[Music]
(Narrator) Flying With The Eagle.
Bringing home the messages of Eagle Books.
Logan Whyte: The Eagle wants people to be healthy
and not get this disease called diabetes.
Mike Wolfe: Miss Rabbit is telling them to eat,
to eat like a plate full of colors of vegetables and fruits.
Ayn Whyte: I was there when the books
were just storyboards.
And I saw them grow into this wonderful tool that is used all
across Indian country.
Kayne Whyte: I'm in a mentoring program and so I think that
could really work.
There's... there'll be smaller kids that will have the books
and then the older kids will read them with the younger kids.
Venita Wolfe: Eagle Books are a way for us
to get our messages out to our children...
(Narrator) The Eagle Books teach that,
by making good choices, it's possible to delay the onset
—or prevent the development—
of type 2 diabetes.
And now, there are more ways that the Eagle's messages
can be brought to families and communities.
Boys' voices: ...that's Rain That Dances...
...that's the bald eagle... ...there's this butterfly...
(Narrator) In 2008, the original paintings
from the Eagle Books were displayed
at the National Museum of the American Indian
in Washington DC and in New York City.
Terrol Johnson: And I just saw it
for the first time and it's, it's very moving.
It hits really close to home in Native communities because it's
about a Native boy dealing with or learning about the effects
that diabetes causes with the foods that they weren't eating,
but looking back and hearing the wise Eagle
telling about what could heal the people.
Boy [reading]: On this beautiful day
with the sky so blue, Rain that Dances was fishing
along a small stream near his home.
As he waited for the fish to bite,
he saw a great bald eagle...
(Narrator) The exhibit introduced many people
to the Eagle Books.
But one of the visitors to the Smithsonian exhibit
was already very familiar with them,
the son of Eagle Books author, Georgia Perez.
Phillip Perez: Well my understanding is
that my mother was submitting photos of her grandchildren
kind of to get an idea of the characters, and it just so happens
that the main character, Rain That Dances,
so much resembles my eldest son, Nathan.
And so it is a shock to walk around the exhibit
and see his face. [smiles]
(Narrator) The Smithsonian exhibit marked
the beginning of a national tour of the Eagle Books art.
[natural sound, birds chirp] At the same time that the Eagle Books
exhibit was opening at the Smithsonian,
the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community,
Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians, in Michigan
was launching the first Eagle Books community outreach event.
There was a Community Fun Fest,
a health fair,
talking circles, and storytelling in local elementary schools.
Lloyd Arneach: Good morning.
[children reply loudly]
All right, That's wonderful.
Now I'm going to share with you some stories...
(Narrator) Stories span generations.
Their ability to be remembered, shared and retold
make them a powerful way to pass along knowledge...
knowledge that helps children solve the problems of today
and understand that their future is bright.
Ayn Whyte: A lot of the important stories
that are shared in Native culture are not written down.
They're always told orally, and, um, I think it's great
that they carry on that tradition.
And I hope that my kids will someday share the stories
of the Eagle Books.
Lynn Aho: The main themes
or the threads
that move through all of the
different communities is storytelling.
Storytelling is a traditional means of education
that fits young and old alike, and it's something
that will be sustained by the communities.
Having the Eagle Books with their new stories about diabetes
and about health are a sustainable means of keeping
that message alive in the communities,
and starting that message with the very young children.
Kathleen Mayo: The stories really provide
the message that we want people to learn.
You know to eat healthy, to exercise every day,
to take care of your body, to watch out for
the bumps in the road, and so it is really good.
We can use it with our Head Start class,
we can use it in the elementary schools,
and even with some of our older groups,
you know, our talking circles.
Our adults are very interested in learning new things,
but knowing what the children are learning too.
[nat sound/drumming from pow wow]
(Narrator) The Keweenaw Bay
organizers also used resources available from local colleges and
held activities during the annual Spirit of the Harvest Pow Wow.
This planning made promotion easier, and helped increase the
number of people reached.
Lori Muhlig: Native American people
come to this event.
The children are here.
This is an excellent place to spread the word about
the Eagle Books project and their important message.
[nat sound] We'll definitely have some sort of diabetes
information or prevention at our powwow forever now,
so thank you.
[drums fade to nature sounds]
(Narrator) The Eagle Books also inspire people
to develop projects that meet the needs
of local children and families.
For instance, two elementary schools in Keweenaw Bay are
building on the Eagle's messages by working with students
to create a nature trail around their school.
