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Tribal Consultation on the Rape Prevention and Education 

Program July 12, 2023 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control 

(CDC/NCIPC) hosted a tribal consultation on the Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) Program on July 

12, 2023 and accepted written comments until 5:00pm (EST) on July 24, 2023.

Table of Contents

Tribal Consultation on the Rape Prevention and Education Program July 12, 2023....................................1

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................1

Responses to Tribes and Tribal Serving Organizations’ Recommendations.................................................2

Responses to Tribes and Tribal Serving Organizations’ Other Recommendations.......................................5

Next Steps.....................................................................................................................................................8

Appendix A: Consultation: Oral and Written................................................................................................9

Consultation Transcript (Oral and Chat Box Testimony) ..........................................................................9

Written Testimony ..................................................................................................................................23

Appendix B: List of Participants – July 12, 2023, Tribal Consultation.........................................................24

Appendix C: Dear Tribal Leader Letters for CDC/NCIPC July 12, 2023, Tribal Consultation .......................28

Appendix D: Federal Register Notice for CDC/NCIPC July 12, 2023, Tribal Consultation for Rape 

Prevention and Education Program............................................................................................................31

Appendix E: RPE Tribal Listening Session....................................................................................................32

Introduction

On July 12, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Injury 

Prevention and Control (NCIPC) hosted a virtual government-to-government consultation with tribal 

leaders to collect input on the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for new funding from CDC's Rape 

Prevention and Education (RPE) program. The purpose of this consultation was to hear from tribes on 

their public health priorities and concerns related to the RPE program and how CDC/ATSDR can better 

support tribes and tribal communities moving forward to inform sexual violence prevention. 

At the time of the consultation in July 2023, CDC/NCIPC announced that the new RPE NOFO funding 

period would be five years, however, with the release of the one-year, FY23 capacity building NOFO, the 

funding period for the new RPE NOFO for sexual assault coalitions, including tribal coalitions, will now be 

four years in order to align with the timing of the five-year NOFO awarded to state health departments.
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At the consultation, there were 77 participants, including tribal serving organizations, tribal partners, 

other members of the tribal community, and CDC/NCIPC senior leaders. Although no elected tribal 

leaders were present, tribes and tribal serving organizations, and other public health professionals 

participated. One person was authorized to speak on behalf of their tribe. In order to respect those who 

did attend this tribal consultation and not lose the opportunity to respond to the information provided,

CDC is summarizing all input. Comments were accepted during a two-week period from July 12, 2023, to 

July 24, 2023, at 5:00 pm (EST). The comment period includes oral comments made during the tribal 

consultation on July 12, 2023 and any written comments, if received, until July 24, 2023.

In addition to the RPE Tribal Consultation, CDC/NCIPC also held a Tribal Listening Session on December 

8, 2022, with 40 participants from American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities and CDC 

staff. Ten AI/AN community members gave feedback to CDC that informed the RPE program. More 

information on the Tribal Listening Session can be found in Appendix E. 

The RPE program is authorized through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which was passed by 

Congress in 1994, and was most recently reauthorized in 2022. Grants awarded under this program will

be used for RPE programs conducted by state and territorial health departments and sexual assault 

coalitions, including tribal sexual assault coalitions. 

Specific questions CDC/NCIPC invited feedback on during the July 12th Tribal Consultation are listed

below. 

• How does sexual violence impact your community? 

• What are the strengths and barriers to preventing sexual violence in your communities?

• How can CDC improve our efforts to communicate and support programming that impacts the 

prevention of violence in tribal nations? 

• What are important partnerships for preventing sexual violence in your communities, and how 

can we help strengthen existing partnerships and/or help establish new partnerships? 

This report summarizes recommendations and input received during the comment period and 

CDC/NCIPC's responses. CDC/NCIPC received oral comments from federally recognized tribes, tribal 

partners, and tribal serving organizations during the comment period at the tribal consultation. No 

written comments were received. CDC/NCIPC acknowledges the need for ongoing and continued 

education and training of CDC staff working with tribal nations. It is committed to working with agency 

leaders to ensure appropriate and available training. CDC/NCIPC will incorporate feedback outlined in 

this report to inform the strategies and activities in the NOFO development process.

