By Cecelia Johnson
December 09, 2011
The Tribal Council is a hard working group of leaders who advocate and travel to get the best resources for our tribal members. We need our young people to step forward to participate and provide much needed input and energy. As a Health Committee member I have attended the Alaska Native Health Board in Anchorage. This year I was nominated and elected to the Executive Committee as 1st at Large. I also was nominated and elected to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminstration (SAMHSA) as their primary representative. This is a National Tribal Technical Advisory Committee with a mission to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities. SAMHSA is comprised of participants from each of the twelve geographic areas served by the Indian Health Service: Aberdeen, Alaska, Albuquerque, Bemidji, Billings, California, Nashville, Navajo, Oklahoma, Phoenix, Portland, and Tucson. The Ketchikan Tribal Health Clinic Advisory Health Board has four vacancies this year and encourage tribal members who have an interest in health to submit your name. I know the current Health Committee members would mentor and help as you gain knowledge of health issues regarding our tribal members. I encourage you to get involved with Tribal Council or Advisory Health Board. I know we have young leaders who would be dynamite board members. We also have elders you can turn to for advice on leadership roles. In closing I applaud our Tribal Council for the work they do at the table. They leave their family to work tirelessly on issues facing our people and they advocate on a state and national level for the best resources bringing it back to our community. Keep up the good work. Cecelia Johnson
Received December 07, 2011 - Published December 09, 2011 Viewpoints - Opinion Letters:
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