Washington State Urban Indian Tobacco Program

The Washington State Urban Indian Tobacco Program's tobacco prevention and cessation goals are conducted through the collaborative work of the Seattle/King Urban Indian Tobacco Coalition and the Spokane Regional Indian Tobacco Coalition.  The Coalition consists of partnering Native American/Alaska Native organizations, as well as non-Native organizations and programs who serve our population within King, Pierce, and Spokane counties.

Our Vision - American Indians and Alaska Natives are commercial tobacco-free by honoring traditions and spiritual values to achieve wellness.

The Mission for the Seattle/King Coalition is to reduce tobacco-related health disparities within the urban American Indian/Alaska Native population of Washington State.

The Tobacco-Free Message is to Breathe Life Into Our Traditions - Tobacco Free

The Mission for the Spokane Coalition is to prevent and reduce non-traditional tobacco use by Urban Native Americans within the Spokane region in collaboration with tribal tobacco programs.

The Tobacco-Free Message is Preventing Abuse by Honoring Traditions

5 Year Strategic Plan Underway

The Spokane and Seattle Coalitions have completed a 3-Year Strategic Plan from SFY 2005-2008. During the current SFY of 2009, they have developed a 5 Year Strategic plan which will cover SFY's 2010-2015.  This plan was initiated at the September 2008 Leadership Institute and was designed to address the local needs of each of the Urban Indian communities.

The goals to address tobacco use among the Urban Indian communities are:

Capacity Building - Goal 1:  Increase the capacity of the community partners to address Urban Indian commercial tobacco use.

Youth/Young Adult: Mobilization and Prevention - Goal 2:  Engage and mobilize efforts to reduce commercial tobacco initiation and access among youth and young adults.

Policy Development - Goal 3:  Develop and implement policies among organizations that reduce commercial tobacco usage.

Raising Awareness - Goal 4:  Raise awareness of commercial tobacco issues.

Increasing Access - Goal 5:  Increase access to cessation services.

Highlights of our collaborative work to date are:

  • Kick-Off and distribution of the "Washington State Urban Indian Tobacco Coalition Stories" DVD used to inform the community about quitting smoking, traditional tobacco, secondhand smoke, and youth being tobacco-free.

  • "Traditional Use of Tobacco" presentations delivered in partnership with Teens Against Tobacco abUse (TATU) and the American Lung Association of Washington.

  • Native American Youth & Coalition Leadership Institutes conducted annually.

  • "Honoring the Gift of Traditions" Pow Wow at Seattle and Federal Way

  • "Executive Leadership Luncheons" at the Spokane and Seattle communities.

  • "Tobacco Leaves" and "Better Ways to Die" plays by the Red Eagle Soaring youth theater performance group.

  • Tobacco cessation and secondhand smoke (SHS) media campaigns with taglines "Breathe Life Into Our Traditions - Tobacco Free" and "Air is Sacred:  Protect Your Family from Secondhand Smoke"

  • Intra-agency policy development to address employee tobacco use and in-service training on brief tobacco interventions.

 

For more information about these tobacco prevention and cessation efforts, please contact:

Robyn Pebeahsy, Tobacco Coalition Coordinator
Seattle Indian Health Board
P.O. Box 3364, Seattle, WA 98114
(206) 324-9360, extention 2830
robynp@sihb.org
 
 

To join the Washington State Urban Indian Tobacco Coalition:

If you and/or your organization would like to join the Washington State Urban Indian Tobacco Coalition, please feel free to contact Robyn Pebeahsy at the number listed above.