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A Special Feast Ruth Dubin Venison donated from a hunter. Smoked salmon from Northern California. Acorn mush. These were three items on the "Did you know that the fat in acorns is monounsaturated*?" Under the direction of Vana Lawson, the staff and volunteers at the Healthy Traditions Diabetes Program had gathered the acorns and prepared the mush. Helen Maldonado, who shares Kashaya Pomo heritage with Vana, remarked, "We didn’t find any tan oak anywhere, it was a really bad year. Traditional women said, ‘we anticipated that;’ that’s why they picked a lot the previous year and they had it already." They found enough black acorns to make black acorn mush for the food fair, and a friend donated the tan acorn mush. The acorn mush was served with a dollop of nutritional advice. Combining tradition with modern-day advice is all in a day’s work for the staff and volunteers at the Diabetes Program, which has been part of SCIHP since 1984. Why go to all this trouble? "People like to know that their food is good for them! Their acorn, their deer meat, their traditional foods are good for them," explained Lucy McKay (Pomo/Sierra Miwok), community health representative and diabetic. Trained to help other diabetics in their homes, Lucy also leads a talking circle in the clinic’s diabetes class (see previous page). Call it "aggressive prevention," or just sharing time and traditional ways with friends. Plans are already under way for a spring food fair, and, next year, the acorn gatherers will be out in full force. *Monounsaturated fat is healthier to eat than polyunsaturated fat, especially for those at risk for heart attack. A person with diabetes is just as likely to have a heart attack or stroke as someone who has already had one heart attack. Lowering blood lipids (fats) through a low-fat and low-sugar diet is one way to lower your risk for heart disease. |
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© News from Native California, 2006 |