Events

Please join us for the June Gathering Grounds session! We are excited to welcome a panel of direct service providers to share their knowledge and experience. Tasha Pedersen, LCSW (Sun’aq Tribe (Sugpiaq)) currently serves as a Behavioral Health Itinerant Clinician in Kodiak Alaska and delivers tailored care to her community. Jacquelyn Ingram, CPM, LM, IBCLC (Ninilchik Village Tribe (Aleut)) is a Hawai’i state-licensed certified professional midwife and international board-certified lactation consultant, who collaborates with other providers to provide seamless clinical care and social services to both pregnant and non-pregnant people.

We are excited to welcome our guest speaker Tatewin Means (Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota, Oglala Lakota, Inhanktonwan), Executive Director of Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, for a presentation on Finding Liberation through Healing, Connectedness, and Identity.

Please join us for the April Gathering Grounds session! We are excited to welcome Dr. Shannon Maloney and Katsi Cook for a presentation on Restoring Indigenous Ways of Caring for Pregnancy.Dr. Maloney (Mohawk) has focused on Indigenous maternal health as a personal passion in North America and globally. She currently leads research studies about restoring Indigenous pregnancy care, preconception counseling in family practice settings and the role of media on birth choice.Katsi Cook (Wolf Clan Mohawk) is an Indigenous midwife and Elder of the National Council of Indigenous Midwives. Katsi’s work in environmental reproductive health has spanned many worlds and [...]

We are excited to welcome back Andrea Medley, Research Associate at the Center for Indigenous Health, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Andrea will be joined by members of the Indigenous Advisory Council, Lee Torres, Arlene Brown, and Pamela Hughes, who will guide us in a discussion centered around their work in support of the Tribal Principles and experiences in substance use/opioid related work.

Please join us for our February Gathering Grounds session featuring a panel discussion on Centering Culture in Practice! We will welcome three direct service providers, Larita Stevens-Anderson, Whitney Chavez, and Chad Pfeiffer to share their experiences and knowledge using culture as prevention, treatment, and recovery.

Please join us for our first session of 2024! We will welcome Miguel Flores Jr. and Dr. Felina Cordova-Marks as guest presenters. Mr. Flores is a Licensed Independent Substance Abuse Counselor and a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and Tohono O'odham Nation. He has a 33-year career in providing behavioral health services, Spiritual Leadership, and Traditional Medicine for The People. Dr. Felina Cordova-Marks (Hopi) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona Zuckerman College of Public Health in the department of Health Promotion Sciences. She is a published author on topics such as, cancer, cardiology, informal health caregiving, [...]

We are excited to invite our community back for six monthly sessions from January through June. Our next session is May 2nd at 10am PT/1pm ET. We will welcome back Andrea Medley, MPH (Haida Nation) from John Hopkins Bloomberg Institute of Public Health. This is part II of our fall session where we discuss Indigenizing Opioid Litigation Settlements: Co-creating Guidance that Centers Harm Reduction Approaches. In this session we will continue our discussion on Indigenizing Opioid Litigation Settlements to dive deeper. -- register here ‍ Please reach out to Caelin Marum (caelind@uw.edu) with any questions! ‍

Healing and transforming Indigenous health governance systems requires a journey of reclamation and resilience. It is a process by which we construct our collective futures from within our traditional values, norms, and lived experiences, rather than looking to external definitions of sovereignty. During this webinar, we will introduce a new resource that guides tribes through the transformative process of strengthening self-governance through greater public health authority. The resource draws upon Indigenous models of nation building and healing to promote cultural and political sovereignty, and build legal competency. Register for the webinar and be among the first to receive the resource.

This meeting will focus on the Peer Support approach, a promising practice for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Attendees will leave with tools on how this approach can be implemented and incorporated in communities in order to strengthen the response to OUD. Dr. Christina Arredondo, Behavioral Health Director at El Rio Community Health Center, will provide insight into how the team at the Pascua Yaqui Tribe developed and successfully sustained a Peer Support Approach to substance use disorders in their community in Arizona.

