[Tool Kit] Tribal Health Governance Transformation
(February 1, 2021)
Red Star and its partners from Seven Directions, A Center for Indigenous Public Health based at the University of Washington, are excited to share Tribal Health Governance Transformation: A Resource to Strengthen Sovereignty Through Public Health Authority. This practical guide was created to enhance tribal governance and public health law, build strategic partnerships, and improve community health. It draws upon Indigenous models of nation building and healing to promote cultural and political sovereignty, and redefine and strengthen governance for health.
The resource applies the Becoming Butterfly framework, which was inspired by the Community Involvement to Renew Commitment, Leadership, and Effectiveness process for capacity development, which proposes a community-centered, public health approach to transform Indigenous health systems. The resource aims to honor the importance of direct experience, interconnectedness, and relationship, while accounting for the misalignment of values that often lie at the interface between tribal systems and local, state, and federal health systems.
The resource was made possible by the Cherokee Nation Health Services through funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This resource was cited recently in Centering Data Sovereignty, Tribal Values, and Practices for Equity in American Indian and Alaska Native Systems. Public Health Reports 2023. Rhodes, KL, Echo-Hawk, A. et al.