Academic Partnerships with Native American

CommunitiesPresented by Sara L. Young, Montana State University

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

Photo source: http://www.drumhop.com/CrowFair.html

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

http://lewisandclark.state.mt.us/visitres.htm

U.S. Federal and State Indian Reservations

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778676.html

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• Osage15,897• Ottawa10,677• Paiute13,532• Pima11,493• Potawatomi25,595

• 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• American Indian or Alaska Native

 tribe, not specified1,056,457

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.

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.

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

Tribal College and University (TCU) Demographic Information:

• 34 tribal colleges in 13 states• 8 TCUs offer baccalaureate programs; 2 offer master’s 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

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

• Nashville Area • Navajo Area • Oklahoma Area • Phoenix Area • Portland Area

Source: http://www.nihb.org/index.php

NCAI – National Congress of American Indians

• Cowlitz Indian Tribe [Northwest]John Barnett (Chairman)Tel: (360) 577-8140Fax: (360) 577-7432P.O. Box 2547Longview, WA 98632-8594Website: www.cowlitz.orgCoyote

• Valley Band of Pomo Indians [Pacific]John Feliz, Jr. (Chairman)Tel: (707) 485-8723Fax: (707) 485-1247P.O. Box 39Redwood Valley, CA 95470Website: www.coyotevalleycasino.com

• Craig Community Association (IRA) [Alaska]A. Millie Stevens (President)Tel: (907) 826-3996Fax: (907) 826-3997P.O. Box 828Craig, AK 99921

• Crooked Creek Traditional Council [Alaska]Johnny John (President)Tel: (907) 432-2201Fax: (907) 432-2200P.O. Box 69Crooked Creek, AK 99575

• Crow Creek Sioux Tribe [Great Plains]Lester Thompson, Jr. (Chairman)Tel: (605) 245-2221Fax: (605) 245-2470P.O. Box 50Fort Thompson, SD 57339

• Crow Nation [Rocky Mountain]Carl E. Venne (Chairman)Tel: (406) 638-3715Fax: (406) 638-3773P.O. Box 159Crow Agency, MT 59022

NCAI’s 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.

Source: http://www.ncai.org/Tribal_Governments.119.0.html?&no_cache=1&print=1

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.

IRB’s• 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

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 tribe’s 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

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.

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.

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.

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 Montana’s seven reservations over a 5 year period through the establishment of an exploratory center.

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.

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.

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