User:Ultraworld17/sandbox

Many researchers argue that genetic factors are at play, suggesting that the cause of Type II diabetes among Native Americans is inherent. The most widely accepted genetic cause is attributed to the Thrifty Gene which is based off of research within the sub – discipline in ecological genetics. However, the genetic cause still remains a hypothesis that serves more to impede the issue by implying that Native Americans have weak genes and lack diversity, rather than address the issue of Type II diabetes by suggesting changes to lifestyle. Instead, the preoccupation for finding a genetic cause for Type II diabetes among researchers has propagated the notion that such a genotype exists, and can have damaging affects when relating it to a specific group of people which can lead to racializing genetics and perpetuating the notion of a false cause to a serious illness. Since the time of colonization, Native Americans have gone through drastic changes in terms of their diet and way of life; albeit it was a slow progression for some Native American communities, nonetheless, it has resulted in increased sedentism and dietary changes.

From a critical perspective, the high prevalence rate of Type II diabetes among Native Americans can be attributed to social – economic and environmental issues. Moreover, by being forced onto reservations only compounded the issue even further causing great disparity. Initially, the reserve system was created by colonial agents to encourage agriculture as a means to “civilize” them. Unfortunately, many Native Americans found themselves displaced to lands unsuitable for farming.

Although some chronic illnesses may have a strong genetic component, when relating Type II diabetes to indigenous cultures such as, Native Americans, and applying an evolutionary model to genetics, the time in which they had contact with Western cultures to current times, is too short a time in which a genetic shift could occur.

Understanding the health and well-being through Native Americans’ worldviews has been largely ignored but instead has been subsequently compounded by the notion of inferior genetics stemming from the false perception of an unproven theory relating to the high prevalence rate of Type II diabetes.

Alternatively, the Thrifty gene hypothesis should be “decolonized,” this does not attempt to discount Western views, science and the political role it plays for the implication of Native Americans, but to merely put it into a Native Americans' perspective which has not been heard yet. Further, decolonization involves “critically analyzing and challenging Euro-western science and research and making sense of the assumptions and values that this ideological position brings to bear on indigenous peoples and communities”.

For now, there seems to be no substantial evidence to back up the Thrifty gene hypothesis, instead it serves to propagate false claims as to why Native American communities are experiencing high rates of Type II diabetes. Increasingly, more and more researchers are viewing the Thrifty gene as being “a reductionist approach which focuses on the individual, blames the victim and produces interventions which may be harmful”. Conversely, the most likely cause is due to social-economic and environmental causes such as: dietary changes, low level activity, poverty, and lack of education, all of these should be the main focus in order to address the seriousness of the issue at hand. Similarly, it is critical that Native American communities’ voices are heard in order to avoid genetic fatalism and to promote genetic determinism by using narratives that incorporate the perspective of the Native American people. Taking this into consideration, hopefully, the dominant Western scientific view that makes simplistic assumptions by attributing race and genetics to a complex problem can move forward in order to implement proper preventative measures in order to take control of the growing epidemic of Type II diabetes.