Support for Indigenous Determinants of Health and a National Plan for Tribal Health
WHEREAS the National Indian Health Board, established in 1972, serves all Federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal governments by advocating for the improvement of health care delivery to American Indians and Alaska Natives, as well as upholding the federal government’s trust responsibility to American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal governments; and
WHEREAS health inequities continue to worsen and life expectancy for American Indians and Alaska Natives has declined, now nearly 11 years lower than for the overall American population; and
WHEREAS complex protective and risk factors contribute to the health outcomes that Indigenous people, including American Indians and Alaska Natives, experience; and
WHEREAS all Indigenous peoples’ interactions and connections to social life and environmental elements are substantially distinct from those of all other populations around the globe; and
WHEREAS colonization has created a compounded negative effect that permeates and interlinks across all cultural, political, socioeconomic and biopsychological circumstances for Indigenous peoples and communities; and
WHEREAS Indigenous frameworks, knowledge, and ways of being cannot simply be classified as social determinants of health, because they are not limited to social constructs, but also include physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, transgenerational, and other factors that influence the health of Indigenous peoples; and
WHEREAS reducing health inequities and protecting health for American Indians and Alaska Natives will require renewed investment in the strengths, cultural resources, and communities of Tribes; and
WHEREAS the National Indian Health Board was a contributing author to the 2023 report on Indigenous Determinants of Health produced by the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) about these matters; and
WHEREAS addressing health inequities faced by American Indians and Alaska Natives will require dedicated focus on Indigenous determinants like those described in the UNPFII report, including Indigeneity, intergenerational holistic healing, the health of mother earth, and decolonizing and re-Indigenizing culture; and
