Tribal EpiCenters

12/19/2020

Teepees erected on Rims to honor those who have died as well as provide beacon of hope

Billings Gazette – Local News

William Snell’s record for erecting a teepee is just under 14 minutes. It’s a bit more complicated in the winter, he said, but in a little more than five hours on Saturday, seven teepees were standing tall atop the Billings Rimrocks, their white canvas taut against the winter winds moving across the snowy prairie.

By Anna Paige
December 19, 2020

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Teepees erected on Rims to honor those who have died as well as provide beacon of hope

Photo: Teepees are lit with colored lights in this long exposure photograph as a Delta flight from Minneapolis flies overhead as it approaches Billings Logan International Airport at Swords Park in Billings on Saturday
Credit: Mike Clark, Billings Gazette

Tribal EpiCenters

12/08/2020

ITCA TEC Success Story: After Action Review Toolkit & Guided Workshop

Success Stories, TEC News

The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., Tribal Epidemiology Center (ITCA TEC) conducted the first Corona Virus 2019 (COVID-19) Tribal Public Health After Action Review Workshop with Tribal sub-awardees. This event was held in partnership with Blue Stone Strategy Group, LLC, which was made possible through funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The development of After Action Review, helps Tribes assess performance, document lessons learned, and identify areas for improvement in a non-judgmental way, during and after a public health emergency.

Former Chairman of the Yavapai-Apache Nation, and co-founder of Blue Stone Strategy Group, Jamie Fullmer, and his team guided the Tribal staff through developing a framework for a culturally-competent After Action Review Plan. Participants were provided with a hard copy of the designed toolkit, outlining the After Action Review Planning Process. Several exercises were facilitated during the workshop that provided opportunities for the Tribal staff to begin developing their respective After Action Review Plans, and share those plans with their colleagues. Each sub-awardee examined their Tribes’ response effort to COVID-19 pandemic, and identified specific areas for improvement, as well as implementation strategies.

The workshop concluded with participants reflecting on their experience during the workshop review process. As a result of the After Action Review Workshop, COVID-19 Response Tribal sub-awardees are now more prepared to manage the Tribes’ future emergencies, including those related to COVID-19.

After Action Review Toolkit & Guided Workshop cover image

View/Download Toolkit (PDF 3.1 MB)

“Often times we don’t think about an After Action Review, however, it may be the most important. The training was great and the toolkit was helpful and easy to understand and follow.”

– Tribal staff participant

Tribal EpiCenters

12/04/2020

Opioid Use Disorder Law and Policy: Impacts on American Indians and Alaska Natives

TEC News, Training, Webinar

December 11, 2020
1 p.m. CNT

Topic:
Tribal Law & OUD

Description:
As the substance use disorder crisis continues to devastate communities across the United States, Tribal and American Indian communities are also impacted; yet insufficient attention has been paid to the law and policies perpetuating this crisis in Indian country. As sovereign nations, Tribes are uniquely situated to respond public health issues using their inherent sovereign authorities. Yet, issues related to federal Indian law and cross-jurisdictional issues between Tribes, states, and the federal government further complicate the implication of evidence-based legal interventions by Tribes or to support American Indian and Alaska Native communities. This webinar will explore Tribal, state, and federal substance use disorder law and policy and its impact in Indian country. It will focus on a variety of issues related to substance use disorder, with an emphasis on opioid use disorder.

Facilitated by the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center and presented by Aila Hoss, JD

Aila Hoss is public health attorney and an Assistant Professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law where she teaches and researches Indian law and health law. Prior to teaching, Professor Hoss practiced public health law as a staff attorney with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Law Program, where she worked to improve public health through the development of legal tools and the provision of legal technical assistance to state, Tribal, local, and territorial governments.