Responses to Tribes and Tribal Serving Organizations’ Recommendations

This section summarizes the recommendations articulated by federally recognized tribes, tribal partners, 

and tribal serving organizations at the CDC/NCIPC Tribal Consultation on July 12, 2023, related to the 

upcoming RPE NOFO and the four questions that CDC/NCIPC asked on sexual violence prevention (see 

Introduction). All testimony and comments received before the deadline were reviewed and 

summarized under the following themes: 

1) Data Limitations 

1a. Summary of Recommendations on Data Limitations
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Tribes and Tribal serving organizations commented on data limitations that hinder 

measurement of the impact of sexual violence. Tribes and tribal serving organizations noted 

limitations due to a lack of access to police and other data, how data are collected and 

organized, and how injuries are reported. Furthermore, testimonies noted that existing data do 

not depict the full impact because sexual violence is often underreported due to stigma, biases, 

and normalization of violence. For example, participants shared that "it’s become normalized 

almost to the point where some of our victims don’t recognize that they are in fact, victims [of 

sexual violence]". Tribes and tribal serving organizations also commented on data sovereignty 

and questions of data use and data ownership. Tribes and tribal serving organizations

recommended that CDC recognize that data on sexual violence may be incomplete and 

inconsistent. 

1b. Summary of Response to Data Limitations

CDC/NCIPC recognizes tribes and tribal serving organizations’ concerns about data limitations 

hindering the ability to measure the impact of sexual violence. CDC/NCIPC acknowledges 

limitations, including, but not limited to: lack of access to data from various sources, how data 

are collected and organized from different sources, underreporting, and impacts of stigma, 

biases, and normalization of violence within tribal communities.

CDC/NCIPC recognizes the importance of respecting tribal nations’ data sovereignty and 

ownership and that tribes and tribal epidemiology centers (TEC) are public health authorities

with legal rights to data. CDC continues to work to improve collaboration with tribes and tribal 

serving organizations regarding relevant data collection, analysis, data use procedures, and use 

of data sharing agreements. For example, the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence 

Survey (NISVS) is an ongoing survey that collects the most current and comprehensive nationaland state-level data on intimate partner violence, sexual violence and stalking victimization in 

the United States. CDC/NCIPC developed NISVS to collect data on these important public health 

problems and enhance violence prevention efforts. CDC/NCIPC is working to address data 

limitations by moving towards an AI/AN oversample in NISVS, however, this work is contingent 

on available funds. CDC will be collecting AI/AN data as part of the general population data 

collection and will work to ensure that data on sexual violence is collected and used 

meaningfully and respectfully. Moreover, CDC/NCIPC can assist Tribes to identify data sources 

through training and technical assistance.

CDC/NCIPC appreciates the recommendations and will continue to work to improve data 

collection methods and address data limitations to better understand the impact of sexual 

violence on tribal communities. CDC/NCIPC values partnership with tribal communities and is 

committed to preventing sexual violence.

2) Lack of Accessible Services 

2a. Summary of Recommendations on Lack of Accessible Services

Tribes and tribal serving organizations commented on a lack of accessible violence prevention 

services and services for survivors of sexual violence. Testimony indicated that infrastructure 

concerns are often prioritized over conducting programmatic work because immediate needs 
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(e.g., road maintenance, mold remediation in schools) must be prioritized. Another issue is the 

limited access to quality and culturally appropriate sexual assault clinical services, including 

availability and certification of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners.

Testimony indicated that distance was a barrier to accessing services when those services were 

outside of their communities. For example, tribes and tribal serving organizations mentioned 

that in Navajo Nation, it is 500-600 miles to a medical facility. When services are available within 

a community, they are often limited. Tribes and tribal serving organizations stated that in one 

community, there is an Indian Health Center. Still, it does not operate at all hours. Hence,

instances of sexual violence outside of business hours require the victim to be transported up to 

100 miles away to a different clinic. Tribal partners mentioned that services provided outside of 

tribal communities are not always culturally sensitive or culturally tailored. 

