Native youth in Tuscon, Arizona. Photo from Tucson Indian Center / Facebook

The Notah Begay III Foundation announced $118,000 in grants as part of the Seeds of Native Health initiative.

The grants are going to six tribes and Indian organizations. The money will be used to improve nutrition and access to healthy foods for youth.

“Native American tribes are in the best position to improve the health of their own people,” Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Secretary/Treasurer Lori Watso said in a press release. “Funding and technical assistance through these grants will help tribes develop their own nutritional health strategies.”

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community launched the initiative to combat high rates of diabetes and obesity in Indian Country. The tribe has committed $5 million to the effort.

“Improving access to healthy foods and increasing nutrition education for our children will require varying approaches and strategies. Informing the strategies is understanding the assets and challenges in our Native communities,” said Olivia Roanhorse, the director of NB3’s Native Strong Program. “This funding supports community health assessments and planning to do this.”

The Notah Begay III Foundation, a partner in the project, last month announced $277,800 in grants for Indian Country. And another $523,000 went out in August.

The American Heart Association and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community are hosting a meeting of national philanthropic organizations this week to discuss tribal economies and health disparities The event takes place in Minneapolis on Wednesday and Thursday.

“Native Americans are experiencing extreme health disparities. Native people are twice as likely as the rest of the U.S. population to experience nutrition-related health problems,” Chairman Charlie Vig said in a press release. “This discussion around nutrition and dietary problems is unprecedented and desperately needed.”

The list of the grants announced today follow:

• Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians – Red Lake Local Food Initiative, Minnesota, $20,000: The goal of this project is to conduct a community food/health assessment to measure food production, consumption, and lifestyle activity trends. This will result in an action plan to develop a local, healthy, community-based food system.

• Rosebud Economic Development Corporation – REDCO Community Food Sovereignty Initiative: Assessing and Addressing Food Insecurity on the Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota, $20,000: The goal of this project is to conduct a reservation-wide food sovereignty assessment and utilize other outreach and feedback mechanisms (talking circles, surveys, etc.) to gather input from tribal citizens regarding the relationship of food to health.

• Tucson Indian Center – Finding strengths in the local food environment to promote healthier food consumption among American Indian community members in Tucson, Arizona, $18,000: The project is a collaborative project between the Tucson Indian Center and the University of Arizona Center for American Indian Resilience. The goal of the project is to conduct a community health assessment and implement community planning activities to create an action plan that will be used by the center for long-term planning to address childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes in the Tucson American Indian community.

• American Indian Health Research and Education Alliance – Community Health Assessment on Youth Diabetes Risk, Kansas, $20,000: The project will take place in both the Kickapoo Tribe and Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation communities to develop a sustainable action plan, specific to each community, that will help address the issues related to childhood obesity and diabetes by using information from health assessments and surveys.

• Blackfeet Community College – From Need to Seed: A Community Action Plan to Reduce Childhood Obesity and Diabetes, Montana, $20,000: The project will focus on healthy nutrition and assessments of youth children (ages 2-7) and their parents, who will be encouraged to participate in talking circles. This will result in a community action plan to address childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes among Blackfeet Tribal Nation members.

• Urban Native Education Alliance – Building Capacity for Urban Native Youth Health Project, Washington, $20,000: The goal of this project is to bring together Native youth and community to discuss nutrition and healthy food knowledge and access by conducting a community (health) needs assessment.

Related Stories:
Tribes receive first round of grants from Seeds of Native Health (08/04)
Editorial: Shakopee Tribe contributes $5M for health initiative (3/27)