Helen: Getting kids active;
that was a real big part of the Eagle Books—
getting kids active and talking about diabetes education.
So number one, when we come out here they get out,
they're moving around, and I think that meets
one of the goals for that project.
Michelle: And the other one it meets is balance.
They tend to see how we imact nature out here—
the good things we do, the bad things we do,
and what an equal balance would be.
And the Eagle Books talk quite a bit about our balance with nature
and balance in our bodies and making choices
with balance in them.
So they really have a great opportunity out here
to just see the balance, see the choices they're making.
(Narrator) The next Eagle Books community event
—and the next stop of the Eagle Books art tour—
was in New Mexico where the Eagle Books were born.
The original Eagle Books paintings were displayed at the
Indian Pueblo Indian Cultural Center in Albuquerque.
Community leaders and educators used this opportunity to promote
health and wellness exhibits at the Cultural Center
and outreach activities in local pueblo schools.
The event organizers invited Lorelei DeCora to Albuquerque
as a special guest to conduct Eagle Books Talking Circles for children.
Lorelei pioneered the use of Talking Circles
to promote diabetes prevention and management.
Lorelei DeCora: There's one aspect of
Native communities that is all powerful, and that's our children.
No one can get the Indian community to change faster
than our children.
And when the children learn through the eyes of the eagle
and through these four books, they are gonna change their families.
And that's what's powerful to me about the Eagle Book messages.
(Narrator) The Albuquerque event organizers
also invited another special guest, Caitlin Baker, a young athlete
who is inspiring Native children to embrace healthy living.
Caitlin Baker: Well, I'm Caitlin Baker.
I run my own non-profit "Caitlin B.";
it stands for Competitive American Indians
Turning Lifestyles Into New Beginnings
(and no, my mom did not plan that when I was born).
What I do is I talk to native American youth and Native kids
about wellness and diabetes.
And since I'm a swimmer (I've been swimming for five years
and I'm a competitive swimmer at the elite level
and swimming is my passion)
I try to tell kids about diabetes and kind of how prevalent it is
in our community and how that it is preventable,
and just because your parents have it,
just because your grandparents have it,
doesn't mean you're going to get it.
When I talk to kids,
I get that certain type of feedback from them.
I think it's because they're listening to another youth.
But I do have experiences with other kids who feel
that hopelessness—that feeling of I'm going to get it.
And I just kind of want to reverse that.
I just want to tell them that there is hope still
and that you can...
like me, I have to be twice as active just because I'm Native.
And I just want to make that positive outreach to youth.
(Narrator) In addition to communities
in Keweenaw Bay and New Mexico,
other tribes like the Confederated Tribes in Pendleton, Washington,
the Winnebagos in Nebraska,
and Sioux tribal members living in Sioux City, Iowa,
have hosted Eagle Books outreach campaigns or sponsored
Eagle Books distribution and promotional events.
Many others, including Alaskan villages and rancherias in California,
have conducted Eagle Books talking circles,
and some tribes like the Chickasaws
and Standing Rock Sioux have participated
in the development of Eagle Books materials and activities.
Families can use the Toolkit materials to entertain the kids--
while they learn about being healthy.
Health educators can use the Toolkit to create displays
in local health clinics or recreation centers.
Tribes can insert their Native languages into the Toolkit's
book templates, to make the Eagle Books their very own.
And teachers will find the Toolkit a great source of ideas
for the classroom,
especially those who are using diabetes prevention curricula.
In Albuquerque Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
featured the popular national curriculum,
the K-12 Diabetes Education in Tribal Schools program (or DETS),
as part of the outreach events.
DETS incorporates the Eagle Books
into its kindergarten through 4th grade activities.
The DETS curriculum is available free of charge for all schools
with American Indian and Alaska Native populations.
Laverne Goebel: And teachers sign up...
...and so they incorporate it into their PE classes,
health classes, Home Ec, those types of classes,
and we want to start with the younger people so that they
will learn, and as children learn, their parents also learn...
(Narrator) Most importantly,
the Eagle Books Toolkit materials are designed
to help communities choose their own pathway to
expressing the value of healthy traditions,
the importance of eating healthy foods,
staying active, and making wise food choices.
Lowery Begay: Diabetes is prevalent,
it's really high among us as native people and it's sad...
...but at the same time you look at our culture
and the way that we're taught
and we were actually basically taught to take
from the earth what was needed.
