Indigenous Governance Database
health care
Honoring Nations All-Stars Profile: Tohono O’odham Nursing Care Authority
For many years, due to the Tohono O’odham Nation’s location in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and the sparse population, Nation members did not have ac-cess to reservation-based long-term or post-hospital care services. This was particularly true for O’odham elders. Elders admitted to the Sells Area…
Interview with Dr. Stephanie Carroll about New Research on COVID-19 Spread in Indian Country
Listen to public health researcher Stephanie Carroll, co-author of “American Indian Reservations and COVID-19: Correlates of Early Infection Rates in the Pandemic.” Hear about this new research showing which factors, like household plumbing and language barriers, correlate with a higher spread of…
Policy Brief: Proposal for a Fair and Feasible Formula for the Allocation of CARES Act COVID‐19 Relief Funds to American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Governments
Title V of the CARES Act requires that the Act’s funds earmarked for tribal governments be released immediately and that they be used for actions taken to respond to the COVID‐19 pandemic. These may include costs incurred by tribal governments to respond directly to the crisis, such as medical or…
Broken Promises: Continuing Federal Funding Shortfall for Native Americans: Briefing Report
Since our nation’s founding, the United States and Native Americans have committed to and sustained a special trust relationship, which obligates the federal government to promote tribalself-government, support the general wellbeing of Native American tribes and villages, and to protect their lands…
Genomic Research Through an Indigenous Lens: Understanding the Expectations
Indigenous scholars are leading initiatives to improve access to genetic and genomic research and health care based on their unique cultural contexts and within sovereign-based governance models created and accepted by their peoples. In the past, Indigenous peoples’ engagement with genomic research…
Navajo's Pine Hill Health Center
In the Ramah Chapter of the Navajo Nation–as in many parts of Indian Country–late detection of breast cancer leads to disproportionally high rates of breast cancer mortality. Ramah Navajo’s Pine Hill Health Center devised a creative response: it launched a series of "Mammo Days," educational and…
Choctaw Health Center
After transferring all health care decisions from Indian Health Services to tribal control over a ten-year period, the Band significantly improved its health care delivery system. Its state-of-the-art Health Center provides health and dental care, behavioral health care and community health…
Choctaw Community Injury Prevention Program
Responding to alarming rates of preventable accidents on its reservation, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw created a comprehensive community injury prevention program in 2001. Through seat belt and child safety seat campaigns, strict enforcement of motor vehicle laws, and community-wide education…
Puyallup's Institutionalized Quality Improvement Program
Following a major tribally-initiated restructuring in the early 1980s that created a quality improvement committee and a flatter organizational structure, the PTHA has increased patient access for urgent care visits, reduced "no show" rates, created clinical objectives, increased dental treatments…
Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board
Serving tribes in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB) was created in 1972 to increase tribes’ ability to exercise control over the design and development of tribal health care delivery systems. Governed by tribal government delegates, NPAIHB…
Archie Hendricks, Sr. Skilled Nursing Facility and Tohono O'odham Hospice
For decades Tohono O’odham elders in need of skilled nursing had to move far away from family and friends to receive care, or stay home and forgo long-term care services. However, with the opening of the Archie Hendricks, Sr. Skilled Nursing Facility, O’odham elders can now remain in the community…
Jamie Fullmer, Rebecca Miles and Darrin Old Coyote: Our Leadership Experiences, Challenges, and Advice (Q&A)
Jamie Fullmer (former Chairman of the Yavapai-Apache Nation), Rebecca Miles (Executive Director and former Chairwoman of the Nez Perce Tribe) and Darrin Old Coyote (Chairman of the Crow Tribe) field questions from seminar participants about how they have negotiated the fundamental challenges of…
Honoring Nations: Tina Scott and Nan Smith: Mississippi Band of Choctaw Family Violence and Victim's Services
Program representatives Tina Scott and Nan Smith provide an overview of Mississippi Choctaw's Family Violence & Victim's Services program and discuss how its integrated approach has improved the quality and effectiveness of the services it provides to Choctaw citizens.
Honoring Nations: Dr. Dorry Larson and Joyce Country: Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Professional Empowerment Program (2005)
Representatives for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Professional Empowerment Program Dr. Dorry Larson and Joyce Country present an overview of the program's work to the Honoring Nations Board of Governors in conjunction with the 2005 Honoring Nations Awards.
Frances Stout: Archie Hendricks, Sr. Skilled Nursing Facility and Tohono O'odham Hospice
In this interview with the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development's Joseph P. Kalt, Frances Stout of the Tohono O'odham Nursing Care Authority discusses what led the Tohono O'odham Nation to establish the Archie Hendricks, Sr. Skilled Nursing Facility and Tohono O'odham…
Tohono O'odham Nursing Care Authority - Our Story
This video -- produced by the Tohono O'odham Nursing Care Authority using its monetary award from the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development's Honoring Nations awards program -- explains the history and development of the Archie Hendricks, Sr. Skilled Nursing Facility and the…
Great Tribal Leaders of Modern Times: Wilma Mankiller
Produced by the Institute for Tribal Government at Portland State University in 2004, the landmark “Great Tribal Leaders of Modern Times” interview series presents the oral histories of contemporary leaders who have played instrumental roles in Native nations' struggles for sovereignty, self-…
Honoring Nations: Carolyn Finster: Pine Hill Health Center
Pine Hill Health Center Clinic Administrator Carolyn Finster shares the story of how the Navajo people of Ramah capitalized on Public Law 93-638 to take over the education of their children and then their health care through the Pine Hill Health Center, which among other things has introduced…
Honoring Nations: Jodi Gillette: A New Era of Governmental Relations
White House Native American Affairs Senior Policy Advisor Jodi Gillette discusses a new era of governmental reform, the result of a new executive branch administration in the federal government. She elaborates on how this change in administration will effect Native nations, particularly with…
Honoring Nations: Frances Stout: Archie Hendricks, Sr. Skilled Nursing Facility and Tohono O'odham Hospice
Frances Stout, Chairperson of the Tohono O'odham Nursing Care Authority, shares the inspiring story of the Tohono O'odham Nation's state-of-the-art elder care facility.