4th Quarter 2016

Editor’s Note: The stop-work order of the Dakota Access Pipeline in December 2016 may be a “victory,” albeit perhaps a temporary one given the changing political climate. The argument and support IWRI expressed in September 2016 are just as valid and perhaps even more crucial in 2017 and beyond. — Indigenous teachings teach us that…

In late fall 2016, IWRI veteran and Indigenous Substance Abuse, Medicines, and Addictions Research Training (ISMART) Program Director Anastasia Ramey assumed another position with the UW School of Social Work. She is now Program Coordinator with the Northwest Leaders in Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment Program. The mantle of ISMART Director has been…

Following graduation in June 2016, Emma Elliott-Groves accepted a position as an assistant research professor at Partnerships for Native Health through Washington State University. Emma will continue her work in the area of Indigenous suicide as she will be working on a strengths-based suicide prevention trial in four tribal nations in the United States. Most…

Victor Cruz (Mexican), Research Coordinator Hi, I’m Victor Cruz and I am the new research coordinator for the Vr2L 2Spirit Project (Virtual Two-Spirit Project), which addresses healthy choices for Native American Gay and Two-Spirit men at risk for contacting HIV. I am originally from Tucson, Arizona, and received my bachelor’s degree at Northern Arizona University….

As we celebrate the holiday season and the lengthening days after the northern hemisphere’s winter solstice, let us acknowledge the affirmation of Native American sovereignty in 2016, including the halting of the Dakota Access Pipeline, Washington State’s Lummi Nation’s defeat of a coal export terminal on treaty lands, the return and soon-to-be reburial of 9,000…

Malia Villegas, EdD, was the inaugural speaker for the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ (“Intellectual House” in the native Lushootseed language of Puget Sound) Academic Programming Committee Lecture on November 15, 2016. Dr. Villegas was the director of the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center (NCAI-PRC), where she supported the building of tribal data capacity, helped to…