2b. Summary of Response to Lack of Accessible Programs 

CDC/NCIPC understands the issues that may occur when infrastructure needs are prioritized 

over conducting programmatic work and that there is a shortage of Sexual Assault Nurse 

Examiners. CDC/NCIPC is dedicated to collaborating closely with our tribes and tribal serving 

organizations to overcome barriers and strengthen access to sexual violence (SV) prevention. 

CDC supports SV prevention through the RPE program which will release a new four-year 

funding opportunity available to sexual assault coalitions, including tribal sexual assault

coalitions. 

CDC/NCIPC recognizes that when prevention efforts are available within a community, they are 

often limited and not always culturally sensitive or tailored. As part of our commitment to 

respecting cultural values and indigenous knowledge, we will work to ensure that activities

funded through CDC’s RPE program are culturally appropriate and sensitive.

3) Support for Programs

3a. Summary of Recommendations on Support for Programs

Tribes and tribal serving organizations discussed the need for technical assistance and 

programmatic support. Testimony mentioned a desire to work on violence prevention and 

response. However, it is essential to ensure accountability and implement violence prevention 

programs appropriately. Tribes and tribal serving organizations stated there is a strong need for 

technical assistance at the local level. They indicated that Tribal Epidemiology Centers provide 

technical assistance but cannot meet every need, and that support for program planning, 

implementation, and maintenance is necessary. 

3b. Summary of Response to Support for Programs 

CDC/NCIPC is committed to working with tribal partners to identify and address the barriers to 

accessing violence prevention services and technical assistance. CDC/NCIPC understands that 

prevention efforts and survivor support within tribal communities are often limited and not 

always culturally sensitive. CDC/NCIPC also recognizes the need for technical assistance and 
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programmatic support at the local level and will support program planning, implementation, 

and maintenance to ensure accountability.

In accordance with the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2022, CDC/NCIPC aims 

to address the needs of tribal communities by authorizing funding to state and tribal sexual 

assault coalitions to respond to sexual violence. Through coalition funding opportunities, tribal 

coalitions can develop and implement programs that help prevent and respond to sexual 

violence in their communities. 

4) Acknowledging the Needs of Urban Populations and Providers

4a. Summary of Recommendations on Acknowledging the Needs of Urban Populations and 

Providers

Tribes and tribal serving organizations discussed the unique needs of AI/AN people that live in 

urban settings. Their testimony recommended that CDC recognize the tribal serving 

organizations serving the many American Indian and Alaska Native persons living in urban areas. 

In addition, their testimony indicated that service providers in urban areas would like to be 

involved in violence prevention in AI/AN communities. 

4b. Summary of Response to Acknowledging the Needs of Urban Populations and Providers 

CDC/NCIPC acknowledges the importance of addressing violence prevention among AI/AN

persons living in urban communities. It is taking steps to do so through the one-year grant for 

state and tribal sexual assault coalitions that was awarded in FY 2023. Specifically, CDC/NCIPC

has worked closely with several urban Indian organizations, including, but not limited to, the 

National Council on Urban Indian Health, the Urban Indian Health Institute, and the Northwest 

Portland Area Indian Area Health Board. In the future, CDC will continue to strengthen 

partnerships with all urban Indian health organizations and collaborations with federal partners,

such as the Indian Health Service, who already have strong relationships with urban AI/AN 

communities. Additionally, state and tribal sexual assault coalitions in urban areas interested in 

violence prevention in their respective urban communities are eligible to apply for the four-year 

coalition grant that will be released in the Spring of 2024.

Responses to Tribes and Tribal Serving Organizations’ Other 

Recommendations

Whereas the previous section focused on recommendations that were specific to the four questions 

that CDC/NCIPC asked on sexual violence prevention (see Introduction), this section addresses 

additional recommendations by federally recognized tribes, tribal partners, and tribal serving 

organizations at the CDC/NCIPC Tribal Consultation beyond those questions. . CDC/NCIPC appreciates 

these recommendations. CDC/NCIPC reviewed and summarized these comments under the following 

themes: 

1) Ensuring Flexibility 
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1a. Summary of Recommendations on Ensuring Flexibility

Tribes and tribal serving organizations recommended that the funding announcement be 

flexible enough to accommodate the diversity of programming offered by tribes. Tribes and 

tribal serving organizations commented that violence prevention programs may take different 

forms from tribe to tribe. Their testimony pointed to the following programs as positive 

programming examples: Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country, the Healthy Tribes 

program, and the Tribal Epidemiology Centers Public Health Infrastructure program.

