September 8, 2025 | Originally published in ICT News
By: Lala Forrest, MD
I’m tired of being called — and hearing the term — resilient.
I am waẁá acúmmááwi, an original inhabitant of the lands now commonly referred to as northeastern California. My people have been called resilient after genocide, relocation, poverty, and grief. The word is meant to be a compliment — but these days, it feels more like a dismissal.
“Resilience” has become a buzzword — celebrated in climate plans, public health programs, and mental health grants. But in Indian Country, resilience is not what we need more of. The word now praises us for surviving trauma while ignoring the systems that caused it: colonialism, environmental racism, disinvestment, extractive economies, and violence…READ THE FULL ARTICLE>
Dr. Forrest is a psychiatrist in training at Yale University, a Climate and Health Equity Fellow at the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, and a member of the Pit River Tribe, and a descendant of the Modoc and Wintu Tribes. Their work focuses on Indigenous mental health, climate justice, and the decolonization of psychiatric practice. They are committed to amplifying Indigenous knowledge as essential to collective healing and planetary survival.
The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health or its members.