By Stacy Thacker, University of Montana

March 20th was National Native AIDS Day. It was a day to educate many Native Americans of the risk that their tribes are facing and for many it was a chance to recognize the disease they are already living with.

Diseases like HIV and AIDS are not spoken of on many reservations and are seen as a taboo. It is not supposed to be talked about for fear that acknowledging it will spread it around. Many of the youth struggle to communicate their experiences with the disease with their communities and end up leaving the reservation to move to bigger cities.

Non-profit organizations like the Navajo AIDS Network have social network pages that allow the youth to become more involved and use technology to attract more young people.

Other non-profits like the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center have outlets for information and offer help with training and treatment programs.

Funding for more programs aren't easy to come by though. With no real data to prove that many reservations need the money the funding is instead spent in bigger cities and not on the reservations where it is needed.

People like Melvin Harrison, executive director of the Navajo AIDS Network, are stepping up and trying to collaborate with other tribes across the nation to spread knowledge and help Native people become more aware and less afraid of the disease.

With cases of HIV rising on the Navajo Nation it has become more important to educate the community.

I support the idea of National Native AIDS Day and look forward to the growing of such non-profit programs across many reservations. The hope that one day these diseases can be spoken about out loud and that people infected can live on the reservation without being seen as a burden is a day to look forward too.

Stacy Thacker (Navajo) is from Navajo, N.M.