1b. Summary of Response to Ensuring Flexibility 

CDC/NCIPC recognizes the need to be flexible with funds to accommodate the diversity of tribal 

needs and will incorporate lessons learned from other key tribal-related CDC funding 

opportunities (e.g., Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country). The CDC/NCIPC shared risk 

and protective factors approach includes many strengths-based approaches that reflect tribal 

communities cultural traditions and practices and their role in community building and 

connectedness. In support of the recent Indigenous Knowledge Guidance for Federal Agencies

released by the White House in December 2022, CDC/NCIPC recognizes and affirms the role of 

indigenous knowledge in supporting public health efforts.

2) Partnering with Organizations that serve AI/AN populations that do not live on land held in 

trust for federally recognized tribes 

2a. Summary of Recommendations related to Partnering with Organizations that serve AI/AN 

populations that do not live on land held in trust for federally recognized tribes 

Tribes and tribal serving organizations discussed the importance of partnerships with 

communities and organizations that serve AI/AN populations that do not live on land held in 

trust for federally recognized tribes. Because many AI/AN persons don’t live on land held in 

trust for federally recognized tribes which could include, urban areas, suburban areas, and rural 

areas, building relationships with service providers that support community members is critical. 

For example, testimony stated, “I’m also working with our communities to ensure that our tribal 

members receive the same level of care off reservations and that our on reservation folks have 

access to those services as well”. Their testimony also mentioned that this is vital to ensure 

continuity of care for victims of sexual violence and their families. Partnerships include housing 

and homeless service providers, health care centers, schools, and health departments. 

2b. Summary of Response to Partnering with Organizations that serve AI/AN populations that 

do not live on land held in trust for federally recognized tribes

There are 574 federally recognized Indian tribes and 324 federally recognized American Indian 

reservations. Based on a CDC-published Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 

approximately 75% of AI/AN people live outside reservations in urban, suburban, and rural 

settings. In addition, tribes are sovereign nations with distinct political communities, each with 

diverse histories and cultures, and territorial boundaries. CDC is committed to strengthening our 

partnerships with tribes, urban AI/AN organizations, and other tribal serving organizations and 

partners. 
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CDC/NCIPC recognizes the need to partner with organizations that serve AI/AN populations that 

do not live on land held in trust for federally recognized tribes. CDC/NCIPC has several existing

programs that have served these populations. These programs include Domestic Violence 

Prevention Enhancement and Leadership Through Alliance (DELTA) Impact, RPE, and Preventing 

Violence Affecting Young Lives (PREYAVL).

Through DELTA Impact, Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (ANDVSA) 

worked with the Alaska Native community to implement the Boys Run I toowú klatseen (BRITK) 

afterschool program. This 10-week program helps boys in 3rd-5

th grade gain the skills they need 

to build healthy relationships using Southeast Alaska traditional tribal values to promote respect

and equitable gender norms, and to break down unhealthy masculinity norms. In partnership 

with local intimate partner violence prevention programs in Sitka and Juneau, Alaska, ANDVSA 

reached more than 500 boys and men through BRITK.

South Dakota’s RPE program is partnering with seven Boys and Girls Club locations that will be 

trained in both My Journey and Shifting Boundaries curriculum. Through partnership with 

Lutheran Social Services, the South Dakota Health Department will also offer training on the My 

Journey curriculum. This curriculum was developed with AI/AN youth in mind and promotes 

healthy, balanced decision making around sexual health. My Journey is currently working to be 

adopted and utilized as an RPE curriculum by adding lessons on sexual and intimate partner 

violence prevention, sex trafficking, adverse childhood experiences, and intergenerational 

trauma. All seven sites interact with AI/AN persons within their clubs, including McLaughlin Club 

on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Additionally, the South Dakota Health Department is 

working with an elder from the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe. They have created a curriculum, based 

on storytelling and Lakota Culture, aimed at educating and increasing awareness for Lakota 

youth. 

