Our Nations Our Journeys (ONOJ) is a forum for rich, culturally grounded connections and strategic conversations about the big questions affecting Indigenous communities’ health and wellbeing.   

At Our Nations, Our Journeys, we unite to support healthy Native communities through public health research, practice, and policy. Our three-day forum is designed for tribal and urban Indian public health leaders, professionals, and students to share knowledge and promising practices. Our expert-led sessions will cover a range of topics from how we can improve public health data infrastructure in our communities to how we can aid the fight against the opioid epidemic. 

ONOJ’s goals are to explore strategies to bridge public health care by: 

• Building new, mutually beneficial opportunities to network and engage with others 
• Creating a shared understanding and vision for American Indian and Alaska Native (population) health 
• Discovering imperatives for change through dialogue and exchange 
• Exploring solutions and opportunities for Indigenous health systems transformation 
• Making recommendations that can facilitate change and inspire action 

What makes ONOJ unique among public health conferences? 

• A close-knit community with a shared affinity for Indigenous public health practice and praxis 
• Culturally informed activities throughout the conference, including beading, story slams, and nature walks 
• Collaboration with local tribal communities, including opportunities for experiential field trip outings 
• Opportunities to eat, laugh, and even dance with your community of peers 

• Focus on multiple, interwoven public health topics for healing our communities and transforming our health and health-related systems 

This year’s theme is a call to come together and work towards solutions for the public health crisis impacting our communities with an emphasis on ways we are using and can use data to make decisions for our communities.

Unfortunately, the opioid crisis continues to harm our families and communities, and we are working to connect attendees to applicable, innovative, and culturally-informed strategies developed by many different Tribal and urban Indian communities.

Data sovereignty and governance for tribal and urban Indian communities have been longstanding and cross-cutting issues affecting many areas of health, public health, and behavioral health in Indian Country. We are committed to bringing thought leaders from across disciplines who have identified data solutions that work for tribal and urban Indian settings. By addressing data issues and the opioid crisis from a combined approach, our aim is to share a variety of approaches and solutions. We also hope to learn from you! We are building in interactive sessions, along with an intensive focus on evaluation of the conference, to ensure we continue to provide relevant and useful information for you and your community.