Native American Heritage Month

Tribal Coalitions Listed in USBC's Coalition Directory:

• Ho-Chunk Nation Breastfeeding Coalition
• Native American Breastfeeding Coalition of Washington
• Native Breastfeeding Coalition of Wisconsin
• Oregon Inter-Tribal-Breastfeeding Coalition
• Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Breastfeeding Coalition

Any tribal breastfeeding coalition (or any breastfeeding organization) can request a group profile in the USBC's website.

Organizations, Resources, Tools, and Materials

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Celebrate Native American Heritage Month
• Coalition on Human Needs
• Voices for Human Needs blog
• Generation Indigenous
• Governor of Hawaii Office
• Proclamation on Native American Heritage Month 
• Indigenous Women Rising 
• National Congress of American Indians
• Native American Heritage Month
• National Guard
• 2019 American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month
• National Institute for Children's Health Quality
• Historic Trauma is Affecting Tomorrow's Children
• When Indigenous people were dispossessed from their land, they not only lost their homes but were separated from their way of life. And in many cases, children were forcefully taken from their families. How does breastfeeding and safe sleep practices fit within the context of this historical trauma?  Here, two Native American health professionals offer advice.
• National Institute of Health, Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
• 2019 Native American Heritage Month
• National Museum of the American Indian
• American Indian Heritage Month 2018 Calendar
• National Native American Heritage Month
• Created by: The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Museum of the American Indian, and National Park Service
• National Park Service
• Telling All Americans' Stories: Introduction to Indigenous Heritage
• Native Breastfeeding Week
• Facebook page
• Public Broadcasting Service
• Native American Heritage Month
• U.S. Census Bureau 
• American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month: November 2018 
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health 
• Native American Heritage Month - November 
• 2018 National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month Observance
• U.S. Department of the Interior, Indian Affairs
• National Native American Heritage Month - 2019
• Wisconsin Association of Perinatal Care
• Safe Sleep and Breastfeeding

USBC Resources

• Breastfeeding Moms' Voices Across America: A Conversation - Ashley Brown, Nayeli Gomez-Burns & Jayme Paddock
• This webinar session featured a panel of speakers—one African-American mom, one Latina mom, and one Native American mom—who shared their breastfeeding journeys.
• Alaska Native/American Indian CHAMPS: A Look at Culturally Relevant Breastfeeding Education - Camie Goldhammer 
• This presentation featured a look at the current national momentum to diversify the field of lactation in the US, and the little that has been done to address education resources for diverse communities of color. The result has created a cultural relevance gap when it comes to providing education and support, especially to American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) people.
• Building a Breastfeeding Support Program within the Ho-Chunk Nation Community - Shawn Meyer and Allie Isaacson
• This presentation provided a history of the Ho-Chunk Nation and explored the coalition building strategies used within this community to build a breastfeeding support program. 
• "Structural Inequities Burden Mothers/Parents, Infants and Families of Color: Support Policies that Reduce Disparities in Health Outcomes"
• A fact sheet created to highlight legislative solutions to reducing health disparities.

NBCC Highlights 

2019 Conference Presentations 

• Cultural Communities Supporting Breastfeeding in Kansas, Stephanne Rupnicki, AA, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation
• The Kansas Breastfeeding Coalition, Inc. (KBC) created the "Communities Supporting Breastfeeding" (CSB) designation to recognize communities in Kansas who have a multi-faceted community approach to breastfeeding support. The CSB designation criteria include local breastfeeding leadership, peer support, maternity care practices, support in public spaces, worksite support, and childcare provider support. "Community" can be defined by geography or culture. This presentation examined how the CSB criteria were adapted to a Native American reservation and African-American neighborhoods in Kansas City to build a landscape of breastfeeding support in these marginalized and underserved populations.

2018 Conference Presentations

• The Indigenous Breastfeeding Counselor: Decolonizing Breastfeeding Education- Camie Goldhammer, Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Practices

• This presentation looked at the background of breastfeeding education. Historically all breastfeeding certifications and most breastfeeding education has been taught by and centers on white women and their families. Because of this, many lactation supporters are ill-equipped to serve communities of color. The Indigenous Breastfeeding Counselor certification is taught by two Native IBCLCs and all participants in the training self identify as Native. This creates an environment that is culturally conducive to Indigenous ways of learning
• Designing for Equity: Lessons Learned from the "Make the Breast Pump Not Suck" Hackathon - Jennifer Roberts, Catherine D'Ignazio, and Rachael Lorenzo, Make the Breast Pump Not Suck
• This presentation featured a look at the teams that modified Native clothing to make it more nursing-friendly, made lactation planning tools for African American women, created a kit for supporting lactation in crisis situations, and more. The “Make the Breast Pump Not Suck” Hackathon convened at the MIT Media Lab in April 2018. This second iteration of the hackathon stressed taking a systems-based lens for change, e.g. hacking technology but also hacking narratives, policies and other systemic barriers to breastfeeding.

2019 Tribal Trailblazer Awardees 

The Tribal Trailblazer awards honor individuals of American Indian/Native American and Alaska Native heritage who are actively promoting maternal and child health and breastfeeding support in their Tribes. The dedication and commitment of these outstanding community leaders are helping improve the lives of Indigenous women and their families in communities across the nation. This year's awardees are listed below.

• Alicia Gourd, Spirit Lake Nation, Apache, North Dakota
• Courtney Schwefel, Bear Clan, Mohican Tribe, Wisconsin
• Cyndee McLead, Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe, North Dakota
• Danielyn Hardy, Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico
• Natalie Nicholson, Three Affiliated Tribes, Minnesota
• Stephanne Rupnicki, Kickapoo Tribe, Kansas
• Tracey Printup, Tonawanda Seneca, Turtle Clan of the Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Confederacy, New York