Project Background

Project Background Begun in 1998, the Tribal Connections website was a project reporting and outreach tool for Tribal Connections Phase I that assisted 16 American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages in the Pacific Northwest. Each community was awarded funding from the National Library of Medicine to improve Internet connectivity and access to web-based health resources. The Tribal Connections web site published reports about activities and accomplishments achieved by each community.

As it matured, the website added a news component, and published articles by Native journalists and health professionals on Native health, wellness and lifestyle. Content included columns from Native American health specialists that combined western and Indian approaches to healing and healthy living and that focus on nutrition and diet. In addition, we sought Indian writers who have an interest in writing health news articles for Tribal Connections. Roy Sahali, Project Manager for the Tribal Connections website, is a member of the Native American Journalists Association. He distributed all original editorial content published on the website to Indian publications across the country to reprint at no cost, since many Indian publications do not have staff health writers.