Healthy Families on American Indian Reservations: A Summary of Six Years of Research by Tribal College Faculty, Staff, and Students

This article provides a review and summary of six years of research on food assistance and nutrition issues on Indian reservations across America that was carried out by tribal college faculty, staff, and students through a federal small grants program. An assessment of the impacts and implications of this unique research program on the tribal colleges and communities involved is also included. Research from the following 9 colleges is summarized: (1) Chief Dull Knife College; (2) Dine College; (3) Little Priest Tribal College; (4) Oglala Lakota College; (5) Si Tanka University; (6) Tohono O'odham Community College; (7) Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College; (8) Fort Belknap College; and (9) Fort Peck Community College. The collection developed through the small grants program is a valuable body of nutrition-related research now available to scholars and policy makers that was not accessible prior to our work with tribal communities. Perhaps more importantly, these materials can inform tribal leaders who are striving to meet the modern challenges imposed by the ravages of generations of ill-informed federal Indian policy effectively.(Contains 17 notes.)