Academic Partnerships with Native American Communities

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Academic Partnerships with Native American
Communities

• Presented by
• Sara L. Young, Montana State University

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American Indian Tribes in the U.S.

• There are 562 federally recognized American
  Indian tribes in the U.S.
• The majority of these tribes have sovereign
  nation status they have their own tribal
  governments which conduct government to
  government relations with other levels of
  government (federal, state and local)
• Each tribe has its own unique culture, language,
  practices and economic situations and although
  there are similarities between some tribes there
  are many differences

Crow Fair
Photo source http//www.drumhop.com/CrowFair.htm
l
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Crow Tribe of Indians of Montana the Apsaalooke
Nation

• Located in south central Montana with 2 million
  acres within the exterior boundaries the
  original treaty boundaries included 32 million
  square acres. Today the reservation is about 60
  miles by 40 miles.
• Current tribal enrollment is at 11,500
• The majority of tribal members residing on the
  reservation receive their medical care at the
  Indian Health Service facilities on the
  reservation
• clinics at three sites and one hospital
• Little Big Horn College has an enrollment of
  approximately 250 tribal students working on
  associate arts degrees in several areas, many of
  whom are interested in biomedical and
  environmental health fields

http//montanafilm.com/crowres_03.htm
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Montana has 7 reservations
http//lewisandclark.state.mt.us/visitres.htm
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U.S. Federal and State Indian Reservations
http//www.infoplease.com/i
pa/A0778676.html
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Tribal Population 2000 US Census

• Apache96,833
• Blackfeet85,750
• Cherokee729,533
• Cheyenne18,204
• Chickasaw38,351
• Choctaw158,774Colville9,393
• Comanche19,376
• Chippewa149,669
• Cree7,734
• Creek71,310
• Crow13,394
• Delaware16,341
• Houma8,713
• Iroquois80,822
• Kiowa12,242
• Latin American Indian180,940
• Lumbee57,868
• Menominee9,840
• Navajo298,197

• Pueblo74,085
• Puget Sound
• Salish14,631
• Seminole27,431
• Shoshone12,026
• Sioux153,360
• TohonoO'odham20,087
• Ute10,385
• Yakama10,851
• Yaqui22,412
• Yuman8,976
• Other specified American Indian tribes357,658
• American Indian tribe, not specified195,902
• AlaskaAthabascan18,838
• Aleut16,978
• Eskimo54,761
• Tlingit-Haida22,365
• Other specified Alaska Native tribes3,973
• Alaska Native tribe, not specified8,702

1. The numbers by American Indian and Alaska
Native tribes do not add up to the total
population figure because respondents may have
put down more than one tribe. Respondents
reporting several tribes are counted several
times. 2. Total includes American Indian and
Alaska Natives alone or in combination with other
tribal groups or races. Indian and Alaskan Native
population alone in 2000 was 2,475,956.
Source U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.
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Potential Partners Tribal Colleges and
Universities

• Institution State
  Highest Degree Offered
• BAY MILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE MI Associate's
• BLACKFEET COMMUNITY COLLEGE MT Associate's
• CANKDESKA CIKANA COMMUNITY COLLEGE ND Associate's
• CHIEF DULL KNIFE COLLEGE MT Associate's
• COLLEGE OF MENOMINEE NATION WI Associate's
• COMANCHE NATION COLLEGE OK Associate's
• CROWNPOINT INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY NM Associate's
• DINÉ COLLEGE AZ Associate's
• FOND DU LAC TRIBAL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE MN
  Bachelor's
• FORT BELKNAP COLLEGE MT Associate's
• FORT BERTHOLD COMMUNITY COLLEGE ND Associate's
• FORT PECK COMMUNITY COLLEGE MT Associate's
• HASKELL INDIAN NATIONS UNIVERSITY KS Bachelor's
• INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE
• CULTURE NM Bachelor's
• KEWEENAW BAY OJIBWA COMMUNITY COLLEGE MI
  Associate's
• LAC COURTE OREILLES OJIBWA COMMUNITY COLLEGE WI
  Associate's
• LEECH LAKE TRIBAL COLLEGE MN Associate's

• Institution State
  Highest Degree Offered
• LITTLE BIG HORN COLLEGE MT Associate's
• LITTLE PRIEST TRIBAL COLLEGE NE Associate's
• NEBRASKA INDIAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE NE Associate's
• NORTHWEST INDIAN COLLEGE WA Associate's
• OGLALA LAKOTA COLLEGE SD Master's
• SAGINAW CHIPPEWA TRIBAL COLLEGE MI Associate's
• SALISH KOOTENAI COLLEGE MT Bachelor's
• SINTE GLESKA UNIVERSITY SD Master's
• SISSETON WAHPETON COLLEGE SD Associate's
• SITTING BULL COLLEGE ND Bachelor's
• SOUTHWESTERN INDIAN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE NM
  Associate's
• STONE CHILD COLLEGE MT Associate's
• TOHONO O'ODHAM COMMUNITY COLLEGE AZ Associate's
• TURTLE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE ND Bachelor's
• UNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGE ND Associate's
• WHITE EARTH TRIBAL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE MN
  Associate's
• WIND RIVER TRIBAL COLLEGE WY Associate's
• Indicates a tribal college is seeking formal
  accreditation candidacy status

Source http//www.aihec.org
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Tribal College and University (TCU) Demographic
Information

