Empowering advocates: Native American approaches to addressing disparities

Given the emphasis Tobacco Policy Change has put on addressing disparities, it has been essential to focus significantly on encouraging applications from Indian Country. Over the course of its four funding cycles, TPC has awarded eleven grants to applicants working in Indian Country, accounting for 15% of the total number of grants awarded.

Tobacco policy advocacy in Indian Country can be more culturally and politically complicated than elsewhere due to issues such as the ceremonial use of tobacco and the sovereignty of tribal nations. Mainstream advocates have often underestimated the primacy of these issues within Indian Country, and efforts to collaborate have frequently been hampered as a result.

Other factors have contributed to the relatively low level of interaction among Native and mainstream advocates. Strategies and tactics commonly used by mainstream advocates such as earned media, direct and grassroots lobbying, and polling are often inapplicable or have been traditionally under utilized by Native advocates. And, while non-profit policy advocacy organizations have long been the backbone of the mainstream tobacco control movement, there are generally far fewer such organizations operating within Indian Country. In fact, most of TPC's grants in Indian Country have been made directly to tribal governments or quasi-governmental agencies like tribal support centers.

This presentation examines the challenges of attracting and supporting successful grantees from Indian Country, and adapting to the unique advocacy environments in which they operate. It will also highlight many of their extraordinary achievements as Tobacco Policy Change grantees.