Abstract American Indians have the highest smoking rates and lowest quit rates of any racial/ethnic group in the US. Researchers and community members from the American Indian Health Research and Education Alliance (AIHREA) created and tested a culturally-tailored smoking cessation program, All Nations Breath of Life (ANBL). ANBL is designed to help American Indians quit smoking while respecting the sacred nature of tobacco. To increase enrollment in ANBL, American Indian smokers were approached at cultural events and asked to attend a 30-minute educational session (in-person, n = 179; televideo, n = 97). The educational sessions were developed using the Health Belief Model as a framework and focused on smoking facts and American Indian health. In pre- and post-tests, participants in both sessions demonstrated increased motivation and confidence to quit smoking. Approximately 9% of in-person session participants and 30% of televideo participants were recruited into ANBL. The results indicate that education sessions are an excellent way to educate American Indians about smoking, its related outcomes, and American Indian health. More importantly, these sessions were a successful recruitment tool for ANBL. In conclusion, hosting informational sessions at cultural events about smoking are an effective way to recruit people into a smoking cessation program. Citation Format: Ryan Goeckner, Jordyn Gunville, T Edward Smith, Niaman Nazir, Sean M. Daley, Won Choi, Christine Daley. Tobacco education sessions as a recruitment tool for a culturally tailored smoking cessation program for American Indians: All Nations Breath of Life. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A44.
The No Dakota Access Pipeline resistance movement provides a poignant example of the way in which cultural, spiritual, and oral traditions remain authoritative in the lives of American Indian peoples, specifically the Lakota people. Confronted with restrictions of their religious freedoms and of access to clean drinking water due to construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), members of Lakota communities engaged with traditions specific to their communities to inform and structure the No DAPL resistance movement. A series of interviews conducted on the Cheyenne River Sioux Nation with tribal members reveal that Lakota spiritual traditions have been integral to every aspect of the movement, including the motivations for, organization of, and understanding of the future of the movement.
Abstract American Indians (AI) have the highest rates of smokeless tobacco (SLT) use of any major ethnic group in the US at 9% versus 4% among whites. This is likely an underestimate due to the wide variation in SLT use by region of the country and tribal affiliation. AI in the Southern and Northern Plains have the highest SLT use rates, reaching 25% among some tribes, contributing to higher and rising incidence and disproportionate mortality in SLT-related cancers, including oral, esophageal, and pancreatic cancers. In addition, over the last three decades rates of SLT use have been rising in some tribal communities with historically low rates. Our overall objective for this project is the development and pilot testing of a culturally tailored SLT cessation program for a heterogeneous AI population using community-based participatory research (CBPR). Here, we describe program development using a CBPR approach and program components of the All Nations Snuff Out Smokeless (ANSOS) program. Program development includes a series of focus groups used to determine program components and cultural tailoring and assessments of the program curriculum for scientific accuracy, readability, and cultural appropriateness. We conducted 6 focus groups with smokeless tobacco users or recent users to determine what they thought would be important in a quit smokeless tobacco program for AI. Based on these focus groups and a smoking cessation program we previously developed and tested with success (All Nations Breath of Life), we created a program and accompanying educational curriculum. Program components include both in-person group counseling sessions and telephone individual counseling, culturally tailored program incentives designed to assist with the quitting process and enhance retention, and a culturally tailored curriculum. To assess the curriculum for scientific accuracy, we used a panel of four experts in tobacco cessation. To assess the curriculum for readability, we used the Fry readability formula, combined with the SMOG readability formula. Using the two formulas allowed us to look at multiple aspects of readability, such as word length and sentence length. To assess the curriculum for cultural appropriateness, we conducted 22 interviews with AI, stratified by gender. We present here results of our focus groups, assessments, and interviews, along with a basic description of program components. Citation Format: Charley S. Lewis, Jason W. Hale, Ryan T. Goeckner, T Edward Smith, Stephen Valliere, Jordyn A. Gunville, Crisandra Wilkie, Kathryn L. Rollins, Won S. Choi, Christine M. Daley. Creation of a culturally tailored quit smokeless tobacco program for American Indians. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A07.
Abstract Humanity faces a number of wicked problems, from global climate change and the coronavirus pandemic to systemic racism and widening economic inequality. Since such complex and dynamic problems are plagued by disagreement among stakeholders over their nature and cause, they are notoriously difficult to solve. This commentary argues that if humanity truly aspires to address the grand challenges of today and tomorrow, then graduate education must be redesigned. It is no longer sufficient to train students only to be experts in their respective fields. They also must hone the interpersonal and professional skills that allow them to collaborate successfully within diverse teams of researchers and other stakeholders. Here the conceptual framework of wicked science is proposed, including what a graduate program in wicked science would achieve and why such training matters both to researchers and the communities where they work. If humanity hopes to effectively tackle the world’s wicked problems, then it is time to train a generation of wicked scientists.
The annual Chief Big Foot Memorial Ride represents the longest continuous example of Lakota memorial and resistance rides in contemporary Lakota activism. First held in 1986, this commemoration of the journey of Chief Big Foot’s band of Lakotas and the subsequent Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 now reaches beyond the confines of the ride itself through the use of social media profiles that serve to both publicize and document the ride. This article seeks to understand the way that photographs from the rides influence the types and amount of engagement it receives on social media. Using a qualitative and quantitative approach, 304 images and their associated engagements from the 2018 ride were analyzed using content analysis and a grounded theory approach. This revealed that certain characteristics gave rise to the construction of a counterpublic around this ride. Findings suggest that both the content of photos and types of authors for posts influenced the number and types of engagements received by certain photographs. Given the relative isolation of many Indigenous communities in the Americas, these findings suggest that certain strategies for social media posts by Indigenous social movements can overcome these barriers to spread their message to a wider audience through strategic use of imagery associated with these movements.
