Collaborating for community
Awesiinyag are Loved, veterinary students partner to create animal care newsletters
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The internet is full of information on every topic imaginable, but Veronica Kingbird-Bratvold wanted something more representative of her community when trying to find veterinary care tips to share with its members.
Kingbird-Bratvold leads Awesiinyag are Loved by the Anishinaabeg of Red Lake Nation, a grassroots, community-led group that cares for the animals of Red Lake through efforts such as fundraising, distributing donated supplies, working with partner groups to organize veterinary care clinics, and providing pet care information.
Two partners of those partner groups are the Student Initiative for Reservation Veterinary Services (SIRVS) based at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine and the Tufts’ Community Action Team (TCAT) based at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.
Kingbird-Bratvold saw an opportunity to collaborate with these student organizations to create a community resource for veterinary information.
I kind of wanted something more catered to my community and the issues are going on in my community.
Kingbird-Bratvold
“I kind of wanted something more catered to my community and the issues are going on in my community, so I asked if we could collaborate on a news article,” she says.
Over the course of 2021, one article has become a newsletter and a regular feature of the community newspaper, Red Lake Nation News. The newsletter, called “Awesiinyag (Animal) Stories, Artwork and Veterinary Information,” provides relevant animal care information on a variety of topics.
Behind the headlines
The creation of the newsletter is a mutual effort. Bratvold works with students to select topics that are relevant and timely to the community, such as writing about preventing and treating heatstroke in animals before the onset of the hot summer months.
The veterinary students work as a team to research and compile medical information on the topic. Andrew Backman is one of the students behind the veterinary articles. A second-year student at CVM, he leads community outreach efforts for SIRVS.
Photo courtesy of SIRVS.
“It’s been a unique twist on the community outreach position, but definitely has taught me quite a bit how to collaborate with people—especially since we can’t meet in real life but through Zoom and over email,” he says. “But we’re working together to figure out how to bring quality veterinary information to a community wanting to help animals as much as possible.”
Backman is joined in writing and research by Tufts students Allison Stapel and Katie Shaffert, who serve as co-presidents of TCAT. Stapel, a third-year veterinary student, has a keen interest in increasing the accessibility of veterinary care and believes that involves more than just those working in the profession.
“We should be empowering owners and members of the community to care for their animals because that is how we will make a larger impact,” she says. “Individually, we can only treat so many animals, however, the more people we educate and empower, the more animals will be cared for. Being able to study veterinary medicine and the knowledge that comes with it is a privilege. We must remember that when communicating with others and treating animals.”
Once the veterinary students have finished assembling their draft of a piece, it is sent to a faculty member for review, typically CVM community medicine faculty members Lauren Bernstein, MVB, MPH, DACVPM, and Lindsey Knox, DVM, MPH. After completing that step, Bratvold and her group pick up the next leg of the process.
“Myself and my team then come in with our Indigenous ways of knowing and our relationship to animals,” Kingbird-Bratvold explains. “We’re bringing in the teachings of how Anishinabeg are, how their relationship with animals are and are meant to be, and how we care for the four-legged beings, and the water beings as well. Really, all beings because we’re not only talking about dogs and cats. We're talking about the other animals, too.”
The end result is an article that encompasses the knowledge and teachings from a variety of perspectives.
In addition to authoring newsletter articles, the students also help moderate a Facebook group where Red Lake community members can ask general veterinary-related questions. Students and advising faculty work together to answer the questions or recommend when it’s best to take an animal to a veterinarian if possible.
An opportunity to learn
Collaborating with Awesiinyag are Loved on the newsletters and the Facebook group represent a larger learning opportunity for the veterinary students involved. While the demographics of the veterinary profession are predominately people of white ethnicity in the United States, the reality is that veterinarians are serving a more diverse body of owners and clients than ever before.
The opportunity to be invited to partner with Red Lake Nation community members is one that Stapel is honored to have and knows will make her a better veterinarian when she graduates and enters the field.
It is very important for veterinarians to strive for cultural humility and understand that relationships, beliefs, and animal care differ between different communities. We must work with every person to treat animals in a way that benefits the animals as well as owners and members of the community, regardless of demographics.
Allison Stapel
“It is very important for veterinarians to strive for cultural humility and understand that relationships, beliefs, and animal care differ between different communities. We must work with every person to treat animals in a way that benefits the animals as well as owners and members of the community, regardless of demographics,” she says. “It’s important to approach cultural differences with respect, an open mind, and creativity in order to give animals the best care possible. Any experiences with this, I believe, will make my fellow students and me better veterinarians.”
Photo courtesy of SIRVS.
The appreciation of the partnership runs both ways, according to Kingbird-Bratvold. With the help of students and other partner organizations, Awesiinyag are Loved was able to host its first free veterinary clinic in August. More than 170 dogs and cats were spayed and neutered or treated through wellness checkups at the event. The clinic, news articles, and other initiatives are a testament to a deep connection that community members and students have formed.
“One thing I really love about coordinating this is the respect that my partners had for my community, the relationship that they’re building, the way they were listening to my community and our needs, and how they worked effectively and in a respectful way with my community was just phenomenal,” Kingbird-Bratvold says. “I really loved it, and you know the relationship is really mutual. We have this reciprocal relationship of respect, and I think that’s super important.”
That respect and admiration are helping strengthen a foundation that all involved hope to see expand into new, collaborative efforts.