This meeting will focus on the Integrated Health Care approach, a promising practice for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Attendees will leave with tools on how this approach can be implemented and incorporated in communities in order to strengthen the response to OUD. Ms. Dawn Lee, Chief Operating Officer, will provide insight into how the team at didgʷálič Wellness Center developed and successfully sustained an Integrated Health Care approach to substance use disorders in the Swinomish Tribe in Washington State.About the PresenterDawn Lee is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the didgʷálic Wellness Center.  didgʷálič is the only tribally owned outpatient [...]

During the Our Stories, Our Journeys Information Session we will share the community meeting details, an overview of the project, time commitment, and activities, and provide time to register for the meeting! This is part of the Seven Directions Indigenous Social Determinants of Health Initiative, reframing public health. It is funded by the National Network for Public Health Institutes (NNPHI) through a CDC Cooperative Agreement.

The Support for Tribal Accreditation Readiness and Success (STARS) in Public Health Workshop aims to strengthen Tribal capacity for public health accreditation by providing a dynamic learning environment for learners at every level. The workshop is designed to support Tribal Health Departments (THDs) as they navigate the public health accreditation process.  This convening brings together Tribal public health professionals and leaders from across the US to share knowledge, build skills, and gain ground on exploring or preparing for public health accreditation. 2018 Workshop MaterialsBright Stars – For new learnersTools of the Trade: Public Health Accreditation for TribesPresenter: David Stone, MS, [...]

‍DescriptionAre there ways we can support each other? This is an opportunity to connect and share our experiences with addressing COVID-19.Please, come prepared with one resource to share or a resource you are looking for. At the end we will have a list of resources that are available to share and a list of areas that need to be addressed. If you missed the first meeting, see the resources that were shared HERE.Please consider inviting one other person to attend this webinar. Who Should Attend:Anyone interested in sharing and exchanging knowledge, resources, practices, and tools for responding to COVID-19 in [...]

AboutThis is the first of three webinars in the Becoming Ka Ma Ma: A Journey of Health System Transformation series to raise awareness and inspire action to make changes within tribal health systems that support community healing, health and wellness. This webinar will describe the Becoming Ka Ma Ma approach, based on the Gathering of Native Americans (GONA), for systems change or transformation. The approach is used to strengthen self-determination within health systems. ‍Webinar Objectives:Describe the Becoming Ka Ma Ma approach to systems work, based on GONA modelShare its application of the approach tribal health systems transformationReflect/ Identify the benefits [...]

This is the first session part of the Tribal Self-Governance and Coronavirus: A Mini Webinar Series for Tribal Health / Public Health Professionals and Tribal Leaders by Seven Directions in collaboration with Inter Tribal Council of Arizona. During this session we will hear from Gwendena Lee-Gatewood, Chairwoman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe and Adrian Dominguez, Director of Informatics and Epidemiology at the Urban Indian Health Institute about their experiences in developing partnerships for Public Health Infectious Disease Response Work.Meeting ObjectivesDescribe the steps to establish MOAs + other legal documents necessary for work with universities, county, and state departmentsDiscuss Public [...]

Please join us for an all ages story slam with the the theme, "Our Places, Our Stories." This is an opportunity for you to tell a 5-minute story about the place you are from. The best storyteller will win a prize purchased from Eighth Generation. No prior storytelling experience is required. Though all are welcome to attend, please keep in mind we are centering indigenous peoples. https://collectiveseattle.squarespace.com/programming/storyslam ‍

ONOJ 2023: Healing from the Opioid Epidemic through Strengths-based Approaches and Data Sovereignty The 2023 Our Nations, Our Journeys Indigenous Public Health Conference was convened June 27-29, 2023, at the Mystic Lake Center in Prior Lake, Minnesota. The programming provided a joint focus on the opioid epidemic in Indian Country along with decolonizing and Indigenizing approaches to data. View the Opening, Keynote Presentations, and Closing Sessions below: View the rest of the recorded sessions here: ONOJ 2023 Recorded Sessions View presentation slides here: ONOJ 2023 Presentation Slides Graphic Illustrations: View graphic illustrations by [...]

