Work With Tribal Communities
The Tribal Wheel is a moving wheel, showing the inter-connectedness between all elements. The two outer rings rotate independently clockwise or counter-clockwise to display movement. Hover and click on either ring to turn it. *NOTE: the wheel above will not function properly on Microsoft Edge. Google Chrome or Safari are recommended.
The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., and Vitalyst Health Foundation convened sessions with Tribes in Arizona to develop the “Elements of a Healthy Tribal Community Wheel” in 2019 and 2020.
The Healthy Tribal Community Wheel is based on this input. Longstanding values are identified that align with factors that contribute to one’s personal health and more broadly to the overall health of a Tribal community. The wheel is a tool that can guide the development of policies, funding sources and programs generated by Tribal governments through resources involved in providing health care services to American Indian/Alaska Native people.
The wheel was designed to correspond to traditional knowledge connected to the “Four Directions” and the stages of life, medicinal plants, animals and healing ways aligned to the quadrants of the earth and sky. The center represents the core of Mother Earth and next the soil, rivers and oceans that give us sustenance. The participants identified factors that enhance our personal health and that of our families, and how these link to the overall wellbeing of a Tribal community.
The group discussions defined Healthy Communities as:
- A healthy Tribal community is one where families have the opportunity to live in balance from birth to an elderly age, within environments that are clean, safe and promote wellness.
- A Tribal perspective is that one’s health is influenced by cultural and environmental knowledge that sustained Tribal communities prior to colonization that may be adapted to influence our quality of life.
- These factors stem from overarching values that have continued to influence individual wellness in Tribal communities.
Resources Related to our Tribal Work:
- Tribal wheel: snapshot and detailed versions
- The Role of Tribes and Tribal Relations in Creating a More Vibrant Arizona, Excerpt from 2020 Arizona Town Hall report.
- A podcast and a presentation on the Elements of a Healthy Tribal Community
- Vitalyst funding of tribal projects
- Find your tribal land
- Native Land Digital is a Canadian not-for-profit organization. Their map is a resource for North Americans (and others) to find out more about local Indigenous territories and languages.
- Other tribal resources: