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Local Ecological Knowledge And Chronic Disease In The Fort Mcdermitt Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, Mark S. Beil

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between chronic disease and traditional knowledge is little understood within indigenous populations of North America. I hypothesize that individuals with higher levels of local ecological knowledge (LEK) will observe lower frequencies of chronic disease and better health outcomes. Health data will be compared to LEK within a subsample (n=31) of individuals residing within the Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone Reservation in Nevada and Oregon. Individual level health data on diabetes mellitus (type 2), pre-diabetes, BMI, chronic heart disease, and hypertension is measured directly by the investigator or self-reported. LEK level data is taken from expert interviews, subject interviews, surveys, and …