We want to know: What does the future look like? How are we celebrating? What foods are we eating? What does grandma's house feel like? We want to know what you think!You will have four minutes to tell a story. Judges will select winners based on creativity and time. Registration to tell a story is limited to the first ten applicants.*A StorySlam is a live storytelling competition where stories are told, not read.This StorySlam will take place at the Our Nations, Our Journeys (ONOJ) Indigenous Public Health Forum. ONOJ is a one-and-a-half day forum designed for tribal and urban Indian [...]

2018 Forum The 2018 Our Nations, Our Journeys Indigenous Public Health Forum was convened on August 29-30, 2018, in St. Paul, MN. The theme, “Transforming Our Health Systems” was about aligning Indigenous approaches to health and healing with our public health services and health care delivery. Indigenous approaches to health and healing are holistic, encompassing the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Despite this holistic view, our health services are often delivered in silos, without connection or coordination. Health system transformation occurs when public health (community focus) and health care (individual focus) services are connected [...]

We invite tribal leaders, community members, and tribal public health leaders to join us for this listening session on Indigenous Social Determinants of Health for our next session. We will have a small group guided discussion on Indigenous social and structural determinants of health. This listening session is part of a larger determinants of health project, funded by the CDC. We will create a summary of the discussion and share it with CDC to inform public health programs and services planning. We value and welcome your thoughts, ideas, and opinions as we work to take a critical look at the [...]

Students will be able to meet and learn from Dr. Myra Parker, Executive Director of Seven Directions and Research Coordinator Danielle Lucero, an SPH alum! Lunch will be provided. RSVP is recommended. ‍

We are pleased to host an information session on this call for proposal due November 13, 2020.Seven Directions, A Center for Indigenous Public Health, in partnership with Red Star International, Inc. are engaging tribal nations in a practice-based study of how tribal health care delivery, public health and social services systems work together to achieve mutually shared goals and desired impact for health and well being.This webinar is funded by the Georgia Health Policy Center, through Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

About this Series This three-part webinar is intended to provide an initial introduction to the Indigenous Evaluation Framework developed by Dr. Joan LaFrance in collaboration with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) which includes a synthesized approach with both Indigenous ways of knowing and Western evaluation practice. Dr. LaFrance will describe the development of the framework, provide definitions of key constructs and processes, and discuss examples of how to best apply the framework within Indigenous communities, highlighting some of her work with Indigenous health and education work worldwide. The purpose is to offer Indigenous people, faculty, staff, and students [...]

We will be joined by Apryl Deel-McKenzie (Diné, MSW) and Pearl Walker-Swaney (White Earth Nation + Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, MPH) from the Native Governance Center. Apryl and Pearl will lead a discussion about Indigenized communications during COVID-19. Check out their resources on this topic at https://nativegov.org/resources/coronavirus/ ‍ About Apryl: As program manager for Native Governance Center, Apryl supports the implementation of the organization’s Tribal Governance Support and Leadership Development programs. She is a citizen of the Diné Nation and has years of experience working with Indigenous communities on issues related to education and college access, including a position at [...]

During this community meeting facilitated by Raquel Aviles (Yaqui/Hiaki, MHI), we will discuss two questions:1. How has your own OUD/substance use work been affected by COVID-19? If affected, how have you adapted or adopted new practices? 2. What do you see as emerging challenges & opportunities for Opioid Overdose and OUD prevention, treatment & recovery programs, services, and research in Indian Country due to COVID-19?

