Program: Featured Speakers

Jefferson Keel

The Honorable Jefferson Keel (Chickasaw) delivered the keynote address on Wednesday, June 27.

Jefferson Keel, lieutenant governor of the Chickasaw Nation and president of the National Congress of American Indians , is totally committed to the service of Indian people. He has consistently proven himself as an effective leader and a strong advocate for Indian people, and he works tirelessly on their behalf. He is a retired US Army officer with over 20 years of active-duty service. His service included combat duty as an infantryman in Vietnam where he earned numerous awards and decorations, including two awards of the Bronze Star with “V” device for valor and two awards of the Purple Heart. Lieutenant Governor Keel has a master’s degree from Troy State University, and he believes in educating, training, and equipping our people to be successful. He is a member of both the East Central University Foundation Board of Directors and the Board of Regents for Bacone College. He serves on several national boards and committees, and he is often called upon to provide testimony to Congress to assist Tribes and organizations on a variety of actions and initiatives.

Yvette Roubideaux

Dr. Yvette Roubideaux welcomed participants [PDF – 109 KB] during the opening plenary session on Tuesday, June 26.

Yvette Roubideaux, M.D., M.P.H., a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, South Dakota, is the Director of the Indian Health Service (IHS). Dr. Roubideaux was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as IHS Director on May 6, 2009, and she was sworn in on May 12, 2009. The IHS, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, is the principal federal health care advocate and provider for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

As the IHS Director, Dr. Roubideaux administers a $4 billion nationwide health care delivery program composed of 12 administrative Area (regional) Offices. The IHS is responsible for providing preventive, curative, and community health care to approximately 2 million of the nation’s 3.4 million American Indians and Alaska Natives in hospitals, clinics, and other settings throughout the United States.

Dr. Roubideaux previously worked for IHS for three years as a clinical director and medical officer at the San Carlos Service Unit on the San Carlos Apache Indian reservation in Arizona, and she worked for one year as a medical officer at the Hu Hu Kam Memorial Indian Hospital on the Gila River Indian reservation in Arizona.

Dr. Roubideaux recently served as assistant professor of family and community medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. Dr. Roubideaux has conducted extensive research on American Indian health issues, with a focus on diabetes in American Indians/Alaska Natives and American Indian health policy. Dr. Roubideaux served as the co-director of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians Demonstration Projects, in which 66 American Indian and Alaska Native communities are implementing diabetes prevention and cardiovascular disease prevention initiatives. She also served as director of two University of Arizona programs designed to recruit American Indian and Alaska Native students into health and research professions.

Dr. Roubideaux received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1989 and completed a residency program in primary care internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in 1992. She completed her Master of Public Health degree at the Harvard School of Public Health in 1997. She also completed the Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy before transitioning to a career in academic medicine and public health.

She is a past president of the Association of American Indian Physicians and co-editor of the American Public Health Association’s book “Promises to Keep: Public Health Policy for American Indians and Alaska Natives in the 21st Century.” She has authored several monographs and peer-reviewed publications on American Indian/Alaska Native health issues, research, and policy.

Evon Peter

Evon Peter spoke during the afternoon plenary session on Thursday, June 28.

Mr. Peter, a former Gwich’in chief, is devoted to promoting leadership development, wellness, and sustainability among American Indians and Alaska Natives. He is host of the Tundra Dialogues blogging site and the chief executive of Gwanzhii , a firm that offers facilitation, speaking, multimedia, and wellness and leadership programs. He leads the Maniilaq Association’s wellness program and is a partner in the Northern Alaska Wellness Initiative.

Mr. Peter has more than 15 years of experience working with Indigenous youth, organizations, and Tribes implementing culturally based approaches. For the past several years, he has focused primarily on the prevention of suicide among Alaska Native peoples.

Mr. Peter holds a bachelor’s degree in Alaska Native Studies from the University of Alaska, where he is completing a master’s degree in rural development. He lives with his wife and four children in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Dorothy Edwards

Dr. Dorothy J. Edwards gave a presentation that received a standing ovation during the morning plenary session on Thursday, June 28.

Dr. Edwards, author of the Green Dot Violence Prevention Strategy and executive director of Green Dot, Etc. , is an expert in primary prevention of violence who holds a doctorate in counseling psychology from Texas Women’s University. She provides training and consultation in the areas of power-based personal violence, organizational capacity building, program implementation, strategic planning, and community mobilization. She has advised governmental entities, state coalitions, military, nonprofits, community organizations, high schools, and colleges around the globe.

