After years of hard work and collaboration, the Fond du Lac Reservation recently published the Fond du Lac (FDL) *Wiidookaage Comprehensive Cancer Plan in April.
American Indians have the highest cancer incidence and mortality rate of any group in Minnesota. In 2002, determined to change this outcome, the reservation applied for a planning grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop a cancer plan for the band. After successfully receiving funds in 2003, the plan was created by collaborative efforts of numerous FDL stakeholders, including the Reservation Business Committee (tribal council); Human Services Division administration; public health nurses; medical, pharmacy, and dental professionals; and community members from cancer survivors and caregivers to concerned individuals.
The plan outlines cancer control activities for the reservation to address from 2007-2012, including the following priorities:
• Data collection
• Prevention
• Early detection
• Treatment
• Palliative and end-of-life care
• Survivorship
• Caregivers
• Evaluation
“Our plan is a testimony to the vision of a small core of concerned people who quietly set about creating a path to follow where none had existed. That path is shown in this document, and as we proceed with the work we have laid out, we come closer to the day when our tribe, individual band members, families, and elders no longer face the devastation of cancer because of the lack of knowledge, direction, understanding, and individuals to provide help and support,” says Sharon Johnson, FDL Wiidookaage Cancer Team chair and band member. “It is our dream that early intervention, education, and awareness will begin to erode the hold cancer has gained on our reservation, and provide our people with the tools they need to survive and thrive in the face of this enemy. We hope this plan helps our people become stronger and more capable of navigating through the often perilous journey toward good health, survivorship, and a long life. We are also determined that no member of our band will ever have to face that journey alone.”
Click here to view the FDL Wiidookaage Comprehensive Cancer Plan. For more information, contact DeAnna Finifrock at 218-878-2125 or deannafinifrock@fdlrez.com.
* Wiidookaage is an Ojibwe or Chippewa word for “They help each other,” which tribal leaders say describes the foundation of the reservation’s first cancer plan.
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