Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recently made visits to tribal regions in Arizona and New Mexico. During his visit, he shed light on the efforts of these communities in combating persistent illnesses prevalent among Native Americans and Alaska Natives. This is an area he often cites as one of his prime concerns. However, he did not publicly mention a crucial Native Health program, Healthy Tribes, that uses conventional medicine treatments and diets to handle high rates of ailments like diabetes and liver disease.
Despite promising its potential, the fate of Healthy Tribes suffers as it bore severe hits during the federal health layoffs occurring earlier this month. Tribal leaders express their struggle to reconcile Kennedy’s verbal support with his actions. Without adequate details, they are left questioning if the downfall of Healthy Tribes is an outcome of the Trump administration’s aim to terminate initiatives for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
There’s still a lot of uncertainty around the remnants of the 11-year-old program. Healthy Tribes, under Kennedy’s agency, used to be part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was responsible for allocating $32.5 million each year. Leaders of the tribes and health officials have raised concerns to The Associated Press, stating that the cutbacks on the Healthy Tribes program reflect another breach of the federal government’s legal obligation to tribal nations, which is defined in treaties, laws, and other acts.
The federal government holds the legal responsibility to fund healthcare via the Indian Health Service, along with ensuring education and public safety for citizens belonging to the 574 federally recognized tribes. Yet, for a long time, federal funding has been unable to meet these demands, forcing the tribal governments to depend more on additional grants and programs, one such being Healthy Tribes.
Several tribal facilities were surprised when they received an email from a staff member of CDC on April 1st, notifying them of the removal of majority of the personnel involved with the Healthy Tribes program. The government has the mandate to discuss with tribes regarding decisions that affect them, however, tribal leaders have expressed concerns that these discussions are not taking place.
In fact, tribes have the right to take legal action against the U.S. if the latter fails to fulfill its trust responsibilities. Healthy Tribes’ cuts have raised several questions in the minds of tribal leaders who have so far received no replies from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In its response to AP, the department asserted that the Indian Health Service has remained untouched by the workforce reductions and there are no plans to merge its offices.
In Seattle, the funds from the Healthy Tribes initiative help maintain a project called GATHER, which aims at integrating traditional tribal medicine practices into healthcare routines. Medical providers at the Seattle Indian Health Board have the autonomy to use medicine created from plants that thrive in a communal garden.
As part of a patient’s care team, a conventional Native medicine apprentice or healer plays a significant role. The current administration’s attempt to cut down programs that may be seen as DEI initiatives has faced resistance from Native communities. Lawyers, policy consultants, and monitors have joined forces with these communities to highlight areas where the government might be failing to honor the trust responsibility.
Stephen Roe Lewis, the governor of the Gila River Indian Community, had a private meeting with Kennedy. He insists that building respectful relationships with tribes and getting their inputs is crucial to honoring the federal government’s trust responsibilities. Swinging cuts to the federal workforce made by the Trump administration have led to deep confusion among tribal leaders who have had to frequently remind newly appointed federal officials that services provided to the tribes are not race-dependent but are based on the political status of tribal nations.