Our Approach

Integrating ancestral knowledge within the public health landscape.

Our Approach

Our approach is one of collaboration, innovation, and respect for the deep-rooted science and wisdom that Indigenous communities hold.

A key aspect of our work requires a dynamic collaborative space where public health professionals, community leaders, scholars, and students converge to explore and implement innovative, direct-action strategies for decolonizing public health and advocating for systemic change that is inclusive, just, and reflective of Indigenous values and principles.

Through this framework, we bring community and institutions together to create reciprocity and relational accountability for health and data justice:

  • Policies and frameworks that name and address settler colonialism as a determinant of health inequity.

  • Workforce development and training to unlearn and combat anti-Indigenous and anti-Black racism, activating decolonial allyship.

  • Creating and integrating best practices for decolonial equity and data handling

Uplifting Decolonial Research to Address Settler Colonialism.

IHEI contributes to a growing Indigenous-led movement calling for public health agencies, governments, and institutions to name colonialism, especially settler colonialism, determinant of health inequity.

  • “With an emphasis on the notion of intergenerational trauma, there are real health effects of social, political, and economic marginalization embodied within individuals, which can collectively affect entire communities. Colonialism can also be enacted and reinforced within Indigenous mental health discourse, thus influencing scholarly and popular perceptions.” Read more here.

  • Co-authored by IHEI Executive Director and Founder, Dr. Kelly Gonzales. “Settler colonialism is a violent process that harms all beings. We build upon environmental justice frameworks and argue for Indigenous values affirmation as a strategy for countering the violence of settler colonialism.” Read more here.

  • In June 2023, The Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health announced a new publication in The Lancet co-authored by CIH Co-Director Dr. Donald Warne and Dr. Allison Kelliher. The article discussed the substantial challenges that Indigenous Peoples face across the world today, and the overarching need to “establish a framework on the Indigenous determinants of health derived from Indigenous Peoples’ communities.” Read more here.

Community Care

Reclaim. Reconnect. Resurge.

By prioritizing Indigenous perspectives and cultural teachings in our approach to health and well-being, care for community serves as our source of strength.

We cultivate space to serve as a sanctuary for community care, Indigenous science, and collective healing—protecting ourselves, our partners, and our futures from settler harm.

Together, by rooting in Indigenous values and centering the wisdom of aunties, elders, youth, knowledge keepers, and cultural stewards, we grow resilience, prosperity, and joy while safeguarding all that is sacred.

Strategies for Self-Determination & Sovereignty

IHEI’s strategies are co-created with Indigenous knowledge keepers, public health experts, and community members to ensure programs are deeply rooted in Indigenous values and perspectives.

These strategies focus on restoring the power of Indigenous knowledge systems and building environments that honor autonomy, cultural continuity, and collective strength.

Our approach is more than a framework; it’s a living practice of Indigenous resurgence.

Through kinship, research, education, and community care, IHEI works to heal the ongoing harms of colonialism while nurturing the futures desired by the love of our ancestors.