The Healing of the Canoe: The Community Pulling Together

1. The Healing of the Canoe: The Community Pulling Together Dennis M. Donovan, Lisa R. Thomas, Robin L.W. Sigo, C. Truth Griffeth, and the Suquamish Tribe

2. The Healing of the Canoe: The Community Pulling Together • Three-year planning and pilot project • Funded by the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities • Collaborative project between the Suquamish Tribe and the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute • Based on community and Tribal traditions and values • Uses Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Methods • Identify and reduce health disparities and promote health and wellness

4. Manyhands by Roy Henry Vickers "I'm an alcoholic in recovery. I went to a medicine man to learn our ancient ways of sobriety, which connected me to the old ways of being spiritual, and that led me to the canoe which is a sacred part of who we are." Native artist Roy Henry Vickers, WaveLength Magazine, February - March 2003

5. General Principles Guiding the Tribal Community-University Partnership • Principles of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) • Tribal Participatory Research (TPR) Model • Principles of Good Community-Campus Partnerships

6. Principles of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) • Be conducted in full partnership with the target community • Respond to issues of concern to the target community • Utilize and build on strengths and resources of the target community • Employ interventions and assessment batteries that are culturally appropriate and relevant • Is an iterative process • Generate data that not only inform science but also provide the community with information that can enhance the community’s ability to more successfully reduce health disparities and promote health Viswanathan, et al., 2004

7. Tribal Participatory Research (TPR) Model • Tribal oversight of the process and project • Tribal Council resolutions and research code • Community advisory council • Ongoing communication with community members • Use a cultural facilitator to act as an intermediary between project staff and the oversight committee, and to establish a culturally appropriate process for meetings of community members and researchers • Train and employ community members as project staff • Use culturally specific interventions and assessments that incorporate traditional practices and concepts Fisher & Ball, 2002, 2003

9. CANOE JOURNEY / LIFE’S JOURNEY "The 'journey' is an opportunity to teach prevention through our culture….It brings self-esteem and reminds us all where we come from." Herman Williams Jr., tribal council chairman of the Tulalip Tribes. Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Tuesday, July 29, 2003 A journey toward healing, by canoe

10. CANOE JOURNEY / LIFE’S JOURNEY • An 8-session life skills curriculum based on the Canoe Journey • Developed for an urban AIAN population • To prevent the initiation of substance use and promote abstinence • To reduce the risk of harm and the potential for developing an addiction • To help Native youth identify and utilize healthy and appropriate social skills and lifestyle choices LaMarr & Marlatt, 2002; Marlatt et al., 2003

11. CANOE JOURNEY / LIFE’S JOURNEY • Addresses interpersonal and intrapersonal life skills • Culturally grounded • Use of culturally appropriate metaphor • Adaptable to other communities • Incorporates feedback from focus groups LaMarr & Marlatt, 2002; Marlatt et al., 2003