Wisconsin Humanities launched its Community Powered Tribal Health Initiative (CPTHI) Feb. 26 to address the mental health epidemic impacting Wisconsin’s tribal communities.
The new initiative will be a collaborative partnership between the statewide nonprofit and Wisconsin tribal communities to address their challenges and will result in "culturally-relevant solutions that honor traditional wisdom and community priorities,” according to their Feb. 26 announcement.
The initiative will adapt Wisconsin Humanities’ existing Community Powered toolkit, used in its Wisconsin Humanities Fellows program, to give local leaders tools to better address health challenges including depression, isolation and drug and alcohol abuse.
Established in 1972, Wisconsin Humanities is an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Community Powered initiative “puts the humanities tools of history, culture and storytelling in the hands of Wisconsinites through training and educational programs,” Director Crissy Widmayer told The Daily Cardinal.
CPTHI will work to address historically deep-seated health disparities identified by tribal partners working in their communities and train participants in how to conduct oral history interviews, manage projects and apply for grants.
The initiative will be led by tribal partners and embrace cultural traditions of tribal communities, Widmayer said.
“Existing research tells us that embracing cultural traditions and practices in tribal communities promotes better outcomes in terms of community wellbeing and health. The culturally informed toolkit and training program we will develop with [CPTHI] will give tribal members tools to maintain, document and disseminate cultural knowledge, which will help them reinforce cultural traditions and promote community health,” Widmayer said.
Widmayer developed the Community Powered toolkit and training with former co-director of Community Powered, Dr. Arijit Sen. Sen is a professor of history and urban studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and will serve as an advisor for CPTHI.
The pair will work with Dr. JP Leary and others from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Center for First Nation Education, Drs. Brian Jackson and Sonny Smart from the Lac du Flambeau Family Circles AODA Parenting Program and Sapatis Menomin, who was trained in 2022 in the Community Powered methodology and founded the Forest County Potawatomi lacrosse revitalization project.
CPTHI was awarded a Community Impact Grant from the UW School of Medicine and Public Health’s Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP) in support of the first three years of the initiative.
CPTHI was among eight other community organizations that were awarded WPP’s 2025 Community Impact Grant. Leaders will spend the next year working hosting listening sessions across the state to learn from tribal communities about what they would most like to see added to the training program, Widmayer said. Then, they will spend two years training up to 32 tribal members.
“We intend to work closely with tribal members to support them as they identify their own health priorities and design culturally relevant solutions that honor traditional wisdom. This should help deepen community ties, build opportunities for the intergenerational sharing of culture and support healthier, more resilient communities,” Widmayer said. “When we invest in local leadership, we're investing in Wisconsin's future and we’re looking forward to seeing that impact grow in new tribal communities around the state.”