The Multnomah County Health Department, one of the PREVAYL recipients, is addressing youth 

violence, teen dating violence, adverse childhood experiences, and conditions that put 

communities at greater risk for violence. One strategy is Crime Prevention Through Environment 

Design (CPTED) which is an approach that focuses on improving the design of the built 

environment to help reduce opportunities for disputes and violence and promote positive 

behavior. The other strategy is Pride Peace and Prevention which cultivates racial identity and 

inspires leadership and community engagement to promote youth violence prevention. These 

programs are inclusive of urban AI/AN youth in two middle schools and two high schools for the 

CPTED strategy and 100 youths, 16-24 years of age in Pride, Peace, and Prevention strategy.

3) Sovereignty as a Strength 

3a. Summary of Recommendations on Sovereignty as a Strength 

Tribes and tribal serving organizations mentioned that in some areas, tribal sovereignty allows 

violence prevention work to occur in ways it cannot in other parts of a state. For example, their

testimony noted that in one state, certain violence prevention programming is not currently

feasible. Alternatively, sovereign Tribes can engage in sexual violence prevention efforts, such as 

implementing culturally tailored curricula in schools. 
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3b. Summary of Response on Sovereignty as a Strength 

CDC recognizes tribal nation status and sovereignty. Tribes possess community and cultural 

assets and, because of their sovereignty, may engage in many other approaches that strengthen 

AI/AN communities and aid in violence prevention efforts.

Next Steps

This report and accompanying Dear Tribal Leader Letters conclude the Tribal Consultation Process. 

For the next steps, CDC/NCIPC will work to incorporate the recommendations and input into developing

the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for new funding for the Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) 

program. CDC/NCIPC will use these recommendations as a resource to ensure that the voices of tribal 

nations are heard and incorporated into comprehensive public health solutions.
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Appendix A: Consultation: Oral and Written

CDC/NCIPC’s Tribal Consultation on the Rape Prevention and Education Program

Consultation Transcript (Oral and Chat Box Testimony)

July 12, 2023

Dr. Jones: All right. I think we will go ahead and get started. Appreciate the flexibility, and good 

afternoon. Good morning. Depending on your time zone in which you're in. I'm Chris Jones. I'm the 

Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at CDC. And it's an honor to speak with 

you today. 

Chat Message: Good morning - Jamie Ritchey PhD MPH Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Inc. Tribal 

Epidemiology Center

Chat Message: Hello, and thank you to everyone for joining the Tribal Consultation today. Please note 

the chat feature is reserved for Tribal Leadership and elected officials only.

Chat Message: For closed captioning during the meeting, please use the following URL: 

https://www.streamtext.net/player?event=13737RPETribalConsultationSession Event ID is: 13737

Chat Message: Please include your tribal position and tribe in your displayed name. How to Change Your 

Zoom Display Name:• Go to the top right corner of your Zoom displayed box• Click on the ellipses (three 

dots)• Select ‘Rename’• Enter a new screen name (name, tribal position, tribe)• Select ‘OK’• Done OR• 

Click on name in “Participant’s List”• Select ‘More’ or the ellipses (three dots)• Select ‘Rename’• Enter a 

new screen name (name, tribal position, tribe)• Select ‘OK’• Done

Dr. Jones: We want to welcome you to the CDC/ATSDR Tribal Consultation on the RPE Program. As you 

saw in the chat, we're providing close captioning for today's listening session, and the link can be found 

in the zoom chat. Dr. Deb Houry CDC's Deputy Director for Program and Science and Chief Medical 

Officer was unable to make it to the consultation today. But we did want to play a special video of her 

welcoming remarks. So I'll ask our organizers to play that video.

Dr. Houry Recorded Video: Good Afternoon. I’m Dr. Deb Houry, CDC’s Deputy Director for Program and 

Science and the Chief Medical Officer. I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you in person today but I am delighted 

to welcome you to the RPE Tribal Consultation. 

I want to acknowledge the Muscogee and Cherokee Nations, the traditional landowners of the land 

where CDC’s Atlanta campus now sits. CDC has been working to prevent violence for over 40 years, and 

CDC is committed to working with tribal governments and tribal organizations to improve the health and 

safety of American Indians and Alaska Native people. 

