History

In the spring of 2008 the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, Muscogee (Creek) Nation Tobacco Control Program, and the Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board partnered to form the National Native Commercial Tobacco Abuse Prevention Network (NNCTAPN). Each of the three partnering organizations are intimately connected to the communities they serve and bring a wealth of knowledge of culturally competent approaches for tobacco control. The Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, Muscogee (Creek) Nation Tobacco Control Program, and the Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board are committed to leading national efforts to reduce additive commercial tobacco abuse among American Indians and Alaska Natives by building a community of tobacco prevention stakeholders who are connected to resources that will allow them to promote positive change. Funding for the national network activities comes through a cooperative agreement with CDC (agreement # 1U58DP001519-01) managed by the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan.

Please see a description of each of the three network partners and the JCW Research and Evaluation, which provides evaluation services for the network.

Inter-tribal Council of Michigan

Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan, Inc. (ITCMI) was incorporated as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization on April 16, 1968 by the four original tribes; Bay Mills Indian Community, Hannahville Indian Community, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. The original purpose was to establish a joint Tribal organization of the four Indian communities and all such other Indian villages or communities as may seek membership to conserve common property, to develop common resources, to promote the common welfare of the members of the participating member tribes, to negotiate with the Federal, State, and Local governments on all matters within the concept of improving the socio-economic status of Michigan Indians, and in general to carry on any activities in connection with being non-profit under the state laws of Michigan.

Today ITCMI is comprised of eleven of the twelve federally recognized tribes in Michigan. Those being: Bay Mills Indian Community, Hannahville Indian Community, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Match-E-Be-Nash-She or Gun Lake Tribe, Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, and the Nottwaseppi Band of Huron Potawatomi. Although the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians is not a member tribe of ITCMI, they still utilize some of the services we offer.

Muscogee (Creek) Nation Tobacco Prevention Program

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Tobacco Prevention Program, which is a division of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Health System, was developed October 2000 through a cooperative agreement with the Center of Disease Control and Prevention- Office of Smoking & Health.

The vision of this program is to eliminate the commercial tobacco abuse for all Oklahoma Native Americans/Alaskan Natives & educate the younger generation on traditional tobacco use. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Tobacco Prevention Program continues to serve as a CDC funded tribal support center for tobacco prevention and control.

Janis Weber of JCW Research and Evaluation

Dr. Janis Weber, an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, has worked with specific populations for more than ten years, concentrating principally on public health work with native/indigenous peoples. Her work involves formative research in the public health area and the integration of culturally competent contextual realities with sound, scientifically-based methodologies. As a sociologist and a cultural anthropologist who specializes in native/indigenous cultures, she understands the barriers that non-native researchers experience and the implications of such barriers in gathering reliable surveillance data. Dr. Weber also understands the link between effective control and prevention programs and cultural appropriateness and relevance. Dr. Weber was a team member in the efforts of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) to develop both the American Indian Adult Tobacco Survey and the Alaska Native Adult Tobacco Survey. She was instrumental in guiding the process so that culturally appropriate survey instruments were developed for use in the pilot fielding of the survey that began in summer 2004. Dr. Weber wrote a culturally appropriate training manual for native interviewers, and she trained the interviewers using native ways of learning and knowing. She adapted methodologies for focus groups and cognitive interviews so that they remained scientifically rigorous but were culturally sensitive. As a public health program and evaluation specialist, Dr. Weber’s services are used by many groups who represent specific populations, including many of the National Partners of CDC/OSH. Her expertise extends to work with tribal health systems and the Indian Health Service, particularly with regard to data systems and their usefulness in public health endeavors. Currently, she serves as the evaluator for the CDC/OSH-funded Tribal Support Centers Program; the State of Florida Hispanic Obesity Prevention and Education (HOPE) project; and the Collier County, Florida Department of Health Tobacco Prevention and Control Program. She also serves as a consultant and trainer for the University of California, San Diego, in their fielding of a rural California American Indian Adult Tobacco Survey. Her work in public health programs for specific populations assist in efforts to incorporate culturally competent strategies and methods into evidence based programs and program based evidence. Her evaluation work incorporates models of evaluation (such as the CDC Framework for Public Health Evaluation) with the Surgeon General’s goal of identifying and eliminating disparities in health.

Keep It Sacred

History

Janis Weber of JCW Research and Evaluation