An Garagiola
Ravyn Gibbs
Julie Ralston Aoki
The Office of American Indian Health and Tribal Relations (OAIHTR) in the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) works in relation with 11 Tribal Nations and 9 Urban Native organizations. In this roundtable, we will discuss our experiences as Indigenous and Women of Color working to center Indigenous authority in data governance within a state system. As data modernization reshapes public health infrastructure, OAIHTR, in partnership, is working to ensure Tribal Nations obtain control over their data and how it is collected, managed, and used by MDH. This presentation will focus on the challenges and successes of integrating Tribal sovereignty into the MDH’s data management systems, particularly around issues of data access, ownership, and sharing. By implementing the principles of the C.A.R.E. framework, OAIHTR seeks to build data stewardship practices that reflect Indigenous rights and interests, including through the establishment of data use agreements that honor Tribal authority and brings MDH into alignment with C.A.R.E. principles. We will discuss the ongoing work to revise policies, amend grant language, and implement legislative changes that will provide Tribes with greater control over data collected and stored by the state, ensuring that Indigenous communities can make decisions that affect their own health and sovereignty.