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Transcript: Ralph Forquera

Displacement of Native people to cities has affected their psyche

[Forquera:]
The displacement of Native people to cities has had a profound effect on just their psyche, how they see the world, how they view the world, their ability to trust people, their ability to interact in a way that allows us to be able to instill in them a sense of belonging, a sense of well-being that can translate then into better health. And the work that we do, while we provide medical and dental services and all the clinical care that I think most people associate with a health care system, the role that we’ve really played in this community is one of acceptance, bringing people together. Being an institution that allows for people to self-identify as being a Native person and for us not to be judgmental in the process of that.