PresentersMyra Parker, JD, MPH, PhD,Executive Director,Seven Directions,A Center for Indigenous Public HealthJennifer McKeever,MSW, MPH, Director, Public Health Practice and Training, National Network of Public Health InstitutesLaila Fox,MUP, MPH, Senior Program Manager, National Network of Public Health Institutes‍Webinar Objectives:1. Familiarize Gathering Grounds members with the NNPHI and Seven Directions and help us get to know you2. Answer your questions about Gathering Grounds3. Share upcoming opportunities and webinars‍

During this session we will reflect on the Gathering Grounds Series and participate in a 7 Generation Yoga Flow facilitated by Acosia Red Elk.

THIS SESSION HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO JUNE 14, 2022We are excited to share Seven Direction’s latest work, “Tailoring Opioid Overdose Prevention Efforts for Diverse Groups within Tribal and Urban Indian Settings." This toolkit has been developed to provide inclusive resources and highlight gaps and needs for AIAN LGBTQ2S communities, youth, elders and/or veterans. Dr. Danielle Eakins (Research Scientist/Clinical Psychologist, Seven Directions) will present on Indigenous Intersectionality and provide screening, prevention, treatment and recovery considerations for diverse AIAN groups. Dr. Matthew Town (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), Assistant Professor of Social Work, Portland State University) will provide expert insight on AIAN LGBTQ2S risk [...]

Voting matters for health –– the act itself, your safety and accessibility in doing it, and its impacts on your community. Amidst unprecedented intersecting crises that all have to do with community health –– from COVID-19 to uprisings against anti-Black violence to the climate crisis –– so much is at stake as voters nationwide begin to cast ballots as early as this week. Health workers and students have a unique role to play in ensuring people can vote safely vote, sharing critical voting information with our networks, and drawing the connections between health and the many pressing issues of this [...]

In this special fall session, Andrea Medley (Haida Nation), MPH from theJohns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health provides an overview of the Tribal opioid litigation settlements and leads the group in a discussion to exploreTribally led, culturally sensitive, and community-based approaches to spending this funding.

Presenter: Bridget Canniff, CPH, Project Director, Northwest Tribal Epidemiology Center at Northwest Portland Area Indian Health BoardThe Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB) has been working with the Oregon Health Authority since 2020 to explore, from a tribal perspective, the usefulness and limitations of state-wide survey data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and school-based youth surveys. Join us for a discussion of our initial project findings, including suggestions for providing more culturally-appropriate context in questions and data reporting, the strengths of tribal BRFSS data collection, and how this work fits into a larger discussion of how [...]

Welcome to our 2022 Gathering Grounds Series! This year we are continuing our sessions on tribal public health capacity and Opioid Use Disorder prevention and treatment efforts. Join to learn about other tribal community efforts, share your own stories, and connect with folks across the country and beyond. We are holding a session on the 2nd Tuesday of each month until July. Below are the upcoming sessions:1) Tuesday, March 8, 2022, 10am PT / 1pm ET: Opioid Overdose Mapping - An Innovative Way to Mobilize Faster Responses (with Tulalip Tribal Members)2) Tuesday, April 5, 2022, 10am PT / 1pm ET: [...]

Welcome to our 2022 Gathering Grounds Series! This year we are continuing our sessions on tribal public health capacity and Opioid Use Disorder prevention and treatment efforts. Join to learn about other tribal community efforts, share your own stories, and connect with folks across the country and beyond. We are holding a session on the 2nd Tuesday of each month until July.

To register, click here: https://washington.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0pdOCorTopHNLTBA1kcLbyP8yJCQ09TJCg‍Welcome to our 2022 Gathering Grounds Series! This year we are continuing our sessions on tribal public health capacity and Opioid Use Disorder prevention and treatment efforts. Join to learn about other tribal community efforts, share your own stories, and connect with folks across the country and beyond. We are holding a session on the 2nd Tuesday of each month until July. Below are the upcoming sessions:1) Tuesday, March 8, 2022, 10am PT / 1pm ET: Opioid Overdose Mapping - An Innovative Way to Mobilize Faster Responses (with Tulalip Tribal Members)2) Tuesday, April 5, 2022, 10am [...]

