Dr. Sophie Two Hawk on Healing Native Communities from Addiction and Trauma

When you think of a trailblazer, you think of someone who walks into the unknown and leaves a path behind for others to follow.

Dr. Sophie Two Hawk is one of those people.

She spent her childhood moving from place to place, living on and off reservations. And by 16, she had already graduated high school — not just early, but as valedictorian. Three years later, she’d finished her undergraduate degree. And in 1987, she became the first Native American to graduate from medical school in South Dakota.

It wasn’t simple. It wasn’t smooth. And more than once, teachers told her that Native Americans can’t become doctors.

But Sophie Two Hawk understood something early on: if you don’t see someone who looks like you in the place you want to be… sometimes that’s the sign you’re meant to be the first.

Today, you’ll hear her remarkable story, and how it intersects with a heartbreaking reality. Substance use disorder and overdoses continue to devastate Native American communities at rates far higher than the rest of the population.

In this episode, we’ll explore what’s behind these disparities, and what real healing, hope, and change can look like.

If you enjoyed this episode, you may like the following:

• Straight talk with an addiction care doc: Understanding substance use disorder
• Beating the Odds from Gang Life to Changing Lives
• How Do We End the Fentanyl Epidemic? A Candid Conversation with a Former DEA Chief

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Behind every number is a story of a life cut short, a family shattered, and a community devastated.

They were...

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They were More Than Just A Number.

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Podcast producers:
Casey Wonnenberg King & Kayli Fitz