And my advice to a lot of Native people,
the younger generation,
is go back to your culture and your dancing.
Go back to your idea of the old ways
and the way that we're taught to run and taught to dance.
We're taught to be out there chasing lizards,
whatever it may be.
And you can understand why kids start eating donuts,
why they start drinking a lot of soda and eating potato chips,
because it's good ...
but if we instilled in our children that this is important,
that this is what we need to live a long life,
you know, I think that's what's important—to live a long life
—not the idea of eat this and eat that and not know
the boundaries of what it's gonna' cause later on in life.
(Narrator) At Keweenaw Bay
the community chose to emphasize the message of healthy eating
by focusing on feasts of traditional foods
—to show how good these foods can be.
Chef Dale Schmeisser: ...at feasts you might see
a wild rice that's mixed with venison,
another one mixed with vegetables.
And we have a really wonderful dessert wild rice where it's
mixed with berries and maple syrup and it's really wonderful,
and it's served cold usually.
You know, there was an evolution of food and cuisine
before the Europeans as well.
There was a time when the Ojibwa people probably didn't use corn,
and then they did.
And there was a time they didn't use certain vegetables
that might have been imported from somewhere else,
or that became part of the foodstuffs with trade.
Punkin Shananasaquet: We are recognizing
the promotion of prevention and wellness,
meaning that we need to keep ourselves healthy before the fact,
and that includes living a healthier lifestyle,
which includes home prepared meals from community gardens,
approaching our traditional food sources again,
once again as our ancestors have done
for generations upon generations.
(Narrator) Children, parents, teachers,
health care workers, community leaders—all have the power
to make a difference in preventing Type 2 diabetes.
Many tribal members, right at home,
possess the unique talents, experiences,
and commitment that can bring about change.
(Lorelei DeCora) One of my grandsons....
...he read the Eagle Books and one day he came home and he said
"Grandma, you know some of the food that they feed us
at my school, it's not good for us."
(Caitlin Baker) Right.
Lorelei DeCora: But I'm only in kindergarten
and they won't listen to me, but I know it's not good for us.
And... if the kids tell the parents,
the parents are the ones who can make change...
Because that's what we did when he said that,
we all went down to the school board meeting.
[both laugh]
(Caitlin Baker) Those angry parents...Cool.
What I talk about with kids also is that they have a voice and
that you know they have a part in this world,
that we're not, you know, people tell the youth that they're the
leaders of tomorrow, but that's not true.
We're the leaders of today.
And that we need to make a difference today in our lives.
And it's different when you talk to Native kids
because I know I can go up to my tribal headquarters
and knock on the door of my chief and he'll be there.
And if he's not there my second chief will be there,
and I have somebody to talk to.
(Narrator) Outreach events help communities
use their own power.
Some effects of an outreach event,
school program, or story will be felt immediately.
Others will come years down the road.
Change takes time, but it can be achieved through the choices
that communities and families learn to make together.
Lynn Aho: A really cute story
came to us from our tribal librarian
and she had introduced the books to her grandchildren.
They decided that somebody who tells you should have less healthy snacks
or sometimes foods, is a coyote,
after Mr. Coyote in Tricky Treats.
So later on when grandma wanted to give them,
I believe it was a soda, they said,
"Oh no, grandma, you're being a coyote."
So yes, we have seen evidence of that in the families.
We have seen it to some extent in the schools, too.
Lorelei DeCora: The people hold the answers,
whatever our traditional beliefs are as a people,
because each nation has their own,
that the actual solution to building that diabetes-free future
comes from our traditions.
And then we merge it with the science of diabetes and how to prevent it,
and if we can do that together we'll be effective
to the people we're reaching because we embrace who they are.
[music up and under]
(Narrator) Type 2 diabetes can be prevented.
Adults may make the decisions,
but children have a powerful influence, too.
CDC's Native Diabetes Wellness Program is pleased to support
your community by providing Eagle Books and Eagle Books Toolkits
for Families and Communities.
All are free of charge
and available on CD or for download from the web.
Use these wonderful materials to communicate
the Eagle's message of hope, and to encourage the telling
of new stories about healthy, active living.
To learn more about how your community can obtain Eagle Books
or the Eagle Books Toolkit,
or how to order the K-12 Diabetes Education in Tribal Schools Curriculum,
you'll find information at these websites.
Check the CDC website often
to learn about new books and materials.
[music through credits to end]