FALCON Poster Session



FALCON Faculty Presentations

Panel 1: 9:30 – 10:30 a.m.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

NIFA Waterfront Centre (Room 1410)

1.

Title: Family Extension & Education Program and Seven Generations of Health Collaborative

Presenters: B. Joan Goodman

Institution/organization: Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute

Abstract:

The objective of the Family Extension and Education Program (FEEP) is to ensure community Tribal members access to knowledge, skill development, child rearing practices, child development, health, nutrition, and dietary information and career path and financial assistance in order to better manage their family life and resources. The program builds upon a collaborative relationship between the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI), Tribal communities and their Head Start and Early Childhood Centers. All activities and projects are the result of focus groups, surveys and other input from Tribal communities. The Resource Center is an integral part of FEEP, and sponsors workshops on topics in the areas of: Child development, Health, Financial education, Nutrition, and Education.

The “Seven Generations of Health: A Transgenerational Approach to Human Nutrition and Obesity Intervention in Indian Country,” is a collaboration among SIPI, the Centers for Disease Control, the Indian Health Service, the American Indian Research and Education Center at the University of Nevada—Las Vegas, and the Office of Native American Diabetes Program at the University of New Mexico. The project has two primary goals: 1) to develop and disseminate accurate, culturally relevant information about nutrition, exercise and obesity prevention throughout Indian Country as a means to eliminate health disparities; and 2) to establish community-based infrastructures for life-long healthy lifestyles in four Native American communities.

Peer-educators, trained through a Train the Trainer Institute at SIPI, facilitate Healthy Lifestyle Clubs at each of four sites. The Clubs provide support for community members through a variety of activities that reflect the needs of the individual sites. The project integrates research, education and extension as a means to unify and modify existing health programs and curricula into an effective model for community-based Healthy Lifestyle Clubs in Native American communities. Collaboration among Native American communities, institutions of higher learning, health agencies, health educators, curriculum specialists, and community peer educators assures content accuracy and cultural relevance. The project investigates the effectiveness of community-based support groups in the intervention of obesity on a wide scale. A variety of content delivery methods include health-related workshops and short courses, community-based activities, newsletters, videotapes, a website and CD-ROMs.

2.

Title: Health and Wellness at United Tribes Technical College (UTTC)

Presenters: Pat Aune, Kimberly Rhoades, and Annette Broyles

Institution/organization: United Tribes Technical College

Abstract:

Walking trails, food and fitness health fairs, gardening, healthy cooking classes for adults, kids cooking, powwow food vendor training, nutrition and food service academic programs, walking club, fun-runs and half marathons, diabetes education, parenting classes, hand games, aerobics, sweat lodge, steam room, whirlpool, AA meetings, beading/sewing/quilting, dance contests, summer youth horse camp, and more healthy activities for students, staff and faculty is a priority on the UTTC campus.

The Native American Circle of Life, the Medicine Wheel embracing physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well being is the foundation of our value and belief system. With this as our foundation the UTTC Land Grant program strives to improve the quality of life through culturally appropriate and scientifically based education that will strengthen Tribal communities, sustain natural resources, and promote healthy lifestyles for citizens of Tribal nations.

Partnerships and collaboration lead to successful health and wellness activities. The Community Wellness Circle is a networking and discussion gathering for the departments and individuals seeking a coordinated effort to promote health and wellness. The discussion is led by Land Grant staff and the Strengthening Lifestyle staff, the participants include; counselors, faculty, student health workers, student senate, human resource staff, security staff and others. Health and wellness programs are supported by various departments and in partnership with agencies and organizations that serve tribal communities.

Health and wellness resources for Tribal communities, citizens and colleges are developed through relevant, research-based nutrition and food safety education. Research projects with 1862 and 1994 Land Grant partners have studied the nutritional value of native plants and involved UTTC students in research projects at Agriculture Research Stations in three states. Future opportunities include horticulture experimental plots and local food projects, and the development of a 4 year degree in community nutrition.

3.

