Our Mission:

The Center for Native Health's Mission is to support balanced wellbeing of southeastern Native communities through the preservation and respectful application of Native knowledge to empower the people, Land, and culture.

We Serve:

We make it happen:

The Center for Native Health addresses several health needs:

West of the Mississippi there are a multitude of tribal colleges that address the needs of native communities in a culturally grounded manner, but in the East this is not available in most communities. In lieu of a tribal college the CNH works with the EBCI and other sovereign tribal nations in the southeast to address issues related to the significant health disparities that exist in native communities. These disparities are reflected in the following health statistics:

  • The numbers of tribal members who have at least one chronic disease (e. g., diabetes, heart disease) is increasing. “Baby Boomers” are getting older with many health needs

  • About 35% are currently diagnosed with diabetes and younger folks are being diagnosed more and more

  • Childhood obesity is a serious health issue (in 2003, 61.9% of EBCI male children 6-11 years old were overweight or obese and 58.6% of female children in the same age group were overweight or obese)

  • The suicide rate for American Indigenous youth is 4x greater than for all others in US

  • A recent CDC report concluded that, “The findings in this report indicate that AI communities bear a greater burden of health risk factors and chronic disease than other racial/ethnic minority populations”

The Center for Native Health also recognizes social & economic disparities:

In addition to the health disparities, there are also social and economic disparities that affect native peoples, including those in Western North Carolina:

  • About 23% of Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ enrolled members live at or below the poverty level.

  • The portion of non-native population at or below poverty level in western North Carolina is around 15%; the rate for North Carolina overall is a little over 12%, as is the National rate.

  • Only about 65% of high school students in western North Carolina (including Cherokee Central Schools) graduate from high school.

  • In 2000, only 12% of American Indians had earned a bachelor’s degree or higher.

  • The percentage of those students who are enrolled EBCI members going into health fields is less than 2%.

Our History

  • June 2008

    The Start

    More than 60 people met in Cherokee and decided that a non-profit, autonomous Center needed to be established to allow community members and university members to work together at the request of tribal and local communities to address health & education issues

  • July 2008

    Lisa Lefler, PhD named first Executive Director

    Lisa Lefler, PhD; was named the Center for Native Health’s (CNH) first Executive Director - She would be instrumental in the creation of and expansion of the organization’s activities, and would lead CNH for 13 years

  • October 2008

    Initial Funding

    Funding from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation helps The Center for Native Health get off the ground

  • June 2009

    Non-Profit Status

    The Center for Native Health was awarded 501c3 non-profit status: We put together our original 16-member Executive Board – 10 enrolled members of Native Nations, 6 representing our university partners – with the expectation that Board membership and partnerships would grow and change with our organization and the community's needs

  • January 2010

    Clinicians & Elders Meetings

    We helped facilitate a series of conversations and workshops between medical clinicians and EBCI elders to dialogue about ways to better situate cultural knowledge and traditions into medical care

  • March 2010

    Partnership with Wake Forest Medical School

    Wake Forest Medical School and the Center for Native Health partnered in order to expand Medical Careers and Technology Pathways (MedCaT) into a multi-faceted summer camp and program to promote post-secondary and careers in Medical professions for Native youth

  • September 2011

    First Annual Medicine Walk

    The first “Medicine Walk” was held in the Snowbird community at the Junaluska Museum with Onita Bush, Tom Belt and TJ Holland

  • January 2015

    MedCaT expansion

    MedCaT was expanded to be a year-round program to create a pathway for students, specifically American Indian and Appalachian Rural, that addresses the above-mentioned barriers through integration of cultural education into the traditional health and biomedical science curriculum and teaching paradigm

  • December 2020

    Further Funding Partners

    DogWood Trust awarded the Center of Native Health with a 25K grant to support the Doula project, update the CNH website, and to support professional development for the Executive Director

  • January 2021

    Trey Adcock, PhD becomes Executive Director

    Trey Adcock (ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ, enrolled Cherokee Nation), PhD, was chosen by the Executive Board as the next Executive Director of The Center for Native Health - Read More - Read More

  • October 2021

    Further Investment from Dogwood Health Trust

    Dogwood Health Trust invested over 1M dollars for three years to continue to support MedCaT, in order to continue to provide access to STEM and healthcare education and career preparedness to native, indigenous, and rural Appalachian youth - Read More - Read More

  • April 2022

    Masters of Public Health (MPH) Partnership

    We partnered with the UNC Asheville-UNC Gillings Masters of Public Health Program, along with Mountain Area Health Education Center, UNC Asheville and UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health teamed up to launch the Masters of Public Health Program in November (previously UNC Gillings had permitted students in the Asheville area to pursue the degree through distance learning). The program is unique in that it focuses on “place-based health” — in this case, on rural communities - Read More - Read More

