Summary
As the first scientists on the American continents, American Indian and Alaska Native people followed various methodologies in the pursuit of knowledge to understand and respond to complex environmental situations. Examples include data necessary to guide access to safe food and medicine as well as community roles, kinship, travel, housing, and healing for the well-being of the community. These tribal data have been transmitted through specific practices with strict protocols such as storytelling, songs, and ceremony. Colonialism and attempts to eradicate tribal cultures have stolen or at the very least hidden most of the original tribal data practices in all current public health systems. Current methodologies fail to accurately capture data on American Indian and Alaska Native populations, resulting in inaccurate and even harmful data outcomes. Efforts to improve public health data systems should begin with the reclamation of tribal knowledge systems and the reconstruction of these systems to fit modern context and tribal data sovereignty, with intentionality toward future generations.