Members of the Rapua Te Ara Rangatira research team were honoured to have recently spent time with, and present to, kaimahi of the Health Services Division of the Pascua Yaqui tribal authority, in Arizona. The day-long meeting was arranged by colleague Christina Oré from our partner organisation, the Seven Directions Indigenous Public Health Institute which is based at the University of Washington, Washington State. Although an employee of UoW, Christina lives and works in Tuscon and has had a long relationship with the Pascua Yaqui people, having undertaken public health work with them in for many years.
Pascua Yaqui is one of the largest federally recognized tribes in the USA, having gained that recognition in 1978 – an achievement which ensured both the tribe’s status and their land. The people are governed by a Tribal Council comprising eleven elected officials dedicated to the well-being and advancement of the tribe as a whole. The Health Services Division is one of a number of divisions within the tribe’s structure including Education, Housing, Language and Culture and a Judicial Branch to name but a few.
Given the Rapua team’s research work in governance and the intersection with health and health leadership, we were excited to meet with the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Health Services Division Leadership Team including Executive Director Dr Tara M. Chico-Jarillo; the Associate Director of Development and Policy, Shanna Tautolo; the Medical Director, Adalberto Renteria, MD; and– Management Associate, Alva Obregon. Stephanie Larkins, the Director of Nursing also attended our hui.
The Rapua team were interested to understand how the tribe’s health services were funded, as well as the breadth of services offered by the department which spanned traditional healing, behavioural therapy, dental care, methadone treatment and primary care services. We, in turn, shared the research work that we do as Whakauae Research Services Ltd and presented the governance model that was developed in the Rapua study. The idea of a governance model that was Indigenous-led and not bound by Western expectations and regulations around governance struck a chord with the meeting participants.
Following our formal meeting with the leadership team, we met with some of the traditional healers that work in the health clinic and exchanged information and experiences of traditional healing from our respective contexts. We were then treated to lunch and a tour of the reservation including the new housing areas, schools and sports fields, the equine therapy area and the community’s cultural and ceremonial areas.
A highlight of our brief visit with the tribe had to be the evening meal, hosted by Shanna Tautolo and her husband, when we were treated to the seafood buffet at the tribe’s largest casino, the Casino Del Sol.
The Rapua team are incredibly grateful to Christina for organising our visit and Tara who took time out of her busy work schedule to not only host us for the whole day but really give us a deep insight into what is possible when Indigenous people have autonomy over resourcing, decision-making and their own whenua. We look forward to reciprocating the manaakitanga we received and hosting Pascua Yaqui in the near future. Until then, we return home feeling inspired, refreshed, and ready to keep working alongside our whānau, hapū, and iwi.
Gallery - Pascua Yaqui Flag: The Deer Dancer on the foreground of the Pascua Yaqui Flag. For the Yaqui/Yoeme people the deer is a symbol of goodness and wellbeing. An important symbol of Yaqui spirituality, the deer dancer mimics the deer, symbolising the connection the Yaqui people have with nature. The colours of the flag symbolise the blood shed to protect the people, land, customs and religion of the Yaqui (red); purity of spirit (white); and the sky, where the mother, Maala Mecha and father, Achai Taa'ah reside (blue).
Members of the Rapua Te Ara Rangatira research team were honoured to have recently spent time with, and present to, kaimahi of the Health Services Division of the Pascua Yaqui tribal authority, in Arizona. The day-long meeting was arranged by colleague Christina Oré from our partner organisation, the Seven Directions Indigenous Public Health Institute which is based at the University of Washington, Washington State. Although an employee of UoW, Christina lives and works in Tuscon and has had a long relationship with the Pascua Yaqui people, having undertaken public health work with them in for many years.
Pascua Yaqui is one of the largest federally recognized tribes in the USA, having gained that recognition in 1978 – an achievement which ensured both the tribe’s status and their land. The people are governed by a Tribal Council comprising eleven elected officials dedicated to the well-being and advancement of the tribe as a whole. The Health Services Division is one of a number of divisions within the tribe’s structure including Education, Housing, Language and Culture and a Judicial Branch to name but a few.
Given the Rapua team’s research work in governance and the intersection with health and health leadership, we were excited to meet with the Pascua Yaqui Tribal Health Services Division Leadership Team including Executive Director Dr Tara M. Chico-Jarillo; the Associate Director of Development and Policy, Shanna Tautolo; the Medical Director, Adalberto Renteria, MD; and– Management Associate, Alva Obregon. Stephanie Larkins, the Director of Nursing also attended our hui.
The Rapua team were interested to understand how the tribe’s health services were funded, as well as the breadth of services offered by the department which spanned traditional healing, behavioural therapy, dental care, methadone treatment and primary care services. We, in turn, shared the research work that we do as Whakauae Research Services Ltd and presented the governance model that was developed in the Rapua study. The idea of a governance model that was Indigenous-led and not bound by Western expectations and regulations around governance struck a chord with the meeting participants.
Following our formal meeting with the leadership team, we met with some of the traditional healers that work in the health clinic and exchanged information and experiences of traditional healing from our respective contexts. We were then treated to lunch and a tour of the reservation including the new housing areas, schools and sports fields, the equine therapy area and the community’s cultural and ceremonial areas.
A highlight of our brief visit with the tribe had to be the evening meal, hosted by Shanna Tautolo and her husband, when we were treated to the seafood buffet at the tribe’s largest casino, the Casino Del Sol.
The Rapua team are incredibly grateful to Christina for organising our visit and Tara who took time out of her busy work schedule to not only host us for the whole day but really give us a deep insight into what is possible when Indigenous people have autonomy over resourcing, decision-making and their own whenua. We look forward to reciprocating the manaakitanga we received and hosting Pascua Yaqui in the near future. Until then, we return home feeling inspired, refreshed, and ready to keep working alongside our whānau, hapū, and iwi.
Gallery - Pascua Yaqui Flag: The Deer Dancer on the foreground of the Pascua Yaqui Flag. For the Yaqui/Yoeme people the deer is a symbol of goodness and wellbeing. An important symbol of Yaqui spirituality, the deer dancer mimics the deer, symbolising the connection the Yaqui people have with nature. The colours of the flag symbolise the blood shed to protect the people, land, customs and religion of the Yaqui (red); purity of spirit (white); and the sky, where the mother, Maala Mecha and father, Achai Taa'ah reside (blue).
