Apr 29, 2021
The North Dakota Department of Human Services has selected Minot native John Butgereit as regional director of the North Central Human Service Center in Minot.
Butgereit has been the statewide telehealth coordinator for the department’s eight regional human service centers, their three satellite clinics and the North Dakota State Hospital since March 2020. Early in the pandemic, he led an effort to rapidly expand access to tele-behavioral health services for vulnerable North Dakotans. He was also instrumental in implementing statewide centralized behavioral health screenings using telehealth to serve individuals who went to a human service center seeking walk-in behavioral health services.
Relying upon traditional knowledge and native plants, indigenous people have been treating illnesses successfully for thousands of years. After the arrival of Europeans on this continent, however, medicine became one of the battlefields in the cultural war.
Both patients and students of healing had to choose between traditional practices and Western medicine. Patients who used herbs or went to medicine people felt compelled to keep that secret from their Western doctors, who wanted to focus upon treating the patient’s body without regard for the mind or spirit.
Indians who went to medical school, meanwhile, found a fiercely competitive, inhumane atmosphere, which would not tolerate their commitments to family or their cultural taboos. Instead of humility, a basic value of Native culture, they found affirmation of egotistical behavior.
Cankdeska Cikana Community College (CCCC) is a certificate and associate-degree granting institution serving the Spirit Lake Dakota reservation in Fort Totten, North Dakota. The college has 11 programs of study, four certificate programs, and strong articulation agreements with other institutions that lead to bachelor’s degrees. The well-being and the social and economic vitality of the community are the vision of CCCC’s work. Healthcare workers along with social workers are in great need in the reservation community.
The CCCC pre-nursing program provides students with a solid foundation in nursing as well as other health fields such as dental hygiene, pharmacology, or medical technology. Led by Dr. Lori Gourneau, the program provides regular class instruction, one-on-one classes, and personalized support as well as other student support services. Dr. Gourneau has monthly group and individualized meetings to improve student success.
Dr. Hinrichs is the Stokes-Shackelford Professor and Chair of the Department of Pathology and Microbiology at UNMC. He is Board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology with a special interest in microbiology and emerging infectious diseases. Dr. Hinrichs received his MD from the University of North Dakota and completed his residency training at UC Davis, followed by research training at the NIH in molecular virology and pathology. In 1997, Dr.
Duane Littlejohn
Duane Littlejohn, a lifelong resident of St. Thomas, ND passed away in his home April 26, 2021. He farmed and maintained his career in the insurance business there for more than 50 years.
The youngest of 4 brothers, Duane was born in Grafton on August 13, 1938, to Raymond and Florence (Hanna) Littlejohn. He graduated from St. Thomas High School and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of North Dakota, marrying his high school sweetheart, Carol (Larson) Littlejohn in 1959. They have been married for almost 62 years.
Duane’s high school music teacher, Elmer Anderson, helped Duane develop his singing ability, which led Duane to become a soloist for the men’s vocal touring group at UND, the Varsity Bards. Duane also became a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, serving as social chair and as president of the fraternity. (The same high school music teacher was also a Lambda Chi and suggested that Duane check out the fr