Title: Tohono O'odham Community College Integrated Equine Youth Education

Presenters: Si Johnson

Institution/organization: Tohono O'odham Community College

Abstract:

Tohono O'odham Community College’s (TOCC) agriculture extension Integrated Equine Youth Education program area aims to reconnect youth with Tohono O’odham land, language, ceremony, and history, while simultaneously learning valuable hands-on skills. Youth participants are encouraged to and have taken on leadership roles as rodeo queens, served on advisory committees, and taken leadership roles within extension programs. Each area within equine programs is complementary, while each provides different venues appropriate to youths’ level of interest. There are four programmatic areas within the equine focus; 1) Horse Camps, 2) Junior Rodeo Series, 3) Wild Ride, and 4) Traditional Farming.

Horse Camps are offered in spring, summer, winter, & fall and focus on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual being. Youth are engaged through interactions with professors (the horses), elders, guest presenters, each other, and their environment. At the end of each horse camp, youth have learned adequate skills to saddle and ride a horse on their own.

The Junior Rodeo Series teaches youth respect and responsibility – for their animals, their health, and each other. Contestants build rodeo skills with timed and rough stock events. Rodeos also include cultural components such as traditional game demonstrations and a farmers market with traditional foods.

Traditional Farming with horses teaches youth how to train horses to wear a harness, pull farm implements, and work as a team. Participants learn to drive a single horse or teams of horses to do farm work. Elders are a primary source of information, and youth connect traditional farming methods with current trends in sustainable agriculture and green jobs.

Participants in the ten-week Wild Ride program learn to use local natural resources that sustain O’odham life, encourage youth to develop leadership qualities and a sense of self-worth, and provide a vision for a future involving the land and natural resources.

FALCON Faculty Presentations

Panel 2: 10:45 – 11:45 a.m.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

NIFA Waterfront Centre (Room 1410)

1.

Title: Bachelors Degree in Health, Sport and Exercise Science

Presenters: Gary Tanner

Institution/organization: Haskell Indian Nations University

Abstract:

This presentation will cover the process of our new Bachelors Degree Program Project from inception to fruition. It starts with the first year of the CSREES Equity Grant in 2006 when it was just a brainchild of our faculty (an Associate of Arts component), to the present approved four-year program, to where we are going to in the future of this degree program. I will cover items that might help other schools move along with their projects that would be both positive and negative. I will also cover some of the obstacles that had to be overcome, the role of the administration in the process, and the role of the CSREES Equity Grant and the things that it afforded our group as we worked on the project.

I will explain what we are doing as we move into completion of our final degree plans, the finalization of the different concentration areas and hopefully what our university hopes to gain from this project. The visions that our faculty had (has) will be brought to light and the objectives that the department(s) want to accomplish will be evident by the end of the presentation.

The usefulness of this program to the students will be covered and how our project will help both the individual student and Native American communities across the nation where they came from. The project should be a success to the students, the university, higher education institutions and the employers who hire graduates. The degree project covers areas of: Wellness, Sports Administration, Health, and Curriculum.

2.

Title: Promoting Wellness with Traditional Foods

Presenters: Steven Dahlberg

Institution/organization: White Earth Tribal and Community College

Abstract:

Tribal Colleges exist specifically to promote wellness within the communities they serve. This is a holistic form of wellness that includes physical, social, ecological, psychological, spiritual, and community components. The White Earth Tribal and Community College Extension Service has chosen the medium of traditional foods to support this mission. We have developed several programs designed to reintroduce people to traditional foods, both “wild” foods of the Anishinaabeg and garden vegetables brought by immigrants. The goal of these programs is to encourage people to actively engage in producing some of their own food as a vehicle for improving nutrition, physical fitness, and community involvement and to reestablish the relationship between individuals and their natural environment and traditions. We believe that this relationship has an important nurturing role for all aspects of wellness, but especially one’s spiritual well-being. The specific projects we engage in to achieve this goal include youth gardening programs, wild food workshops and events, seasonal camps modeled after the traditional Anishinaabeg lifeways, and ecotourism promotional activities around traditional foods.