Tribal EpiCenters

11/20/2020

Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

Grant Opportunities, TEC News

The purpose of this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is to support research on interventions to improve health in Native American (NA) populations. This includes 1) etiologic research, where there is a significant gap in knowledge, that will directly inform intervention development or adaptations, 2) research that develops, adapts, or tests the efficacy or effectiveness of health promotion and disease prevention interventions, 3) research that tests culturally informed treatment or recovery interventions and 4) where a sufficient body of knowledge on intervention efficacy exists, research on dissemination and implementation that develops and tests strategies to overcome barriers to the adoption, integration, scale-up, and sustainability of effective interventions.

Applications Due: May 17, 2021

View Grant Opportunity

Tribal EpiCenters

11/06/2020

Tribal Epidemiology Centers: Addressing COVID-19 in Indian Country

TEC News, Webinar

In this month’s Preventive Medicine Grand Rounds, speakers showcased the work of Tribal Epidemiology Centers (TECs) to protect American Indian and Alaskan Native persons against COVID-19. As Public Health Authorities, TECs are uniquely positioned within Tribal and Urban Indian communities to effectively conduct disease surveillance, public health research, prevention and control of disease, and more. This session highlights the importance of systematically including tribes, tribal organizations, and TECs into the United States public health system.

Authorized by Congress in 1996, TECs were established within the Indian Health Service (IHS) as a solution to the discontinuation of regional medical epidemiologist positions. Recognizing epidemiology as a major foundation of public health, several IHS staff who were graduates from CDC’s Preventive Medicine Residency and Epidemic Intelligence Service programs, worked together and served as the masterminds behind the formation of TECs. They were involved with guiding the concepts, developing the legislation that provides public health authority to the TECs today, and launching some of the first TECs.

Speakers

Captain Jennifer Giroux, MD, MPH
Public Health Advisor / Consultant
Great Plains Area Indian Health Service

Kevin English, DrPH
Director
Albuquerque Area Southwest Tribal Epidemiology Center

Aurimar Ayala, MPH
Epidemiology Manager
California Tribal Epidemiology Center

Amy Poel, MPH
Epidemiologist (stand-in for Adrian E. Dominguez)
Urban Indian Health Institute

Jonathan Davis, PhD
Program Manager
Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. Tribal Epidemiology Center

Pj Beaudry, MPH
Director
Great Plains Tribal Epidemiology Center

These grand rounds presentations are provided as a courtesy of CDC’s Preventive Medicine Residency and Fellowship program (PMR/F) with the goal of sharing systems-based approaches and leadership practices to address population health issues and public health emergencies.

Continuing Education

Continuing education (CE) is available and there is no cost for this activity. For more details, go to https://www.cdc.gov/prevmed/pmgr/continuing-education.html.

For More Information

Please contact the PMR/F program at prevmed@cdc.gov or visit the Preventive Medicine Grand Rounds web page.

Access the Webinar Recording here: https://adobeconnect.cdc.gov/pexm4j35o8jw/

View/Download the Event Flyer (PDF 144 KB)

View/Download Summary (PDF 381 KB)

Tribal EpiCenters

Tribal EpiCentersTuesday, February 17th, 2026 at 10:49am

“The ability to understand without condemnation, accept our friends and enemies in the light of their weaknesses, is something we must acquire early in life in order to find happiness in this world.”
– Elizabeth Peratrovich

Happy Elizabeth Peratrovich Day!

Each February 16, we celebrate Elizabeth Peratrovich (Ḵaax̱gal.aat), of the Tlingit Lukaax̱.ádi clan, Raven moiety, who changed Alaska forever.

When Alaska Native peoples faced signs reading "No Dogs, No Natives" and were denied basic rights, Elizabeth stepped forward as Grand President of the Alaska Native Sisterhood. Her powerful testimony led Governor Gruening to sign America's first anti-discrimination law on February 16, 1945 – 14 years before Alaska statehood and nearly 20 years before the Civil Rights Act.

We came upon this audio recording of a 1996 gathering to celebrate Elizabeth Peratrovich: bit.ly/3HUzNwI. It's part of SHI's Southeast Native Radio Recordings Collection. Speakers include Co-Masters-of-Ceremony Richard Stitt and Ethel Lund, Alaska Native Sisterhood's Selena Everson, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer, and Alaska Federation of Natives President Julie Kitka.

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