Native American graduate inspired to serve others

In the Pacific Northwest, coastal Native American tribes have valued the tradition of canoe journeys as a way to celebrate friendships and tribal cultures among coastal communities and canoe travel as an important mode of transportation across the region. During these events, waves of canoe families paddling in ocean-going cedar dugout canoes would travel miles to neighboring shores where they were welcomed as honored guests and participated in “protocol” celebrations that featured singing, storytelling and dancing.

In a similar way, Kissendrah Johnson, 26, has been paddling on her own coast-to-coast journey. For the past dozen years, she has stayed on course, committing to a higher path and profession that fulfills her love of dentistry and responds to a vital need within Native American communities.

To appreciate the quest, one would need to return to Johnson’s origins 3,064 miles away in her hometown of Sequim, Washington, located on the northwestern edge of the state on the Olympic Peninsula.

Johnson comes from a background rich in history, heritage, tradition and cultural experiences.

Johnson, who is one-quarter North American Indian and a member of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, is part of the Coast Salish cultural group of the Pacific Northwest coast. In their culture, cedar trees are sacred and used in every way of life from canoe making, woodwork, basket making, cedar hat weaving to woodcarving. Harvesting salmon, shellfish and other fish helped support the tribe’s economic base.

For the last four years, Johnson has called the Lowcountry her adopted home while studying at the James B. Edwards College of Dental Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. On May 19, she will fulfill an important chapter in her life journey that began at age 15. Johnson becomes the first person in her tribe to have earned a doctorate-level degree and is the first dentist.

It was a summer tribal canoe journey to Lummi Island in 2007 that inspired Johnson to consider dentistry. She had trained as a paddler in her tribe’s canoe family and was invited as a guest to visit the Swinomish Dental Clinic to get a free teeth cleaning. Johnson, who had never been to a dentist, agreed to go, had a good cleaning and a positive experience. At the end of her visit, the dentist complimented her on her teeth and practice of good oral health care. He also suggested that she consider becoming a dentist.

“He may have been just a kind person and said that to everyone that had a teeth cleaning that day, but I really took his comment to heart,” Johnson said.

Following that visit, she started researching dentistry and began asking questions. A good student and lover of art and science, Johnson signed up for the Running Start program, a statewide program that allowed high school juniors and seniors to take college courses for credit. By the time she graduated from high school in 2011, she had earned an associate’s degree in science from nearby Pierce College. She went on to graduate with a degree in biology from the University of Washington in 2013 and started looking at dental programs both at home and across the country. She was accepted to MUSC and the University of Arizona’s A.T. Still School of Dentistry. Faced with a difficult decision, Johnson turned to her roots for spiritual guidance. She liked that Charleston, like her home near Sequim Bay, was surrounded by water with beaches, marshes and rivers. She also knew the Lowcountry possessed a rich estuary system filled with shrimp, fish, crabs and a variety of shellfish similar to the seafood she ate from the Pacific Ocean.

She interviewed with several MUSC dental faculty, including Lindsey Hamil, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Stomatology.

“I saw Kissendrah to be a wonderful, exceptional person,” said Hamil about their first meeting in spring of 2014. “It has been a pleasure to watch her grow and develop to become a skilled dentist. I’m glad she chose MUSC for her dental education and truly believe any community would be lucky to have her share her skills and services.” 

As excited as Johnson was to attend dental school on the East Coast, so was her family. Her family are all very close. Throughout her life, family have remained important to her. She admits the separation from her family during the first year was especially painful and lonely. To stay busy, Johnson turned to native crafts like basket weaving, cedar hat making and jewelry making as ways to stay connected to her roots. Her mother, Heather, is also a member of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, and employed by the Boeing Company in Seattle. By Johnson’s second year at MUSC, her family was able to transfer to Boeing South Carolina, which manufacturers the company’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft in North Charleston. 

“It’s been amazing to have had my family here with me. And it was helpful to have my culture and loved ones in Charleston through this part of my journey. I have my culture, and it’s at home, and that’s all that I need,” Johnson said with a broad smile. 

