“Celebration of Life”
First National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day!
March 21, 2007
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Other honoring dates…
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day… February 7
National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/ AIDS Awareness
Day… May 19
National HIV Testing Day…June 27
National Latino AIDS Awareness Day… October 15
World AIDS Day… December 1
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March 21st was the date chosen!
A survey was conducted with Native Communities
asking what day our people believed most appropriate
for observing the National HIV/AIDS Awareness
Day, which was jointly conducted by the National
Native Capacity Building Assistance Network which
includes the Center for Applied Studies in American
Ethnicity at Colorado State University, the Inter
Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc., and the National
Native American AIDS Prevention Center.
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Spring
Summer
Winter
Fall
March 21, 2007 was chosen because respondents to
the survey believed that the four seasons are sacred
and highly respected in many Native cultures. It
marks the beginning of Spring, a time of birth and
new beginning. It is the only day in the year that both
day and night are at equal lengths, it is a time of
complete balance. A time to celebrate life.
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In Alaska
the nalukatak, or spring whaling festival,
takes place at the end of the whaling
season. One purpose of this festival is to
win the favor of the spirits of the deceased
whales and to ensure the success of future
hunting seasons.
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The Woodland tribes
celebrate the Green Corn Ceremony to
mark the emergence of the first ears of
corn which represent the ideal relationship
between humans and the corn plants upon
which they depend for their existence.
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For Native Hawaiians
and many of their Polynesian cousins, the
season of Makahiki begins with the first
sighting of the rising of the Pleiades in the
heavens; it is the time when the sun turns
northward, and plants flourish and fish
spawn. It is the season to give tribute to
Lono, the god of cultivation. The season of
Makahiki is a time of peace.
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Spring
Birth
Winter
Elder
Summer
Youth
Fall
Adult
The cycle of life is defined by the change in
seasons, and ceremonies are held to recognize
the passing of one season and
the beginning of another
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HIV continues to increase among Native
people as it has over the past decade to the
realization that American Indians and Alaska
Natives (AI/AN) had the 3rd highest rate
(above Caucasian) of AIDS diagnoses in
2004, despite having the smallest population.
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March 21, 2007
“Celebration of Life”
This awareness day will challenge Native
people to work together, in harmony, to
create a greater awareness of the risk of
HIV/AIDS to our communities. It will be a
time to reflect on those who have passed and
who are infected and affected by
HIV/AIDS today. It is also a “celebration
of life” for all Natives.
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March 21, 2007
“Celebration of Life”
The Native CBA Network presented a
resolution SAC-06-002 to the National
Congress of American Indians (NCAI) during
the October 2006 session. The resolution was
approved for support of the National Native
HIV/AIDS Awareness Day,
March 21, 2007.
~The resolution was introduced by CASAE, ITCA and NNAAPC~
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The Awareness Day Will…
Increase awareness of the risk and impact of HIV/AIDS
in our communities
Remember those who have died from AIDS and AIDS
related complications
Support those infected and living with HIV/AIDS
Acknowledge those affected by HIV/AIDS today
Promote opportunities to discover more about
HIV/AIDS and its impact
Inspire folks to learn about HIV testing options and
counseling
Will address the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS
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Materials Available
Buttons
Fact Sheet
Posters
American Indian/Alaska
Native/Native Hawaiian
Fact Sheet
Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.
2214 N. Central Avenue, Ste 100
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
Phone: 602-258-4822
All downloadable materials can be obtain on the following Native CBA websites:
www.happ.colostate.edu; www.itcaonline.com, www.nnaapc.org
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What can I do in my community?
Plan and conduct a Basic HIV 101 training
Approach your Tribal Council for support
Collaborate with local Tribal programs
to plan an awareness event
Sponsor a Fun Run or Walk
Hold a Candlelight Vigil to remember those
impacted by HIV/AIDS and affected
Coordinate a health fair
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What else can I do in my community?
Announce the Awareness Day on a bulletin
board or email listserv
Hold a social Pow Wow and honoring those
who have been impacted by HIV/AIDS
Develop Public Service Announcements
on HIV/AIDS information for Tribal
Radio stations
Schedule a bingo event to highlight
HIV/AIDS awareness
Sponsor a community HIV/AIDS
Wellness Conference
Organize a Basketball/Softball
tournament to raise HIV/AIDS awareness
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Resources
Center for Applied Studies in American
Ethnicity (CASAE)
Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.
