Indigenous Wellness Research Institute


May 9, 2024

Elders & Practitioners Panel

This recording is part of the Elders and Practitioners panel in the BIG HART seminar series. Find more information about the program on the BIG HART program webpage.


HIV/AIDS Research Among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders: A Voyage That Started Oceans Away

This recording is from the presentation “HIV/AIDS Research Among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders: A Voyage That Started Oceans Away,” which took place as a part of the BIG HART seminar series. Find more information about the program on the BIG HART program webpage.


August 13, 2021

Mindfulness Resources Shared By Dr. Bonnie Duran

Resources Check out meditation # 2 here- 4 elements meditation: Analayo’s guided 7 spokes of Satipatthana Meditation https://www.windhorsepublications.com/satipatthana-meditation-audio/ Ven. Analayo’s Anapanasati guided Meditations https://www.windhorsepublications.com/mindfulness-of-breathing-audio/ Ven. Analayo’s book on Satipatthana Practice Guide here https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/5-personen/analayo/satipatthanapracticeguide.pdf Online sitting groups including BIPOC, LBGTQI♀︎ https://bit.ly/3dHsw4G  About Dr. Bonnie Duran: Bonnie Duran, DrPH (Opelousas/Coushatta) has worked in public health education, evaluation, program…


July 12, 2021

Tips by Native Aunties for Mental Health

Mental health is difficult to separate from our physical or spiritual health, as all are intertwined. Like the sea, we cannot easily separate one droplet from another. Our mind, spirit, and emotions influence our body, our families, our kin- past, present and future. Our relationships with others, human and more than human, affect our risks for diseases and overall health.  

While colonialism sees us as victims and addresses our well-being through a victim lens. We are not victims. We are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, elders, care takers, resistors, storytellers, leaders… We are the outcome of thousands, upon thousands, of ancestral love. We are Indigenous. Our story of mental health surrounds love, power, and vision. 


October 5, 2018

A Return to Wellness

In 2007 the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI) was launched, marking a significant moment in the advancement of indigenous ways of knowing in health policies, practices, and knowledge development. A truly collaborative endeavor, ” A Return to Wellness” was created and produced by the IWRI Faculty and Staff as well as the Native Voices Program…


September 6, 2018

Pakela Akaka – Māhina 2018

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Pakela Akaka, was a student trainee in the 2018 Māhina program. Hailing from Kapahulu but reared across a spectrum of military stations in the Pacific, I am familiar with the hardships of detachment from culture, land, and people that indigenous populations have been plagued with. The bitterness of this knowledge has given me a deeper…


Wyatt Pickner – Māhina 2018

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Wyatt Pickner, MPH (Hunkpati Dakota) was a student trainee in the 2018 Māhina program. My name is Wyatt Pickner, I was born and raised in South Dakota. I recently graduated with a Masters of Public Health in Community-Oriented Public Health Practice from the University of Washington. I plan to pursue a career in research with…


Keala Patterson – Māhina 2018

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Keala Patterson, was a student trainee in the 2018 Māhina program. Aloha, my name is Keala Patterson and I come from the beautiful Makaha side on the island of O’ahu. I am a Native Hawaiian scholar pursuing a Masters of Public Health degree at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. My focus is on Native…


Anitra Hill – Māhina 2018

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Anitra Hill, was a student trainee in the 2018 Māhina program. I am a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Over the summer, I spent two months in New Zealand studying under Maori and Pacific researchers, learning about the difficulties their in indigenous communities. Many of these difficulties like our own; obesity, drug addiction,…


Keturah Peters – Māhina 2018

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Keturah Peters, was a student trainee in the 2018 Māhina program. Keturah Peters is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She is a proud member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts. Keturah hopes to begin her nursing career as a bedside nurse and then expand to community nursing. She…



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