We are excited to welcome Aurora Valdez, MPH (Taos Pueblo) Community Wellness Manager at Taos Pueblos Health & Community Service to our community of practice session this month.  She will share their team and partners’ hard work, passion, and commitment to realize the 100% Tao initiative. The aspiration of this initiative is that 100% of community members have access to quality services and programs along their life course, in order to decrease trauma.  We are excited to hear how their story evolved from the community health assessment to strengthening their internal data infrastructure. She will share how their teams came [...]

This is the third session part of the Tribal Self-Governance and Coronavirus: A Mini Webinar Series for Tribal Health / Public Health Professionals and Tribal Leaders by Seven Directions in collaboration with Inter Tribal Council of Arizona. For this session we will be joined by Dr. Myra Parker, Director of Seven Directions.Meeting ObjectiveProvide a review of the events that have led to the capacity to respond to the COVID-19 pandemicPlease note times are listed in Pacific.

This is the second session part of the Tribal Self-Governance and Coronavirus: A Mini Webinar Series for Tribal Health / Public Health Professionals and Tribal Leaders by Seven Directions in collaboration with Inter Tribal Council of Arizona. For this session we will be joined by Aleena Kawe, founder, president and CEO of Red Star International, Inc. Meeting ObjectivesDescribe an approach to strengthening self-determination through health governanceDiscuss the importance of tribal public health authorityHighlight practical strategies for engaging leadership and key stakeholders in building legal competencyPlease note times are listed in Pacific.

Our first session on Tuesday, January 12, 2020, at 10 am PST, will be your opportunity to meet other Gathering Grounds Indigenous Community of Practice members and also participate in a wellness session led by Acosia Red Elk. Acosia will guide us through Powwow Yoga which is a fusion practice that combines Indigenous Powwow Dancing with Vinyasa Yoga for a five-dimensional workout incorporating cardio, strengthening and stretching, neural stimulation, breathwork, and meditation. Powwow Yoga bridges the gap between the group fitness and yoga worlds while adding grounding cultural elements.About the FacilitatorAcosia Red Elk is an Enrolled Member of the Umatilla [...]

This is the second of three webinars in the Becoming Ka Ma Ma: A Journey of Health System Transformation series. The goal of this webinar is to share an Indigenous model and tool for performance management. A model that may be used by tribal nations in their health systems integration and alignment efforts.

This is the third and final session of a webinar series called Becoming Ka Ma Ma: A Journey of Health System Transformation. Over the series, we have shared an emerging indigenous knowledge-grounded, community centered framework to strengthen tribal health systems through performance and leadership. The goal of this webinar is to describe an approach to engage leadership to strengthen self-determination through health governance.

About:How is your Tribal or Urban Indian community responding to COVID-19? Are there ways we can support each other? This is an opportunity to connect and share our experiences with addressing COVID-19.Come prepared with one resource to share or a resource you are looking for. At the end we will have a list of resources that are available to share and a list of areas that need to be addressed.Please consider inviting one other person to attend this webinar. Registration available below. Who Should Attend:Anyone interested in sharing and exchanging knowledge, resources, practices, and tools for responding to COVID-19 in [...]

This session will provide a tribal entity/organization’s perspective on conducting organizational self-assessments during the pandemic. We will discuss the challenges of implementing self-assessment and opportunities for reframing the approaches and tools used in public health. We welcome Jayson Hunt, who represents Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness, to describe the success of two programs, Color and Water. During the pandemic, the two programs were adapted to best serve elders in the Wabanaki communities. Wabanaki represents a consortium of five tribal nations and a collaborative system composed of public health, social services, and behavioral health.  Questions we are interested in discussing: Do we need [...]