I also want to recognize the importance of this consultation and appreciate the opportunity this creates 

for information exchange, mutual understanding, and informed decision-making on behalf of tribes and 

the federal government. 
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The purpose of this consultation is to gain insight from your experiences, learn from your ideas and hear 

more about how we can be a partner in addressing the impacts of sexual violence. Your input will inform 

CDC’s Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) program, which focuses on the primary prevention of sexual 

violence. 

We also want to let everyone know that CDC will be planning to release a new RPE notice of funding 

agreement in FY24 to fund state, territorial, and tribal health departments and coalitions alike. 

Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you and hear your guidance. CDC looks forward to hearing 

your input, as well as any recommendations or concerns you may have regarding the RPE program. 

Dr. Jones: Now, I'd like to extend a welcome to our tribal facilitator, Chester Antone. It looks like it looks 

like he may be frozen on Zoom at the moment.

Mr. Antone: Hello. My name is Chester Antone. (Inaudible)

Dr. Jones: Sir. We're having a little trouble hearing you. If you turn off your camera, it might help with 

bandwidth.

Mr. Antone: Can you hear me now?

Dr. Jones: Much better. Yes.

Mr. Antone: Okay. Let me repeat. Oh and by the way, I apologize for getting on late. But my name is 

Chester Antone. I’m a former member (inaudible) of the Legislative Council. Current adjunct facility of 

Tohono O'Odham Community College (inaudible) programming. I wanted to (inaudible) start with a 

prayer this morning. This morning we had rain here, we are in the desert. This is the first rain I've been 

in since I don't know when to (inaudible) us here in the desert; that is a blessing. So I want to say a short 

prayer for that. I’m gonna say it in my language.

(Mr. Antone provides opening prayer in native language, parts of prayer are inaudible due to technical 

difficulties) 

Mr. Antone: I believe today we’re going to be hearing (inaudible) consultation for the Rape Prevention 

and Education program there at CDC. (inaudible) leaders and a lot of it comes from our relationship with 

the U.S. Government. It's a parameter relationship, and we have programs or agencies that times when 

we, we put on a formal meeting which this is, we have a Federal agency that we're meeting with as the 

representative of the U.S. Government. So today we are having this meeting with people that are online

and let me tell you the order of business here. 

We'll go down the line as follows: We have the tribal leaders speak first and then we, we move on the 

(inaudible) the governors and President speak first. After they have finished, we go to the Vice 

Chairpersons, Vice Presidents, Lieutenant Governors, and after they speak, then we go to people who 

are the council people of tribal nations. Tribal council members, legislative members, and then we go to 

the assigned persons or the persons that have been designated to speak on behalf of the tribe. And so 

we, we do it in that order as a matter of respect for your positions, and your tribes and that you should 

have this opportunity given for you to relay whatever the testimony you will give. And so we have begin.
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We have, we have this consultation and it has the CDC’s Injury Prevention division has put forth some

questions that they want to have each of you to speak to. In this way it is really good that they do 

because then we speak to those questions that are being asked to from CDC to Tribal leaders, and it 

becomes more focused, this Consultation becomes more focused and more meaningful. 

If we do not have any questions then, I’m sure you’ve been through a lot of consultations where we, 

where we have kind of a free for all and it kinda gets really long and sometimes out of hand. But you 

know, just the fact that these questions were posed it’s really, it’s really good as I said so before. 

And so, we uh, we ask when you speak to please let us know who you are. Who you’re representing, 

your name, your title, your tribe and we would like to have that so that we have a record of it of what 

you’re um speaking to. And what the concerns are from your, your tribal nation to the CDC, with regard 

to the RPE program. And we will start going into the questions unless there is any other comments that 

needs to be made by Mr. Jones or any of his staff. 

Dr. Jones: Yeah, thank you very much. Before we get into the questions, I just wanted to cover a couple 

of things, so I know a few people were admitted late, and your phone was coming in and out just a little 

bit, but really appreciate your partnerships sir today uh in this consultation, and just wanted to reinforce 

a couple of things before we get started. 

Um, First, uh, as was mentioned previously, this is really an opportunity for us to hear your lived

experiences, needs, ideas related to preventing sexual violence in your communities. 

