Nancy Lande highlights how powers of Western colonial privilege, social status, and use of Standard English often control communications in what can be life and death situations for Native Americans at health care facilities on Montana reserva- tions. By exploring verbal and nonverbal sociolinguistic disparities and cultural differences through personal narratives, the objectifying discourse of Western biomedicine often devalues Native American patients. It is critical to note that even the best efforts of doctor-patient communications are most often ineffective in marginalized settings such...