Native Lights – Special Edition: Visiting Vaccines with Dr. Mary Own and Briana Michels

This week, another Special Edition of Native Lights: Visiting Vaccines, where we get a pulse on Indian Country’s response to COVID-19 vaccines, here in Minnesota. On this show we hear from two people deeply committed to the health and well-being of Indigenous people and Native communities. Dr. Mary Owen, MD (Tlingit) is the President of the Association of American Indian Physicians, and she’s also the Director of the Center of American Indian and Minority Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School, on the Duluth campus. Dr. Mary Owen speaks about working with other Native health experts to get the word out that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and crucial for Indigenous people who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. We also hear from Briana Michels (Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe) who is part of the American Indian Resource and Resiliency team at the University of Minnesota Extension, which holds workshops on trauma and healing. Briana Michels works on the Remembering Resilience podcast which explores Native American resilience through and beyond trauma. In our conversation, Briana speaks about the significance of historical trauma, especially during this past year and now with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations.