The Urban American Indian Traditional Spirituality Program: Promoting Indigenous Spiritual Practices for Health Equity.

Beginning in 2009, Detroit's urban American Indian health center entered into a collaborative and participatory partnership with a university research team. The purpose of the partnership was to incorporate Indigenous traditional healing practices into the health and wellness services at this center. Following extensive consultation with stakeholders at the center, we were commissioned by local decision-makers to develop a program tailored for members of the urban American Indian community that would introduce and orient these individuals to meaningful participation in Indigenous traditional spirituality.

Addressing Data Inequities in American Indian Communities Through an Environmental Public Health Tracking Pilot Project.

National and state surveillance systems identify American Indians/Alaska Natives inconsistently and often inaccurately within their data sets. Consequently, communities may not be represented with data at the level of geography needed. Collecting and presenting environmental and health-related data to the public are done by state Tracking Networks.

Teaching Tradition: Diverse Perspectives on the Pilot Urban American Indian Traditional Spirituality Program.

Many urban American Indian community members lack access to knowledgeable participation in indigenous spiritual practices. And yet, these sacred traditional activities remain vitally important to their reservation-based kin. In response, our research team partnered with an urban American Indian health center in Detroit for purposes of developing a structured program to facilitate more ready access to participation in indigenous spiritual knowledge and practices centered on the sweat lodge ceremony.