Looking Back and Looking Ahead
Conference speakers and attendees gather in Traverse City, Michigan.
TRAVERSE CITY, MI-The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2016 Summit titled "Looking Back and Looking Ahead: The State of Cancer Control in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities" was held for current CDC grantees April 26-28, 2016 at the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City, Michigan.
CDC grantees from five CDC regions across the country collaborated to discuss cancer health policy implementation in Indian Country. The Grantees included Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Cherokee Nation, Kaw Nation, Cheyenne River Sioux, Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board, Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Tohono O'odham National, SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, Arctic Slope, Southcentral Foundation, Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation, Native American Rehabilitation Association (NARA), South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency (SPIPA), Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, and California Rural Indian Health Board.
An event on the final day was nDigi Fest, which was sponsored by the California Rural Indian Health Board and the National Native Network. The event was a cultural exchange through "digital storytelling," which includes stories that cover many aspects of cancer prevention, education, care, and treatment. The program celebrated and honored cancer-related, Native-focused digital stories in a "story" setting that was culturally unique and powerfully healing. The presentation was moderated by Brenda K. Manuelito and Carmella Rodriguez of nDigiDreams. The event was opened with a prayer from Daisy Kostus of the Cree First Nation of Waswanipi, and an Eagle Staff presentation that was conducted by Linda Woods from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
Stories included titles "Zaagidiwin (Love)" told by Punkin Shananaquet of the Lac Courte Oreilles/Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Potawatomi; "Stage 2...Stage 3" by Rita McDonald, Cancer Navigator for Northern Cheyenne Tribe, "Lessons Learned" told by Donald Sumners of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, "Yuuluaqaucirkaq (Healthy Way of Living)" told by Agnes Roland of the Yupik, "My Mother Prayed Cancer Away" told by Ophelia Spencer of the Navajo, "Nikaanag (My brothers, my friends)" told by Dr. Erich Longie of the Spirit Lake Sioux, "Gift of Another Day" told by Dr. Suzanne Cross of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, and "Calling on the Great Spirit" by Daisy Kostus.
The NNN currently has partners across the country with California Rural Indian Health Board, Inc; Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board; and SouthEast Alaska Rural Health Consortium.
The National Native Network is a network of Tribes, tribal organizations and health programs working to decrease commercial tobacco use and cancer health disparities among American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) across the U.S.
