Facing Cancer in Indian Country: The Yakama Nation and Pacific Northwest Tribes

Indian communities have inadequate resources to conduct cancer education, encourage cancer screening and prevention, and help patients obtain cancer-related care, either within the IHS system or in the non-Indian community. Important but remediable cultural misunderstandings by care providers and patients alike often complicate the provision of cancer care, and simply reaching cancer care facilities from remote reservation areas is itself a major barrier. All of these issues are made worse by the widespread poverty and limited educational and economic
opportunities common to Indian communities.

This book contains attached report and recommendations to help meet our national obligation and alleviate the unnecessary suffering that Native American people with cancer and their families now endure.