(ITCA)
National Native American AIDS
Prevention Center (NNAAPC)
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National Native American AIDS
Prevention Center (NNAAPC)
CBA program provides services in two areas of HIV
prevention - organizational development and HIV
prevention programming. CBA is provided to
organizations with varying degrees of exposure to Native
communities and with different levels of familiarity with the
CDC’s evidence-based HIV interventions. CBA is also
provided to health departments and other agencies with
Native constituents on culturally competent ways to access
and work with Native communities. Capacity-building
assistance is provided through one-on-one consultations,
site visits, regional trainings, and clearinghouse information.
For more information, contact NNAAPC at
(303) 542-2039 or visit their website at www.nnaapc.org.
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Center for Applied Studies in
American Ethnicity (CASAE)
Provides CBA for strengthening community access
to and use of HIV prevention services, using the
highly successful Community Readiness Model to
improve the capacity of Native serving organizations
in the development of strategies consistent with
readiness levels. For more information, contact
CASAE at 800-642-0273 or visit their website at:
www.happ.colostate.edu
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Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc.
(ITCA)
ITCA’s National STD/HIV/AIDS Prevention
Program provides tailored CBA to Tribes, Communitybased organizations, State health departments, community
planning groups (CPGs), tribal health consortia and
coalitions, and individual planning group members to
achieve and ensure parity, inclusion and representation
(PIR) of American Indian/Alaskan Native/Native
Hawaiians (AI/AN/NH’s) in HIV community planning
through orientation, skills building for active participation,
leadership development and consensus building.
For more information, contact ITCA at (602) 258ITCA or visit their website at: (www.itcaonline.com)
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Additional Resources
Centers of Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC)
National HIV/AIDS Hotline
1(800) CDC – INFO or
1(800) 232-4636
1(800) 232-6348 (TTY/TDD)
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First National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
– Celebrations across the Nation ~
Senate Indian Affairs Committee Room
Washington, DC
8th Annual Circle of Harmony HIV/AIDS Wellness
Conference “25 years of HIV/AIDS: Don’t Stop Now!
A New Day, A New Dawn” Albuquerque, NM
To mark this day, the Indian Health Service (IHS)
HIV/AIDS Program is privileged to announce
the March release of our first IHS HIV/AIDS website.
http://www.ihs.gov/MedicalPrograms/hivaids/.
The Oklahoma Native American AIDS Coalition will be
collaborating with the AIDS Care Fund to unveil billboards in
specific areas of Oklahoma to encourage awareness and testing.
They will also include information where the Native community
can go to get tested and will provide possible web links for
treatment and care. Contact person: Gloria Bellymule-Zuniga.21
“AIDS to Native Eyes” – A 25-year Retrospective Exhibit of
Native American response to AIDS in Poster Art. Art
Exhibit/Lecture and Panel Discussion/Feast by Northeast 2
Spirit Society and collaborating partners; American Indian
Community House, NNAAPC, etc. on March 21, 2007, New
York, NY. More information contact: Harlan Pruden,
Harlan@NE2SS or visit www.NE2SS.org
8th HIV Rapid Testing Training and Native HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day workshop, sponsored by the
Aberdeen Area Chairman’s Indian Health Board, Dakota
AIDS & Education Training Center. Indian Health Service
Hospitals, March 9, 2007, Wagner, SD, March 21st, 2007,
Eagle Butte, SD
HIV HIV Awareness and Wellness Fair on March 21, 2007 at
United American Indian Involvement, 1125 W. 6th Street, LA,
CA
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“AIDS to “Warriors Against AIDS Awareness Concert and
Comedy Jam – Celebration of National Native
HIV/AIDS Awareness Day”, Friday March 23, 2007 at
“The Improv” Los Angeles, CA
8th 1st National Native HIV Awareness Day Casino Night &
1st National Native HIV Awareness Day
Youth Poster Contest “Don’t Gamble with Your Life.”, March
21, 2007, Indian Walk-in Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Sunrise ceremony with the Native American AIDS Project
(NAAP) Singers, drum circle in Dolores Park, San Francisco.
The Celebration of Life Gathering will continue at the SF
LGBT Center starting at 7pm with music by DJ Lovesick and
a Pendleton will be given away, the Center is located at 1800
Market St. The Native American AIDS Project, Bay Area
American Indian Two-Spirits, the Native American Health
Center, and the National Native American AIDS Prevention
Center are holding the event.
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HIV Awareness Walk and Assembly on March 21, 2007,
Eastern Band of Cherokee, Cherokee High School Eastern
Band of Cherokee Indians, Health and Medical Division,
Cherokee, NC. Contact Person: Keahana Lambert-Sluder.
NATIVE AMERICANS AND HIV: 2007 UPDATE
March 21, 2007 to commemorate National Native HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day. Kansas City, Program: Breakfast, CEUs,
and Materials FREE to registered participants. Kansas
AIDS Education & Training Center.
Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Celebration Community
Lunch with Raffle, Prizes, HIV Testing all day long. Sacramento
Native American Health Center, Inc.
Gila River Tribe hosting National Native HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day Casino Night, March 21, 2007. Gila River,
AZ
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Ti-chee and Lummi Nation holding a National Native HIV/AIDS
Awareness Day All Day Event with feasts, traditional dance,
HIV/AIDS/STI and Natives updates, Natives and HIV short film
festival, and a healing circle in Bellingham, Washington.
1st Annual HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, March 21, 2007 at the Concho
Community Hall, in Concho, OK. The Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal
Health Programs hosting the event with video of and presentation by Philip
Smith, HIV education and testing, feast, and presentation on HIV and high
risk behaviors.
Rosebud Tribal Chairman signs a proclamation for National Native
HIV/AIDS Awareness Day! Their diabetes program is sponsoring a walk
along with the Sinte Gleska University honoring the awareness day. They
are also holding a basketball tournament with an HIV test instead of an
admission fee! Their DOH will be offer testing and an incentive to return
for your results. The students at Sinte Gleska University are putting
together ‘snag bags’ and red ribbons and currently working on a PSA for
the awareness day. Their guest speaker for event for their community will be
someone from the community who had a family member die of AIDS, they will
discuss the impact and struggles for the family. Candles will be lit – one for
each Native AIDS death in South Dakota.
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The Nebraska Department of Health is going to Winnebago with
their hepatitis coordinator to do rapid testing and Hepatitis C
testing from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm in honor of the National Native
Awareness Day.
Santee Sioux Tribe Honors Awareness Day with a Walk with
Children. The Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska is holding a walk
with kids from the community at 10:00 am and a walk later in the day
for the whole community, followed by a feed. They are also having a
speaker at their High School.
Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate in South Dakota are co-sponsoring a
skit on HIV in the junior high schools. There will also be a
demonstration of the oral rapid test for youth, to help better
understand the process and what it would be like to get tested.
Minni-Tohe Health Center in North Dakota has their public
health nurse is presenting information and education on
HIV/AIDS at the middle school and the juvenile detention center
on March 21st.
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The National Indian Health Board is sponsoring a Just Move It
event at the National Native American Museum in conjunction with
the NNAAPC. The event will be held at the Las Vegas Paiute
Colony, 1257 Paiute Circle, Las Vegas, NV, 89106.
American Indian Education Center, Cleveland, Ohio will be
hosting an event on March 21st at the American Indian Education
Center in Cleveland, Ohio. It's a dinner open to the community
where a presentation will be made on HIV/AIDS 101. The
presentation will focus on the most recent statistics in the Native
community and of course, why the awareness day is so important.
The presentation will target people of various ages!
The United Tribes Technical College is holding a Native
HIV/AIDS Awareness Day event for the students. A
presentation will be made related and their Student Senate will
perform a skit/play about HIV/AIDS on the evening of March
21st, 2007. UTTC is located in Bismarck, ND, and their student
body represents 70 tribes from all over the country. More info can
be obtained through UTTC - http://www.uttc.edu/contact.asp.
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Phoenix Indian Medical Center. In observance of the National
Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, the Phoenix Indian
Medical Center has scheduled a health fair from 9am to1pm
on the East Patio. Activities include speakers, educational
booths, and door prizes. For more information
In Commemoration of Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
and to celebrate the Native Hawaiian Community, the Asian
and Pacific Islander Wellness Center is holding an event on
Friday, March 23rd, from 5 to 7 PM. It is free and open to the
public. There will be Hawaiian-style food, Hula performance,
Native Hawaiian HIV Positive guest speakers and Health
Education presentations. For more information, call (415)
292-3400 or visit www.apiwellness.org. Their offices are
located on the 4th floor at 730 Polk Street in San Francisco,
between Eddy and Ellis.
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Oklahoma Native Nations United Against AIDS Coalition
(ONNUAA) is having an awareness campaign/event coming
up this Wednesday, March 21st. We have a full page print
ad that will come out today in the Anadarko Daily News and a
copy of the proclamation from the City of Anadarko will be
printed on Wednesday as well. We have created our own
materials for this event, including a resource directory for
testing sites in SW Oklahoma that was previously nonexistent. So we hope to have a good turn out for the event and
hope to raise awareness in our community about HIV/AIDS.
Again, on behalf of all our (ONNUAA) Oklahoma Native
Nations United Against AIDS coalition members ... thank
you so very much!
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Many blessings
to each and every one of you…
for the work that you do and the
struggles that you continue to
embrace on behalf of our people…
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