The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines racism as:
"A belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."
The Cambridge Dictionary:
"Policies, behaviors, rules, etc. that result in a continued unfair advantage to some people and unfair or harmful treatment of others based on race."
"Racism is a system of structuring opportunity and assigning value based on the social interpretation of how one looks (which is what we call "race"), that unfairly disadvantages some individuals and communities, unfairly advantages other individuals and communities, and saps the strength of the whole society through the waste of human resources."
--APHA Past President Camara Jones, MD, PhD, MPH
“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
Seneca Scientific Solutions+ is determined to help create achievable impacts that ensure that diverse perspectives are heard and are influential in the navigation towards positive change.
Services Provided:
- Policy Development
- Diversity Planning
- Acceptance Training
- Transparency Development
- Planning for Accountability
- Workforce Development
- Research
Indigenous / Haundenosaunee Health Disparities
Indigenous populations throughout the country experience lower life expectancy, lower quality of life, and a higher prevalence of several chronic and infectious diseases compared to other populations within their respective regions and counties. These disparities are related to:
- Intergenerational/historical trauma;
- Adverse childhood experiences;
- Boarding schools; and
- Disenfranchisement, racism and discrimination.
The Haundenosaunee ("People of the Longhouse") is an Indigenous Confederacy composed of Six Tribal Nations in the place now named New York State:
- Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Tuscarora, and Tonawanda Seneca.
At Seneca Scientific Solutions+, we strive to uncover the complex health disparities that burden the Haundenosaunee community. This is especially challenging as states like New York do not include Indigenous populations in their public health reports - "Indigenous Data Genocide."
We are dedicated to improving the health of the Haundenosaunee, regardless of the obstacles we face in our work. By using alternate methods, such as data linkages, we can reveal hidden inequities that are erased from public health surveillance. This is a technique we rely on as we progress towards a future that fosters data equity at the systemic scale.
Below is a presentation that our Founder & CEO, Dean Seneca, presented in 2017. It dives into Haundenosaunee health disparities and using data linkages to produce accurate mortality estimates:
View slide deck here