Tuesday, July 1, 2025 – The necessary, but imperfect reality of the Indian Health Service

Native America Calling

The Indian Health Service (IHS) remains largely misunderstood by those not directly connected to it, and often derided as a bureaucratic and confusing system by those who are. IHS marks its 70th anniversary, providing care to all Native citizens. Of course, the agency’s history is also documented in the hundreds of treaties over almost 200 years in which the U.S. Government explicitly signed on to its responsibility. We’ll trace the history of IHS from the first immunizations to Public Law 638, and chart its future amid a major reassessment of federal government services.

GUESTS

Benjamin Smith (Navajo), acting director of Indian Health Service

Retired Rear Adm. Michael Weahkee (Zuni Pueblo), former director of Indian Health Service

Mary Smith (Cherokee), former CEO of Indian Health Service

Dr. Donald Warne (Oglala Lakota), co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health

Dr. John Molina (Pascua Yaqui and Yavapai Apache), director of the Arizona Advisory Council on Indian Health Care

Break 1 Music: Intertribal Song (song) Black Lodge Singers (artist) Enter the Circle – Pow-Wow Songs Recorded Live at Coeur D’Alene (album)

Break 2 Music: Kunax yak’ei gayshagook (song) Khu.éex’ (artist) Siy​á​adlan (album)

Here’s more from our interview with Dr. John Molina (Pascua Yaqui and Yavapai Apache) discussing how IHS was instrumental in getting him into medical school and Congress’s failure to recognize the importance of the agency:

https://nativeamericacalling-offload-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Dr.-Molina-Web-Audio.mp3