Looking back at her early years in dental school, she can reflect on her basic science classes and how tough it was for her. Her first class, gross neuroanatomy, was especially challenging. Everything was so fast-paced and demanding in terms of the volume of information students were required to learn in a short amount of time, according to Johnson. “I got through it,” she said. “I made it my mission to learn everything I could and felt stronger for it. Later, everything started falling into place. The more classes I took, the better I felt about everything.”

By her second year, she started working in the labs and doing clinical rotations, feeling more assured of the path she began. She especially loved working with her hands —  creating dental molds, denture construction, implants, crown preparations and restorations. The patience and concentration required were similar to the time and dedication she spent working on her native basketry or hat weaving projects. “This is where I’m supposed to be,” she decided.

She loved interacting with patients in the clinics and was told by them that she possessed a good chairside manner and easily put people at ease. 

“Many said they could tell I cared about them not only as a patient, but also as an individual,” Johnson said. “Each kind word renewed my spirit and reminded me that I was in dentistry for all the right reasons.”

Just prior to her senior year, Johnson and fellow dental student Josephina Silva Lopes worked on a research project that explored the connection between holistic medicine and aromatherapy research in dentistry. Their research was featured at the 2017 Academy of General Dentistry Scientific Session in Las Vegas.

“In holistic medicine, healing is connected to the body, mind, soul and the heart. What we did was explore how aromatherapy and essential oils can be effective in reducing anxiety among some dental patients,” said Johnson. That included surveying participating dental practitioners in South Carolina. “Research has already shown that aromatherapy has been used successfully in medicine, and especially in cancer research, for many years. We’re trying to relate this success in dentistry.”

Johnson’s love of dentistry and commitment to providing comprehensive dental care among American Indian communities is what drives her. Poor oral health has plagued some tribal communities because of poverty, isolation and limited access to care. According to a 2016 federal report, almost half of American Indian and Alaska Native children, ages 6 to 9, suffer from untreated tooth decay, compared to 17 percent of children in the general U.S. population.

As a general dentist, Johnson plans to work for the Indian Health Service, a federal agency that provides health services to about 2.5 million people who are members of federally-recognized American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives throughout the United States.

Being a native dentist allows Johnson to bring a personal understanding of language and cultural sensitivity to her patients as she works in dental practices on tribal land and reservations. She also plans to specialize in holistic medicine and aromatherapy and someday run a holistic dental practice — something she thinks will be well–received among native people because of their tribal teachings and holistic beliefs in healing. 

Upon graduation, Johnson will join a small group of Native American dentists. In 2013, there were only about 190 Native American dentists compared to the total number of U.S. dentists. This national shortage means that a majority of dentists working on reservations and Native American lands are non-American Indian dentists. Many non–native dentists work two-year rotations to pay back student loans before leaving to enter private practice and other opportunities. This turnover of dentists has left Native American patients with a compound problem — inconsistent delivery of dental care and a growing build-up of anxiety and distrust towards dentists. One solution to this challenge is recruiting native students to become dentists who serve in these communities.

Johnson has only praise for the dental education she received at MUSC. She feels assured in the choices she’s made already on her life journey. “I love where I am today and am excited for the future. I know I can be a huge asset to whatever native tribe or community I work for. To me, it will be an honor to serve them,” she said. 

In following her family and tribe’s symbolic tradition honoring her graduation, Johnson will be presented with a special Salish wool blanket woven by her mother. This prized blanket, woven using traditional techniques, handspun wool, native dyes and featuring Salish designs, represents an ancestral gift of high honor for the person receiving it and recognizes his or her honored status in the tribal community. She will also wear the custom cedar mortar board cap, woven in the traditional way, which she created for this occasion.

For graduation week, Johnson is eager to reunite with some of her family who will be making the cross-country trip from her ancestral land in Washington state to South Carolina. They include her grandmother, several aunts and local family. “We’re all looking forward to spending time at the beach house.” Her family has rented a beach house for the week where they’ll enjoy time by the water swimming, boating, fishing, crabbing, shrimping, eating Lowcountry seafood and gathering in the “Potlatch tradition.”

Johnson has always wanted to give back to her culture. “With all the support my tribe has given me through the years, I want to lift them up and honor them. My success is not just for me, it’s their success, too.”