3.

Title: Field and Home: Food and Fitness Programming on the Flathead Reservation

Presenters: Virgil Dupuis

Institution/organization: Salish Kootenai College

Abstract:

Salish Kootenai College (SKC), the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (Tribes) Department of Human Resource Development (DHRD) and the Tribal Health Department (THD), and the Flathead Reservation Extension Office (FREO) are partnering to bring gardening, healthy food preparation, food preservation, nutrition education, and physical activities to residents of the Flathead Reservation in Montana. For the past two years, the USDA-Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservation has granted funding to the Tribes to conduct special programming for participants in the food supplementary programs. Use of the commodity program has been decreasing, as participants choose to utilize the SNAP program (food stamps) to supplement low-income food systems.

The goals of the project are to: 1. Provide hands-on education in culinary arts, utilizing many of the types of foods available through commodities to create healthy affordable meals; 2. Introduce participants to different foods many are not familiar with and provide instruction in how to prepare and preserve them; 3. Encourage gardening through demonstration gardens where the produce is donated to participants, senior centers, and provided for special events; 4. Provide instruction in food preservation; and 5. Provide physical fitness activities for youth, adults, and seniors.

We have offered approximately 40 cooking and food preservation events, had over 1500 participant days in physical activity events featuring “native games,” implemented five community gardens, and conducted a Food, Fitness, and Health Fair where over 350 people attended. We are developing means to bring sustainability to an extremely vulnerable population on the Reservation. Extension staff dedication to the program, volunteers, and an energized participant base are helping us do just that. We are currently improving the SKC Extension capacity to include a modern greenhouse, shade structure, and cold frame tunnel. We are expanding to several acres of gardens where we plan to implement a “for education-for profit” college farm to be able to continue providing extension programming, and we plan to develop academic programs around food and fitness.

FALCON Faculty Presentations

Panel 3: 1:15 – 2:15 p.m.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

NIFA Waterfront Centre (Room 1410)

1.

Title: What Have We Learned After Four Years Collaboration with a Tribal College?

Presenters: Chengci Chen

Institution/organization: Montana State University

Abstract:

Montana State University has been collaborating with Fort Belknap College in a research project for four years to introduce specialty crops to the reservation for increased hay production. Although hay production was identified as one of the top research priorities by the Fort Belknap extension personnel and farmers, it takes many efforts before a crop can be accepted and makes impact on the community. Several legume and cereal forage crops were tested at the Fort Belknap College Research Farm and a suitable high yielding cereal forage has been identified. The selected cereal hay crop produced 10 tons per acre, which is much greater than common grass pastures. This crop has been gradually accepted by farmers in the reservation. The experience we learned from the project includes: 1) it takes strong and continuous support from both 1862 and 1994 colleges to make the project to succeed; 2) including extension personnel in the research project is more effective to disseminate research results to producers; 3) getting the research results accepted by producers and making impact on the community is more important than journal publications; 4) faculty members from both 1862 and 1994 colleges must be patient in working with students hand by hand from the basic scientific knowledge, experimental design, data analysis, and presenting results. The researchers from Montana State University are happy to collaborate with tribal colleges when opportunity exists.

2.

Title: Increasing The Number of Environmental Science Majors Through Community Research

Presenters: Marnie K. Carroll

Institution/organization: Diné College, Shiprock North Campus

Abstract:

Based on funding from the USDA Tribal Equity program, access to, and interest in Environmental Science has been greatly facilitated on Navajo Nation. Students participate in year-round research projects based in their own communities. The current research projects represent a broad range of topics such as: radio collar tracking of black bears, ant biodiversity and climate change, water quality of unregulated water resources, phytoremediation using native plants, solid waste and recycling as well as testing new methods for removing uranium from drinking water. The impact of community research on students has been significant and long lasting. The potential for long term improvements in overall community health is also significant. Transfer rates of graduates to four year programs and success once there, has also improved.

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