Last week, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. conducted extensive visits to tribal communities in Arizona and New Mexico to showcase the measures being undertaken to curb chronic diseases in the populations of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. This health concern has repeatedly been cited by Kennedy as one of his paramount objectives. Despite this apparent commitment, there arose a conspicuous absence of public recognition or discussion of a key Native health program, renowned for leveraging traditional medicinal practices and diets to combat the rampant prevalence of conditions such as diabetes and liver disease.
This insightful program, that goes by the name ‘Healthy Tribes’, was recently subjected to significant cuts during the federal health dismissals earlier this month. This unexpected development triggered a wave of confusion and uncertainty among Native leaders who find themselves struggling to reconcile Kennedy’s articulated intentions and the contradictory actions taken.
A heightened sense of bewilderment pervades this group regarding the motives underlying these decisions, leaving them to speculate if the dismantling of Healthy Tribes might be an offshoot of the Trump administration’s quest to terminate various initiatives focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Moreover, details remain unclear about how the cuts will affect the decade-old Healthy Tribes program, an initiative previously nested within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and once under Kennedy’s purview. Over its lifespan the program disbursed approximately $32.5 million annually to provide services for these communities.
According to tribal heads and healthcare authorities sharing insights with The Associated Press, such sweeping cuts to the Healthy Tribes program blatantly ignore the federal government’s committed obligation, or trust duty, to support tribal nations through various means as defined by treaties, legislation, and several other acts.
This governmental duty includes the financing of healthcare via the Indian Health Service, along with education and public safety services for the citizens of the 574 federally recognized tribes. There is, however, a historical and continued shortfall in federal funding, which has compelled tribal administrations to depend on additional grants and schemes akin to Healthy Tribes.
On the 1st of April, a preponderance of tribal facilities was taken by surprise by the untimely news of massive staff layoffs from the Healthy Tribes program conveyed through an email from a CDC associate.
This lack of adequate communication and consultation with tribes on decisions that blatant impact on their lives is a worrying trend. Tribal chiefs reiterate that adequate consultations have not materialized, a critical factor when one considers the potential severe legal implications if it is deemed that the U.S. has failed to uphold its stated trust responsibilities.
Indeed, if such lapses were to occur, tribes would have appropriate legal grounds to challenge the U.S. government. When approached for comment on the specifics of the cuts to Healthy Tribes, there came no conclusive response from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. However, in their correspondence with the AP, they did stress that the Indian Health Service had not been subjected to the workforce reductions seen earlier this month, and that there were no plans to merge any of its specific offices.
A practical example of the Healthy Tribes project’s contribution can be seen in Seattle, where funding from the program has been channelled into another initiative, known as GATHER. This initiative emphasizes the incorporation of traditional tribal medical practices in conventional healthcare.
Through this program, practitioners at the Seattle Indian Health Board can prescribe herbal remedies made from plants nurtured in community gardens, whilst patients have the unique opportunity of being cared for by a designated native medicine apprentice or healer.
Amidst these turbulent changes, Native communities have been compelled to mitigate the onslaught of potential cuts to DEI programs, facilitated by the assistance of legal professionals, policy advisors, and vigilant watchdogs who scrutinize areas where the government may be falling short of upholding its mandated trust duty.
Stephen Roe Lewis, the governor of the Gila River Indian Community, shared his firm stance on the matter, stating that he had privately communicated to Kennedy the significance of engaging with tribes in a respectful partnership to effectively realize the federal government’s trust responsibilities.
In the backdrop of the Trump administration’s aggressive workforce reductions, many tribal leaders have been put in a position of affirming to newly instated federal officers that the services accorded to tribes aren’t premised on racial grounds, but are determined by the political standing of tribal nations.