Originally Posted: July 6, 2015
Doug Miller was a Clements Center Fellow for the Study of Southwestern America in 2014-2015
Dallas’ Urban Inter-Tribal Center: A place for health and trust
The back room of the Urban Inter-Tribal Center of Texas looks more like a shoe store in the mall than a health care clinic. Orange boxes full of Nike sneakers line the wall.
But you won’t find these Nikes in stores. They are made of beige buckskin-like fabric, with shoelaces that thread through the colors of a medicine wheel. At the toe, three small triangles join to form a triangle, symbolizing the North Star.
The cost of such sneakers can top $100. But the clinic gives them to patients with diabetes for free. They’re an incentive to come to get treated, and are designed to prevent foot amputations due to diabetes, a common ailment among American Indians. READ MORE