This past July, Marielle Young, Class of 2017, visited a Native American Reservation in North Dakota to teach a Community and Public Health Course.
![](https://macromd.icahn.mssm.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2014/08/Elle-ND-1.jpg)
The beautiful Cankdeska Cikana Community College and me in Fort Totten, North Dakota. Cankdeska Cikana Community College is a Native American tribal college located on the Spirit Lake Nation reservation. I was blessed to teach an “Introduction to Community and Public Health” course at the college for 3 weeks this summer as part of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Global Health Program.
![](https://macromd.icahn.mssm.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2014/08/Elle-ND-2.jpg)
My wonderful “Introduction to Community and Public Health” class! There were 19 students ranging from ages 16 to 60 in the class. I taught a variety of public health topics ranging from Maternal and Infant Health to Public Health Interventions and much more.
![](https://macromd.icahn.mssm.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2014/08/Elle-ND-3.jpg)
While teaching at Cankdeska Cikana Community College, I lived in a historical Bed & Breakfast. The Bed & Breakfast was part of Fort Totten, a military post built in 1867 and used until 1890 when it became an Indian boarding school. Fort Totten also served as a tuberculosis preventorium from 1935 to 1940. The Bed & Breakfast was previously the Lieutenant’s Quarters and later the teachers’ housing. It was decorated in period pieces and was gorgeous.
![](https://macromd.icahn.mssm.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2014/08/Elle-ND-4.jpg)
During my time in North Dakota, I also helped run a “Health Careers 4 U” Camp for Spirit Lake Nation pre-teens. We taught them about health careers and healthy behaviors they could practice at home! This is a picture of us with the Spirit Lake Nation EMS ambulance.
![](https://macromd.icahn.mssm.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2014/08/Elle-ND-6.jpg)
During the weekends we traveled to various National Parks in the Dakotas! This is a picture of me in the South Dakota Badlands, which was a 7-hour drive from Fort Totten. The scenery was incredible. We even spotted a few bison, elk and snakes!
![](https://macromd.icahn.mssm.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2014/08/Elle-ND-7.jpg)
For our last weekend we drove to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota. This is a picture of me on a 5-mile hike we did! On our hike we saw wild horses, buffalo and prairie dogs! The Dakota territories is where Theodore Roosevelt fell in love with the Wild West, became a cattle rancher and was inspired to protect and expand the country’s National Parks and Forests.