Martina Whelshula

Dr. Martina Whelshula gave a presentation during the afternoon plenary session on Tuesday, June 26.

Dr. Whelshula is a member of the Arrow Lakes Nation of the Colville Indian Reservation. Her educational and experiential background is diverse, focused primarily on education and healing. She is an educator, therapist, and organizational consultant. Dr. Whelshula has worked extensively with Native American communities nationwide on local and national policy development, education, community mobilization, and healing. She has a doctorate in traditional knowledge, a master’s degree in counseling psychology, and a chemical dependency professional trainee.

Dr. Whelshula is currently executive director of the Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations , a residential treatment center for alcohol- and drug-addicted youth. The Healing Lodge received an honorable mention at the 2011 iAwards (Innovation in Behavioral Health Care Services Awards, sponsored by the State Association of Addiction Services and NIATx) and won plaudits from the Co-occurring Disorders and Treatment Conference in Washington state in 2011. That same year, one of the songs produced by its innovative music program was the second-place winner of the 2011 MusiCares and GRAMMY Foundation Teen Substance Abuse Awareness Through Music Contest .

Dr. Whelshula’s professional experience includes research director for national health policy development for Congressional review, P–12 native language instructor in a public school system, Tribal Head Start director, and president of the Spokane Tribal College.

She was appointed to the Evergreen State College Board of Trustees by Governor Christine Gregoire and to the Governor’s P–20 Council. She has served as the chair pro tem of the Washington State Native American Education Advisory Committee of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. She has been a member of the Washington State Multi-Ethnic Think Tank and the Native American Think Tank, and she has served on the Washington State Board of Education’s Equity Committee.

Rickey “Deekon” Jones

Rickey “Deekon” Jones gave a presentation during the afternoon plenary session on Tuesday, June 26.

Jones leads an innovative program at the Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations that integrates music into the therapeutic environment .

Born into the Nez Perce Nation, Jones is a 25-year-old audio engineer and recording artist who has a deep commitment to the empowerment of struggling youth. Life growing up on the reservation brought the power of ancestry and the reality of oppression. Knowing what it means to struggle as a young man, Jones seeks to provide a safe zone for youth to express their inner struggles and realities through music.

Mr. Jones began his career as an audio engineer, mixing beats and recording. His full palette of talent includes writing, producing, mixing, and recording his own music, in addition to live performances. Mr. Jones’ first album will be distributed in 2011 by Universal Records.

Mr. Jones’ program at the Healing Lodge has been well received, and the residents are very proud of what they have created. They frequently play their music for the Healing Lodge’s board of directors, and their recordings have been shared at some state-level conferences. In an effort to show the residents how much their personal efforts are appreciated and encouraged, the board of directors presented the residents in December 2010 with two electric guitars, drums, and percussion instruments to aid them in their recordings.

Tiffany Elton

Dr. Tiffany Elton delivered a plenary presentation during the afternoon of Wednesday, June 27.

Dr. Elton is the pharmacy coordinator of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and a certified national clinical pharmacy specialist (hypertension). While managing three separate pharmacies, Dr. Elton has engineered an impressive growth in high-quality patient care, efficient ordering and inventory systems, attractive and efficient architectural designs, and robust third-party collections. In addition to her managerial duties, she mentors U.S. Public Health Service officers in training, pharmacy student interns, and community youth who are considering pharmacy as a future career. Dr. Elton has made numerous presentations, published several articles, and volunteered in numerous agencies. She earned her doctorate in pharmacology from the University of Minnesota in 2000.

Michael Hooten

Dr. W. Michael Hooten delivered a plenary presentation during the afternoon of Wednesday, June 27.

Dr. Hooten is an associate professor of anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic . His clinical research relates to chronic pain, with a specific focus on changes in pain thresholds and tolerances following opioid tapering, the genomics of chronic pain, and the effects of smoking on treatment outcomes of chronic pain. He’s published more than 70 articles on pain management and other issues. Dr. Hooten is board certified in anesthesiology, pain management, psychiatry, and internal medicine. After graduating from medical school at the St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1998, Michael Hooten completed residences at Yale University School of Medicine, the Mayo Clinic (internal medicine), John Hopkins University School of Medicine (psychiatry), and Washington University School of Medicine (anesthesiology).