When:Friday, February 7, 2020 at 12:00 PM PST‍STREAM LIVE USING ZOOMVisit https://uw-phi.zoom.us/j/6631373477 or install the Zoom app on your personal smartphone, tablet, or laptop. (Select "Join a Meeting" and enter meeting ID: 663 137 3477.)JOIN BY PHONEDial (669) 900-6833. Meeting ID: 663 137 3477.‍Description:Though some research has explored the relationship between protective factors, such as cultural characteristics, (e.g., participation in cultural activities and American Indian identity) and negative health outcomes, gaps in our understanding of how American Indian culture may be used to promote health behaviors and reduce risk levels remain.For example, some interventions, implemented in multiethnic communities in the [...]

We welcome Dr. Kevin English, Director of the Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center, who will provide insights into developing an equitable and sustainable data infrastructure in opioid use disorder (OUD) programming. This session will discuss challenges to data infrastructure and identify opportunities and tools to strengthen current approaches in addressing OUD including opioid overdose prevention.‍This is a rescheduled session; please re-register here.‍For questions, email Sofia Singer at spsinger@uw.edu.

We are excited to welcome Dr. Amanda R. Tachine to open our series of Gathering Grounds with a talk that represents the power of belonging in Indigenous praxis.  Dr. Amanda R. Tachine is Diné from Ganado, Arizona. She is Náneesht'ézhí Táchii'nii (Zuni Red Running into Water clan) born for Tl'izilani (Many Goats clan). She is an Assistant Professor in Educational Leadership & Innovation at Arizona State University (ASU).  Dr. Tachine's research explores college access and persistence among Indigenous college students using qualitative Indigenous research methodologies. She focuses on systemic and structural barriers that disenfranchise collect access for Indigenous and marginalized [...]

We are honored to welcome Drs Heather Gifford (Ngāti Hauiti and Te Ātihaunui a Pāpārangi) and Amohia Boulton (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngai te Rangi, Ngāti Pukenga, Ngāti Mutunga and Te Āti Awa o te Waka a Māui) from the Whakauae Research for Māori Health and Development and Raquel Aviles, MHI (Yaqui) from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe to our session today.  We will discuss the centering of community in Indigenous public health practice. What does it mean to center-community? Why is it important? How do we talk about these values/ principles within our public health systems and with outside partners? How was [...]

This is an opportunity to collaborate and share our experiences with addressing COVID-19 with Tribal and Urban Indian communities.For our next meeting, we will be joined by the Public Health Director of the Lummi Tribal Health Center, Cristina J. Toledo-Cornell, MD-MPH. Please come prepared with a question for Dr. Toledo-Cornell. She is originally from Brazil, and studied at Weill Medical College at Cornell University in New York City. Dr. Toledo-Cornell holds a master’s in public health from The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She has worked with the Lummi Nation for two years and is coordinating the COVID-19 [...]

Professor Marisa Duarte (Pascua Yaqui Tribe, PhD) researches problems of information, knowledge, and technology in Native American and Indigenous contexts. During this meeting, Professor Duarte will provide a glimpse at the work she is currently doing with pueblos in northern New Mexico to establish hot spots and identify the relationship between digital inequities and COVID-19. Please come to the discussion with one question for Professor Duarte.

We are excited to host Louise Voss, Quality Improvement Compliance Officer and Sarah Reed, MPH Epidemiologist, from the Ho-Chunk Nation, Department of Health for this Gathering Grounds session. They will share how they worked across sectors to develop a data dashboard. They will demonstrate how a data dictionary and collaborative efforts are used to enhance public and internal communication. Participants will learn what was needed for Ho-Chunk to develop their data dashboard, including lessons learned, and discuss how similar efforts could be applied in their Tribal setting. We look forward to sharing their experience and answering any questions you may have [...]