Cultural Adaption from Rez to Urban

Glorinda M. Segay, DBH (Diné) will explore the complex and challenging process of cultural adaptation for American Indians moving from reservations to urban areas—that is, what it is like being raised on a tribal reservation and then transitioning into the non-Native world.

“Resilience,” she says, “along with retaining your Native language, are very important. What is it like dealing with how non-Natives perceive you? What is it like being away from your land, your religion, your people? Above all, survival is paramount for the Diné. We are still here.”
 
Glorinda is the Supervisory Healthcare Administrator of the Indian Health Service in the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. She is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and a fluent Navajo speaker. She was born and raised in Blue Canyon, Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation. 
 
Glorinda earned her Doctor of Behavioral Health from Arizona State University. Her clinical experience includes a four-year residency at Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility in Chinle, Arizona, and practice at Sage Memorial Hospital and Navajo Nation Division of Behavioral and Mental Health Services-Fort Defiance Outpatient Treatment Center. She joined the Federal Indian Health Service in 2020 as Director for the Division of Behavioral Health. Most recently, she served as Division Director for the Navajo Nation Department of Health, a role to which she was appointed by then-Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye.  
 
Passionate about fitness, rodeo, and ranching, Glorinda believes “health is wealth” and engages in daily exercise including weightlifting, cardio, and mixed martial arts (MMA) training. She also believes in hard work with the help of animals to complete chores around the range and occasionally competes on the Indian Rodeo Circuit.