as
a physician, the other as a rehab specialist.”
Warne is aware of the importance of family and mentors in
her career. In turn, she is providing a family and
mentoring for her students.
This
article was originally published in the Summer 2007 issue
of
Winds of Change. (The cover
artist is Bunky Echo-Hawk, Yakama/Pawnee.)