As you can see on the screen, here there is an order for providing consultation, and according to the 

CDC/ATSDR Policy, we’ll follow this order here: Tribal President, Chairperson, Governor; Tribal Vice 

President, Vice Chairperson, Lieutenant Governor; elected or appointed tribal official and designated 

tribal official, and we also want to let you know that this is being recorded. Um. And so for the record. 

When you begin to speak, please announce your name, title, and tribal nation you are representing. Uh, 

I also want to let you know that your participation is voluntary, but we do hope you feel comfortable 

sharing your thoughts and experiences with us. Um, certainly, if at any time you don't want to provide 

feedback that is also fine. You're also free in your participation in the consultation at any time. 

And as I mentioned, the zoom meeting is being recorded for record keeping purposes only. If you do not 

wish to be recorded, please disconnect now. Members of the public should keep their video camera off 

and may not speak during meeting proceedings. And as a reminder, if you're not a tribal leader or 

designated tribal official, you will be in listen-only mode for the duration of the consultation.

If you have any technical challenges, please note that in the chat so our staff can assist you by working 

through those challenges. And before we get to the questions, I did want to turn over quickly to Gayle

Holmes, who works in our Division of Violence Prevention and oversees our Rape Prevention and 

Education or RPE program. Just to provide a little bit of context about the program. How we got to 

where we are, that, I think will be important for the consultation today. So, Gayle, let me turn it over to 

you.

Dr. Holmes: Thank you Chris. Hello everyone. As mentioned, the purpose of this tribal consultation is to 

gain insight from your experiences, to learn from your ideas and hear more about how we can partner 

and be a partner to address the impacts of sexual violence.
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Your feedback will inform the RPE program which focuses on preventing sexual violence before it 

happens.

Historically, RPE has worked to prevent sexual violence by providing funding to state and territorial 

health departments in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The RPE program encourages the development of comprehensive prevention strategies using the public 

health approach and the social ecological model as guiding frameworks. Some state health departments 

have worked with tribal communities for many years to implement sexual violence prevention 

strategies.

The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act 2022 requires that CDC allocate a portion of RPE

funding to tribal sexual assault coalitions.

In compliance with this legislative requirement, earlier this year CDC released a notice of funding 

opportunity for tribal sexual assault coalitions. This program started a couple of weeks ago on July first, 

and is the first time CDC is directly funding tribal sexual assault coalitions providing an opportunity to 

expand sexual violence prevention work in Indian country. 

As mentioned in Dr. Houry’s opening remarks, we will release a new five-year RPE notice of funding 

opportunity or NOFO in fiscal year, 2024 in which tribal sexual assault coalitions will also be eligible.

More information will be available this fall 2023. And now I'll turn the meeting back over to Chester

Atone to facilitate the discussion. Thank you.

Mr. Antone: Thank you. Just to repeat the order of how the testimony will be given has, has been put on 

the screen, and you saw it earlier again. Again, it's uh Chairman, Presidents, Vice Chairman, Lieutenant 

Governors, tribal council people, and a designated person's like, authorized to speak on behalf of the 

tribal nations. And again, when you begin to speak, or when you when you get on to speak, please say 

your name, your tribe, and the tribe you’re representing. 

So the um CDC has some focused questions and guided questions that uh they like in, (inaudible), and it 

will be coming on the screen shortly. As you can see, the Division of Violence Prevention at CDC, is 

asking specific input on four guiding questions regarding sexual violence prevention to inform the rape

prevention and education program. This is the input, when they receive that they will take that into 

consideration. 

As far as uh, what is happening in Indian country, and how they can assist tribes to somehow make an 

impact on that. And the questions are as you can see: how does sexual violence impact your 

community?; what our strengths and barriers to prevent sexual violence in your community?; How can 

CDC improve our efforts, communicate and support programming that impacts prevention of violence in 

tribal nations; What are important partnerships for preventing sexual violence in your communities and 

how can we help strengthen existing partnerships, and or help establish new partnerships?

And this will be the uh questions that we'll speak to, and we will take each question one at a time. Then, 

when we're done with that particular question, then we'll move on to question two, and so forth. And so 

we at this time we are going to be going ahead, and now ask the tribal leaders, if they, if anyone wants 

to go If any tribal chairman or presidents, or governors would like to provide testimony on question 

one: How does sexual violence impact your community?
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Do we have any tribal leaders?

