Community Pulling Together: Promoting cultural identity and preventing substance abuse in a Tribal community

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities are increasingly informed gatekeepers and collaborators for research conducted within their communities. In addition, federally recognized AI/AN Tribes may, as sovereign entities, impose additional research regulations and requirements on researchers. Phase I of the Healing of the Canoe: the Community Pulling Together (HOC) was a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) collaborative project between the Suquamish Tribe and the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute at the University of Washington. The overall goal of the project was to develop a community-based, culturally-grounded curriculum that addressed priority concerns, incorporated strengths and resources that existed in the Tribal community, and respected the wisdom and knowledge of Tribal members. A needs and resources assessment indicated that the priority concern was prevention of youth substance abuse and the promotion of cultural identity and a sense of community belonging. Importantly, the community indicated that youth, Elders and the resurgence of their Suquamish culture were the resources that existed to address their concerns. HOC adapted a curriculum using the Canoe Journey as a tool for teaching important life skills and incorporating Suquamish culture, values, practices, teachings, beliefs, skills, and stories into the sessions. A culturally relevant instrument was developed to pilot during the two exploratory implementations of the curriculum. Although the target for this intervention was youth in the community we learned that this was an artificial “border” and it was critical to attend to the involvement of and impact on the larger Tribal community.