  • May 2022

    Madison Leatherwood - Program Officer; Education & Training

    Thanks to support from Dogwood Health Trust, we strengthened our capacity as an organization through the hiring of our first full-time staff member, Madison Leatherwood. The grant provided for significant funding over three years to hire and retain Program Officers to oversee all Programs from logistical support to strategic planning and implementation - Read More

  • August 2022

    Additional Administrative Staffing

    We have added to our Staff! Emily Herzog joined the Center as our new Administrative Assistant, in support of the Executive Director and Program Officers

  • November 2022

    EBCI DANR Partnership

    We received funding from the Rights and Resources Group (RRG) to work with the EBCI Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) to advance community wellness in supporting EBCI DANR in implementing culturally-based conservation, land use, and management - Read More

  • March 2023

    Additional Outreach Staff

    We have added to our Staff! Kilyne Oocumma (EBCI) joined as our new Digital Media Coordinator, in support of our photography, website, social media, and communications needs

  • September 2023

    FNDI Stewarding Native Lands Grant

    We received funding from First Nations Development Institute (FNDI) to work with the Ray Kinsland Leadership Institute, EBCI Cooperative Extension, EBCI Natural Resources to establish ᎢᏯ ih ya: EBCI Youth River Cane Project - Read More

  • January 2024

    New Board Member

    The CNH Executive Board has appointed Brett Treadway, a member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, to join them on the Board. He brings his expertise in strengthening tribal economies and communities from working with First Nations Development Institute (FNDI) to our organization and community - Read More

  • March 2024

    Bonnie Claxton - Program Officer; Land & Wellness

    We have added to our Staff! We are thrilled to announce that Bonnie Claxton (Chickasaw Nation) has joined us as the new Program Officer for our Land & Wellness Program Area. She will be working with community members and our partner organizations in relation to land, stewardship and co-management, sovereignty, and food equity - Read More

  • April 2024

    Kristina Hyatt - Program Officer; Maternal & Child Health

    We have added to our Staff! We are delighted to share that Kristina Hyatt (EBCI) has joined us as the new Program Officer for our Maternal & Child Health Program Area. She will be working with community members and organizations in relation to health concerns of women and families, including traditional birthing, community support in parenting, and afterschool programs in rural communities. She will also be supporting those issues surrounding gender as it relates to health, including MMIW / MMIR, LGBTQIA+, 2 Spirit, and other gender non-conforming members of our community - Read More

  • June 2024

    Lisa Lefler, PhD; given advisory council honorific

    The Executive Board of the Center for Native Health has voted to create a new advisory council ᎠᏥᎸᏉᏗ "A Tsi Lv Gwo Di", meaning “they are well liked” or "they are loved". The advisory council was created to honor those who have given selflessly to CNH over a number of years, while recognizing their ongoing contributions. The council will advise and mentor members of the Executive Board, staff and the Executive Director. In light of her work and dedication to The Center for Native Health and the EBCI community in Western North Carolina, the Board has voted to honor our former Executive Director, Lisa Lefler, PhD as the first recipient of this honorific position

  • June 2024

    New Board Members

    The CNH Executive Board has appointed Kelly Murphy ᎤᏥᏍᏓᎷᎩ, a resident of the Wolfetown Community; and Katie Tiger (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) as the newest members on the Board. Kelly brings her expertise in Cherokee language from her work at New Kituwah Academy, as well as her dedication to Cherokee language revitalization. - Read More Katie brings her expertise in grant writing, stewardship, and justice in relation to environmental and air quality from her work with EBCI Natural Resources. - Read More

  • October 2024

    Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts

    We have secured funding and are already working to provide much-needed frontline support and resources for affected communities as they work toward long-term recovery. Our current and ongoing work ‘reaffirms [our] commitment to the health, safety, and well-being of Indigenous families and surrounding communities in western North Carolina’ - Read More

  • December 2024

    An Historic Executive Board Meeting

    The Executive Board of the Center for Native Health met for their 4th Quarter Board Meeting of 2024 and approved several milestones: the largest budget in CNH history for the 2025 fiscal year, the organization’s first audit, benefits for Staff members, a new Board structure to move away from colonial forms of governance, as well as a new Mission statement and a new byline that will be translated into Cherokee syllabary shortly, as well as adding a new member, Carol Long, to the ᎠᏥᎸᏉᏗ "A Tsi Lv Gwo Di" Advisory Council, meaning “they are well liked” or "they are loved". Carol Long (EBCI) is a former member of the CNH Executive Board.