The Community Pulling Together: A Tribal Community–University Partnership Project to Reduce Substance Abuse and Promote Good Health in a Reservation Tribal Community

Abstract

Alcohol and drug abuse are major areas of concern for many American Indian/Alaska Native communities. Research on these problems has often been less than successful, in part because many researchers are not sensitive to the culture and traditions of the tribes and communities with which they are working. They also often fail to incorporate tribal customs, traditions, and values into the interventions developed to deal with substance abuse. The authors describe the use of community-based participatory research and tribal participatory research approaches to develop a culturally sensitive substance abuse prevention program for Native youth. This project, The Community Pulling Together: Healing of the Canoe, is a collaboration between the Suquamish Tribe and the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.