Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October, this year on October 12. It’s a day to honor Indigenous peoples for their history, culture, and resilience. In 2021, President Joe Biden issued the first-ever presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples’ Day to recognize and show appreciation for Native Americans.
Honoring Indigenous peoples also means recognizing the challenges many Native communities continue to face and supporting efforts to address them. One of those challenges is access to oral health care, particularly in remote and underserved communities. The Society of American Indian Dentists (SAID) is working to improve oral health while also strengthening the pipeline of Indigenous dental professionals. One of its programs, Telling the Story of a Path to Dentistry, has received three annual grants from the Delta Dental Future Workforce Fund.
The Society of American Indian Dentists (SAID) is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1990 to support Indigenous dentists and increase their representation in the dental profession. SAID promotes oral health in American Indian communities, encourages American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth to pursue careers in dentistry, provides mentorship and role-model leadership, and addresses challenges facing AI/AN dental professionals.
Building on this mission, SAID’s Telling the Story of a Path to Dentistry initiative connects AI/AN dentists with AI/AN youth to raise awareness of dentistry as a career and help build the next generation of dental professionals serving Tribal communities. Outreach includes in-person and virtual classroom presentations, AI/AN-focused conferences, high school career events, and a targeted social media campaign designed to engage and inspire students.
SAID is making an impact. In 1956, there was only one American Indian dentist, George Blue Spruce, Jr., DDS, MPH, its founder and president. There are now 450 American Indian dentists.
In recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, I interview the Executive Director of Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum in Warner, New Hampshire, for Northeast Delta Dental Radio. Its galleries display thousands of Native-made objects representing diverse tribes and cultures across North America. You can see our conversation live on The Pulse of NH Facebook page on October 14 or you can find it posted on Northeast Delta Dental on October 31.
