Academic Tribal Health
ASPPH members are decolonizing the academy by elevating Indigenous voices and advancing graduate education and training for Tribal health.
ASPPH collaborates with members, Tribal Organizations, and Tribal Health Departments to expand education for Tribal Health and build a skilled public health workforce grounded in Indigenous approaches to public health and respect for Tribal sovereignty.
ASPPH/CDC Tribal Health Department Fellowship
ASPPH partners with Tribal Health Departments to build capacity and strengthen the Tribal public health workforce through efforts like the ASPPH/CDC Tribal Health Department Fellowship Program. Fellows gain direct experience supporting Tribal communities, helping to strengthen public health infrastructure and advance long-term capacity building. This work reflects ASPPH’s belief that Tribal Health is Public Health – that the wellbeing, sovereignty, and cultural preservation of Tribal Nations are essential to advancing public health for all.
Elevating Member Voices in Graduate Education for Tribal Health
ASPPH is proud to elevate member voices leading the transformation of education for public health through Indigenized Learning. During the 2025 Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association, speakers from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Indigenous Health and the University of North Dakota Indigenous Health PhD program joined a joint session of the Academic and Practice Linkages in Public Health Caucus and the American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Caucus to discuss their PhD program’s development, philosophy, curriculum, and student stories, all of which is grounded in Two-Eyed Seeing — a framework that bridges Indigenous and Western science. The session, Transforming Public Health through Indigenous-Led Scholarship and Practice, focused on shifting from colonized to indigenized learning, emphasizing how all academic spaces can honor Indigenous knowledge and leadership.
Graduate Education for Tribal Health and Indigenous Communities
Tribal Health degree and certificate programs prepare students to address the unique public health needs of Indigenous communities through culturally grounded, community-led, and sovereignty-affirming approaches. These programs integrate Indigenous knowledge systems with public health science to strengthen health equity and self-determination across Tribal Nations. See ASPPH member programs below.
Colorado School of Public Health – Centers for American Indian & Alaska Native Health
The Centers for American Indian & Alaska Native Health is dedicated to promoting the health and well-being of American Indian and Alaska Native communities through culturally grounded research, training, continuing education, technical assistance, and public health information dissemination within a biopsychosocial framework. The center also hosts a fully online Certificate in American Indian & Alaska Native Health and publishes a peer-reviewed journal on mental health in these populations.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health – Center for Indigenous Health
Founded in 1991, the Center for Indigenous Health partners with Indigenous communities across more than 165 tribal nations to advance health equity. Their work blends community-based participatory research, education, policy advocacy, and program dissemination—braiding Native cultural strengths with Western and Indigenous sciences to promote well-being across the lifespan
North Dakota State University Department of Public Health – American Indian Public Health Resource Center
The American Indian Public Health Resource Center works to address American Indian public health disparities by providing technical assistance, policy development, education, self-determination assessments, research, and programming in collaboration with tribes across North Dakota, the Northern Plains, and nationally.
Northern Arizona University MPH Program – MPH in Indigenous Health
The MPH in Indigenous Health prepares students for culturally grounded and practice-oriented careers in public health by equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and lived learning experiences needed to advance Indigenous health equity, work effectively with tribal nations and Indigenous communities, and contribute to public health practice, policy, leadership, and research through respectful, sovereignty-affirming, and community-driven approaches, with particular emphasis on tribal, rural, and border contexts in Arizona.
University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health– Indigenous Health (Graduate Certificate & Outreach)
University of Arizona’s Indigenous Health program emphasizes health and well-being through Indigenous-centered models rooted in language, culture, identity, place, and community history. The Graduate Certificate is designed to bolster the public health workforce serving Indigenous communities, and the college collaborates closely with tribes across Arizona to deliver culturally relevant education, research, and health services.
University of New Mexico – Center for Native American Health (CNAH)
The Center for Native American Health delivers public health education, community-engaged research, workforce development, and service aligned with Indigenous core values. It partners with tribes, pueblos, and urban Native communities—emphasizing self-governance and cultural strengths to advance health equity across New Mexico.
University of North Dakota – Department of Indigenous Health
The University of North Dakota offers an MPH program that prepares culturally aware public health professionals across the Northern Plains with a specialization in Indigenous Health. Its Department of Indigenous Health integrates research, education, training, and service to improve health outcomes through culturally conscious and collaborative scholarship. The Department of Indigenous Health offers the first Indigenous Health PhD in the U.S. and Canada, designed to deepen understanding of Indigenous health issues through evidence-based, culturally grounded approaches.