Sunny Stone
The Northwest Tribal Epidemiology Center (NWTEC) is developing the Northwest Tribal Data Hub (Data Hub) using a Tribal-led approach, ensuring the collective benefit of quality data while respecting NW Tribes’ rights to govern the collection, ownership, and use of public health data. Data collected by state and federal entities about American Indian and Alaska Native people (AI/AN) often lack alignment with CARE principles. Tribal communities need control of and access to reliable community data to govern by informing health policy, community, and leadership. NWTEC has accessed, stewarded, and improved state and federal data under the leadership of 43 Federally Recognized Tribes (NW Tribes) in ID, OR, and WA since 1997. NWTEC’s work is centered on 3 pillars: Tribe-led and owned data makes communities healthier. Sharing knowledge strengthens Tribal health. Tribal data ownership. In 2025, NWTEC released the Data Hub to improve and expand Tribes’ data access using modernized cloud-based tools. NW Tribes securely access interactive dashboards featuring descriptive statistics on their priority health issues and can view data at the Tribal-area level, each NW state, and the NW Region. Tribes direct and control who accesses their data through data sharing and user agreements with NWTEC. NW Tribes’ priorities were pivotal in the initial launch of the Data Hub and will continue to direct its development through ongoing evaluation. The Data Hub is an innovative application centering Tribal data sovereignty (authority to control) and access in data modernization for the collective benefit of NW Tribes.