Several students provided critical assistance to project staff during the 2014-2015 academic year. One, Nick Romero, was highlighted in the April 2015 IWRI Newsletter. Three other students provided mini auto-biographies, which are presented as submitted. My name is Beth Conklin and I just finished my first year of the Master in Social Work program. I…

Indigenous communities have long known that American Indian culture can have important protective effects on health. Facilitated by Drs. Mellissa Walls and Cynthia Pearson, IWRI hosted a think tank on the measurement of culture on May 26, 2015 as part of a meeting preceding the 2015 Society for Prevention Research Conference in Washington D.C. Nineteen…

Ethel G. Nicdao, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, spent February through April 2015 as a visiting scholar at IWRI. Ethel was pleased to return to the UW-SSW where she held a post-doctoral fellowship from 2005-2007. Mentored by Dr. Bonnie Duran, she had the opportunity to observe…

Six fellows from the Indigenous Substance Abuse, Medicines, and Addictions Research Training (ISMART) program attended the Society for Prevention Research Conference in Washington, D.C. on May 26-29, 2015.  New fellows also attended a grant writing training sponsored by the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA) and coordinated by Dr. Kathy Etz. This training was designed…

On June 11, 2015, successful Bachleor’s and Master’s graduates of the Schools of Social Work and Public Health were celebrated at the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ  or Intellectual House, UW’s longhouse-style gathering space. Family, friends, professors, and supporters attended the lively ceremony which featured dignitaries from local tribes, speeches and thank-yous from the successful graduates, and public recognition…

The guiding principle of NYEP’s summer program is to empower Native middle school students to focus in school by making STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum culturally relevant. Students will see first-hand the incredible impact one can have personally and in the community by meeting university students and Native role models who currently work…

This year’s third annual writing retreat took place at the beautiful, expansive Tamaya Resort on the Santa Ana Pueblo north of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Lording over the eastern horizon 5,000 feet above the redolent sagebrush plains is 10,678 feet Sandia Mountain.  Flowing close to the hotel, the upper reaches of the Rio Grande nurtured riparian…

The Oceti Sakowin (pronounced Och-et-ee Shak-oh-win) Power Project is a multi-billion dollar venture to develop the largest wind-power installation in the United States. Historic in its scale alone, the endeavor also makes a commanding political and cultural statement for Indian Country. It’s the result of a regrouping of seven tribes across the Dakotas that had…

The Indigenous Substance Abuse, Medicines and Addictions Research Training (ISMART) program is pleased to welcome the third cohort! ISMART is a structured mentored training program that offers funding to fellows to conduct research development activities. All fellows are matched with a mentor in the field of substance abuse/addictions research, as well as with an IWRI…

IWRI’s ETHICS (acronym for Ethics Training for Health in Indigenous Communities Study) Research Coordinator, Catlin Donald, MSW (Osage/Ponca) co-wrote an article together with Jennifer Rountree in spring 2014 while she was an intern at the National Indian Child Welfare Association in Portland, OR titled, “Evidence-Based Practice: Implications for Communities of Color and Child Welfare.” The…