Happy New Year from Healthy Native Youth! We are excited to kick off 2024 with you!

A new year can be bittersweet, as a new year offers an exciting fresh start to begin anew. However, it can also be daunting with expectations that can be overshadowed with feelings of self-doubt and fear. 

In this new year, take a healthy risk, reach out for help, and create a supportive community of practice to support your goals. 

Hear from Dallas Goldtooth, We R Native’s “Ask Your Relative Celebrity Guest,” on this point to Native youth in his own way.

The January HNY issue spotlights curricula, tools and resources with the latest news to get your new year vibe on!

Let’s make it a truly Happy New Year, together! 

Community of Practice: Registration is Open

Healthy Native Youth was in the field in 2023 and we heard requests for more information on trending topics.

Join us to talk learn together about the basics of Two Spirit-Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Queer+ (2SLGBTQ+) inclusivity, substance misuse, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and many more topics that impact youth, families, schools and native communities. See our schedule below!

Community of Practice is free and recommended for adults who engage youth. All sessions are recorded and can be viewed on-demand.  

Click to view CoP Library.

Tip: Watch as a team for professional development or continuing education training for ideas! 

Native Students Together Against Negative Decisions (Native STAND 2.0)

An Evidence-Based, Comprehensive, Holistic, Inclusive, Trauma Informed High School Curriculum

The Native STAND 2.0 curriculum is trending in Indian Country! It’s popular amongst Native teens and in health education class settings! 

Everything you need to deliver Native STAND 2.0 is available on the Healthy Native Youth website.

The curriculum includes 18 lessons. Each lesson is 45-50 minutes long. The curriculum is flexible and can be easily adapted to include specific stories and traditions from your own community. Throughout the curriculum, we encourage facilitators to use tribe-specific teachings where appropriate utilizing local culture & tradition in learning.

• A 90-minute Native STAND 2.0 orientation webinar can be viewed by clicking HERE. 
• Click to view: NS 2.0 Orientation Webinar Slides

View this evidence-based, strength-based adolescent sex ed curriculum and go for it in 2024!  

Implementation Toolbox Spotlight

Implementation Action Plan Ready-to-Use Templates

If you plan to deliver a HNY curriculum in 2024, then you will need an implementation plan. And, we got you covered! Check out the Implementation Toolbox for all your adolescent health programming needs.

• Visit the Implementation Toolbox to download tools and templates: HERE
• Click to watch a 1-minute: Toolbox orientation video

The PREPARE phase has the ready-to-use templates and planning guides to get you and your team in sync! Don’t reinvent the wheel! Use what others who have done it recommend for you to use!

• Click to watch a 1-minute: PREPARE phase orientation video

Talking is Power! Text Message Campaign for Caring Adults

Tips on How to Have Sensitive Conversations with Youth

A major theme the Healthy Native Youth team continues to hear is the need for parents and caring adults to be involved in their youth’s growth & development.

In response, the HNY developed tools and resources to help parents, relatives and caring adults spark conversations with youth about sensitive topics such as sex, STIs, condoms, identity, consent and healthy relationships. 

Talking is Power is a text message campaign that offers a weekly text message to adults with tips and culturally-appropriate resources.

Text the word EMPOWER to 94449 to start the Journey! 

We R Native’s Ask Your Relative Q&A

Guest Influencers Take the Mic

We R Native’s Ask Your Relative (AYR) Q&A service is run by a team of educators, public health professionals, and caring adults. Native youth are able to ask “Relatives” questions on a variety of topics, ranging from identity to how to use a condom. 

The latest AYR initiative invites guest relatives, like “Uncle” Dallas Goldtooth, to answer questions offering words of wisdom to Native youth. 

Stay connected to We R Native’s social media channels to watch the other guest Relatives take the mic for their best hopes for today's Native youth!

We R Native YouTube Channel Spotlight

Inspired Role Models Playlist

The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board's Northwest Native American Research Center for Health (NW NARCH) and it's Building Stronger Pathways to Public Health (INSPIRED) projects are working to prepare American Indian/Alaska Native students to pursue public health careers. 

To learn more about these youth academic and workforce pathway programs:

• NW NARCH Public Health Research Academy
• We INSPIRE Text Message Campaign

Public Health 101 and internship activity guides are located under HNY Stand Alone Lessons:

• Activities for Middle School Students
• Activities for High School Students
• Activities for College Students

In The News

The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB) Adolescent Health team and its accomplices made the news in positive ways in support of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) diversity and inclusion.

• The Jed Foundation report "Youth Suicide: Current Trends and the Path to Prevention" – with contributions from HNY + THRIVE
• AISES Winds of Change article College and Career Fair 3 (nxtbook.com) featuring WRN, We Are Healers, OHSU NNACOE.
• And an Underscore News article featuring Paths ReMembered and its advocacy for AI/AN Mental Health.

Teen Dating / Healthy Relationships / Consent

www.healthynativeyouth.org

www.npaihb.org/thrive

www.wernative.org

www.pathsremembered.org

www.npaihb.org/project-red-talonpprojec

www.indiancountryecho.org

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