• 34 tribal colleges in 13 states
• 8 TCUs offer baccalaureate programs 2 offer
• masters degree programs and all offer
• associate degree programs.
• 27,000 academic students annually tens of
• thousands more through community outreach
• 80 of the students are enrolled in federally
• recognized tribes
• 67 Female
• 59 Full-time

Tribal College and University Student
Demographics
Source http//www.aihec.org
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• Nashville Area
• Navajo Area
• Oklahoma Area
• Phoenix Area
• Portland Area

• Aberdeen Area
• Alaska Area
• Albuquerque Area
• Billings Area
• California Area

Source http//www.nihb.org/index.php
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NCAI National Congress of American Indians

• Cowlitz Indian Tribe NorthwestJohn Barnett
  (Chairman)Tel [phone]Fax (360)
  577-7432P.O. Box 2547Longview, WA
  98632-8594Website www.cowlitz.orgCoyote
• Valley Band of Pomo Indians PacificJohn Feliz,
  Jr. (Chairman)Tel [phone]Fax (707)
  485-1247P.O. Box 39Redwood Valley, CA
  95470Website www.coyotevalleycasino.com
• Craig Community Association (IRA) AlaskaA.
  Millie Stevens (President)Tel (907)
  826-3996Fax [phone]P.O. Box 828Craig,
  AK 99921
• Crooked Creek Traditional Council AlaskaJohnny
  John (President)Tel [phone]Fax (907)
  432-2200P.O. Box 69Crooked Creek, AK 99575
• Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Great PlainsLester
  Thompson, Jr. (Chairman)Tel [phone]Fax
  [phone]P.O. Box 50Fort Thompson, SD 57339
• Crow Nation Rocky MountainCarl E. Venne
  (Chairman)Tel [phone]Fax (406)
  638-3773P.O. Box 159Crow Agency, MT 59022

• NCAIs webpage gives a list of the contact
  information for over 250 member tribes this is
  just a sample of some of the tribes listed.
• In many cases, a tribal resolution approving the
  research project will be required prior to
  gaining approval from an IRB of a regional I.H.S.
  office.

Tribal Governments
Source http//www.ncai.org/Tribal_Governments.11
9.0.html?no_cache1print1
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Urban Indians

• Throughout the U.S. there are a number of
  clusters of Native Americans living in urban
  areas that have their own inter-tribal
  communities with urban Indian clinics or other
  healthcare facilities governed by Native American
  boards that are another source of potential
  partnerships. More Native Americans actually
  reside off the reservation than live on but
  they are a little harder to find and generally
  include groups of many different tribes. Their
  community population may or may not maintain
  close ties to their extended families, tribes and
  cultural ways.

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IRBs

• Many tribes and/or tribal colleges have developed
  or are in the process of developing their own
  IRBs which researchers need to work with for
  projects involving tribal members or tribal data
• When a tribe or tribal college does not have an
  IRB in place researchers generally are required
  to go through the IRB process with the area
  office of the Indian Health Service
• If the research will involve working with any
  data, patients, staff or facilities of the
  I.H.S., researchers need to seek approval from
  both the tribal IRB and the I.H.S. IRB

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So how do we develop partnerships?

• Respect, collegiality, trust, equality,
  communication, commitment, sincere interest in
  working with the tribe, development of a minimal
  level of understanding about the tribes history
  prior to making contact if possible
• The rule is to talk to tribes before the pencil
  hits the paper, not when the document is ready to
  be signed in ink. Reno Charette, Coord. of
  Indian Affairs for the State of Montana

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Is CBPR the only way, the best way?

• No, community based participatory research
  approaches are not the only way to establish
  academic partnerships with Native American
  communities but CBPR does provide a good approach
  to building a trust relationship with individual
  community groups or tribes.

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Messengers for Health

• A community-based participatory research project
  between Dr. Suzanne Christopher, a faculty member
  at Montana State University, and the Crow Nation
  that began 5 years ago to increase the
  participation of Crow women in cervical cancer
  screening and has now expanded to cover a broader
  area of addressing health disparities. The
  project is funded by the American Cancer Society.
  

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Montana Consortium for Community- Based Research
in Native American Health

• Established as a result of many requests from
  community groups within the Crow Nation,
  community groups in other Montana reservations
  and faculty from both the Montana State
  University and University of Montana campuses for
  more partnerships to conduct collaborative
  research between the universities and Native
  communities.

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Proposal submitted to NIH

• Linking Native American community partners,
  university partners and other research partners
  to develop community based participatory research
  projects that will address specific health
  disparities affecting Native American communities
• If funded, the project will fund up to 25
  planning grants throughout Montanas seven
  reservations over a 5 year period through the
  establishment of an exploratory center.

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How do academic partnerships develop when the
reservations are so far from the university and
urban Native communities are not always easy to
locate ?

• Working with universities that have Native
  American Studies departments and can provide
  information on Native communities in the region
• Identifying I.H.S. regions with health
  disparities that fall into research areas of
  interest to you and making contacts through
  either the I.H.S. Area Office, the Area Tribal
  Health Board or the tribal health board
• Establishing a collaboration with an investigator
  who has already developed a positive working
  relationship with Native communities and/or TCUs.

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Native American Health Disparities

• Need for research to address the broad range of
  health disparities impacting Native American
  people.
• Tribes are requiring a more significant role in
  research on or about their tribal members.
• Tribes recognize the need to partner with
  academic researchers to overcome the health
  disparities.

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Thank you for your interest in fostering
collaborations with a diverse population impacted
by health disparities.