The Context and Meaning of Family Strengthening in Indian America

Based upon the research described below, we conclude that the framework for “family strengthening” in Indian America is built around Native self-determination at both the personal and community level.

The Whirling Thunder Wellness Program is a shining example of how a tribe, using its sovereignty, can respond to a compelling health crisis on its own terms and successfully alter lifestyles using culturally appropriate means.

Because the hundreds of tribes and tribal communities have always had distinct histories and cultures, variations abound along everything from governmental form to religious practices to Native language use to family structure to economic system to the role of elders to the degree of Indian/Non-Indian intermarriage.

Since definitions of “family” are also culturally specific, it is even more important that Native communities decide for themselves what strategies to employ when it comes to conceiving of “family strengthening” in ways that are meaningful in their particular community context.