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About the talk

The crisis of violence against Indigenous women is directly tied to and perpetuated by settler colonialism and embedded in systems and bureaucracies of racism and oppression. Indigenous communities, both urban and rural, have struggled to access data that centres community knowledge of impact of this violence and shows the true story of grief, trauma, and healing of their communities. Abigail Echo-Hawk will discuss research and data techniques that centre Indigenous knowledge systems, presenting an Indigenous framework that identifies strengths, risks and protective factors that uphold the sovereignty of tribal communities. This framework defies and resists the impacts of ongoing colonialism and resulting historical trauma; instead, it moves into historical healing that gathers the pieces and stitches them back together in bold, beautiful, intricate patterns of strength and resiliency woven on the fabric of Indigenous knowledge systems.

About the speaker

Abigail Echo-Hawk, MA is an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and the Chief Research Officer for the Seattle Indian Health Board, a Federally Qualified Health Center serving American Indians and Alaska Natives in King County, Washington. She also serves as the Director of the Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI), a Tribal Epidemiology Center whose mission is to support the health and well-being of urban Indian communities through information, scientific inquiry, and technology. Ms. Echo-Hawk directs a staff of public health professionals who work on multiple ongoing research, evaluation, and disease surveillance projects to benefit American Indian/Alaska Natives in urban and rural settings. She received the University of Washington Bothell’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013 for her dedication to eliminating health disparities and was also recognized in the 2015 class of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development’s (NCAIED) Native American 40 Under 40.

As a dedicated community volunteer, Ms. Echo-Hawk has concentrated on policy and institutional change to eliminate disparities for women of color locally and nationally. She focuses on policy advocacy in areas such as maternal and child health, domestic violence, sexual assault, and health disparities. Volunteer memberships include the Native American Women’s Dialogue on Infant Mortality, Hope Heart Institute, the Center for Indigenous Law and Justice, the Children and Youth Advisory Board of King County, and the Coalition to End Gender-Based Violence. Ms. Echo-Hawk’s greatest joy is her place within her extended family. She is a wife, mother, auntie, daughter, granddaughter, friend, and community member. She strives to serve her family, friends, and community with love and to be a small part of ensuring a great future for the next generation.