Native Health Initiative

Loving Service + Social Justice

NHI Circle of Healing:

1 – Community-driven model – Where we do our work

Autonomy given to Indigenous health leaders to design projects, and using community- expressed needs to direct NHI’s programming. Accordingly, our projects and efforts take place primarily in Indigenous communities.

2 - The framework for NHI - Why we do this work

*Loving Service – Our foundation is love, requiring us to serve as equals, with open hearts and minds to create the NHI family – NHI
is a human project, based on the relationships and sincere love for one another, and is not merely an academic endeavor!
*Health Equity- Our belief is that health disparities are, by definition, unjust, and are therefore health inequities. We seek health equity
(e.g. the elimination of health inequities) as the ethical and practical foundation for our work

3 – The principles of NHI – How we do this work

From an initial community meeting, four principles were identified, acknowledging that all NHI entities have talents to give and things to learn. We approach “health” in the most holistic, interdisciplinary sense of the term, feeling that cultural, historical, spiritual, and other aspects of life are integral to understanding and addressing Indigenous health concerns in a meaningful way.

4 - The people of NHI – Who does the work

Like any family, NHI relies on each of its 7 “family members” to carry out its work. Of note, we seek partnerships, both within and
beyond Indigenous communities, with the belief that NHI is a collective, inclusive effort toward health equity and loving service.

 Talk on health inequities given at UNC School of Medicine.  Aug 22, 2007.

Links to articles concerning American Indian health issues