The anti-Indigenous use of commercial tobacco harms the planet and its people
The U.S.' history with the tobacco industry is fraught with illness, exploitation, dehumanizing labor practices, and colonization — and the impacts extend until present times. Once used as currency before the country’s independence, the shift from tobacco's cultural significance within Indigenous ceremonies to its commercialization involved the forced removal of Indigenous peoples from their homelands to make room for plantations where tobacco was grown.
Prism reminds us of just some of the laws created over the past few centuries that threatened the very existence of Indigenous peoples, traditions and societies — the Indian Civilization Fund Act of 1819 and the Indian Religious Crimes Code of 1883 — and stripped them of access to traditional tobacco.
Minn.’s new waste management plan supports trash incinerators, but advocates demand their closure
Advocates and physicians in Hennepin County, Minnesota, are calling for the closure of a waste-to-energy facility, which they claim pollutes and adversely affects people with health conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The facility, Hennepin Energy Recovery Center, or HERC, burns 45 percent of the county's trash to generate electricity. Sahan Journal reports closing HERC would result in the state receiving $26 million in funding to build an organics recycling facility, but a draft plan from the state's legislature earlier this summer views incinerators like HERC as an asset and a better alternative to throwing trash in landfills.
Indigenous groups will get $36M in Kroger’s $1B opioid settlement
Kroger, a major U.S. grocery store chain, will pay $1.4 billion to address its role in the opioid crisis, reports Native News Online. The funds will be distributed over 11 years and assist state and local governments, Native American tribes, as well as support treatment centers and harm reduction programs. In 2020, Native Americans’ opioid mortality increased 39% from the prior year, making them the second-highest impacted group after African Americans, according to the CDC.
Meet the Game Changers
Highlighting the innovators transforming health outcomes in our communities
Brooklyn native Cynthia Royer is the founder of killHERcore, a fitness company that offers group training, personal training, nutrition programs, and general health consultations. Royer's story is marked by a tragedy that occurred before Father's Day in 2014. Learn her story on
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