Are we having any technical difficulties with the uh tribal leaders?

Dr. Jones: I'm not seeing any technical difficulties. People may still be just formulating their questions.

Mr. Antone: Okay

Mr. Antone: Are there? Do we have some people on the call though? Technical advisors. Do you have 

people on the call? 

Dr. Jones: Yeah, there are about 70 participants. Some of those are CDC folks, but not all of them.

Mr. Antone: Okay. The tribal chairman's, presidents, governors it is your time now to provide testimony. 

Mr. Antone: To the first question on the screen there: How does sexual violence impact your 

community? Do you have? Do you have the...are you familiar with the raise your hand app on the Zoom 

screen? Participants, it’s on the upper right corner, there’s some dots up there that you, you touch then 

give you a listing and one of them is raise your hand and you just press on that one that’ll let the people 

monitoring the phones and uh the screen will let them know there is someone that wishes to speak also 

on your phone.

Dr. Jones: It may be that they there may not be comment on this first question. I wonder if maybe we 

can go back to the full set of questions, sir, and you could go through sort of the rank order of the rank 

order of individuals, and maybe they could respond if they have comments on any of the questions that 

might be a more efficient way to do it. Just given um that appeared that folks did not have feedback on 

the first question.

Mr. Antone: Okay. Well let me go down the order just in case. Do we have any uh, Vice Chairman's, Vice 

presidents, Lieutenant Governors that have want to address the question. Question one do we have any 

(inaudible)? Tribal council members that would like to address question one? Do we have any people

that are designated by their tribes to speak on their behalf? Would anyone like to address question one?

If not, we'll go down to a question two: what are strengths and barriers to prevent sexual violence in 

your community. And again we'll call for the uh, the order.

Are there any tribal chairmans wanting to address question two? Vice Presidents, Vice Chairmans,

Lieutenant Governors? Do we have any tribal council representatives that will come like to speak to 

question two? And lastly, do we have any folks that are designated by their tribe to speak on their 

behalf? 

Let's go down to question number three: How can CDC improve our efforts to communicate and support 

programming that impacts prevention of violence in tribal nations? Do we have any tribal leaders that 

wish to speak to that? To provide testimony for question three? 

For question four: What are important partnerships for preventing sexual violence in your communities. 

And how can we help strengthen existing partnerships and or help establish new partnerships? I'll call 

again for the for testimony from the uh tribal leaders.

So we, we have gone through the order of testimony that that we usually go through, and we, we go 

through the consultations. It's pretty much standard, and I know that some of our tribal leaders that are 
14

on the Zoom have participated in some of these, perhaps, and do know that order. But what happens 

when we, when we're done speaking to the questions here after the tribal leaders have done their 

testimony, and shared what they wish to share on each question... then we move in to the folks who are 

on the line who may not be any of the persons there... are any in any of the positions that are listed on 

the, on the order of testimony. We give them an opportunity to speak to this question, and we're going 

to. We'll start over with question one. 

Is there anyone on the line that, that would like to speak to that? And this and we're opening up the

floor for the uh attendees who, who do not have, or who are not in these positions that we went over 

earlier. It's your time now to respond, or to address question one. 

If you can, or if you could,

Dr. Jones: Uh it looks like, uh Jamie Ritchie has just raised her hand.

Mr. Antone: Okay, go ahead. 

Jaime Ritchey: Hi, good morning. I don't have board approval to speak um formerly, um, but um, as the 

Tribal Epidemiology Center Director of Intertribal Council of Arizona, um good morning, Lieutenant 

Governor Antone. Um, thank you for your prayer. I haven't gotten rain here in Phoenix yet, but we're 

hoping for it. Right now, I really can't um quantify the magnitude of the impact of sexual violence in our 

communities, mostly because the way that data is collected. So I would request from CDC to be mindful 

of that. When I'm looking at injury data within hospital discharge, for instance, the best I can get are 

things like struck by and against um very vague information about any type of sexual assault or assault in 

general. I don't have access to police information um due to some ways that BIA organize data and 

information. Sometimes we can't put that information in an electronic format to capture. So I would say, 

when you're developing your programs, be really mindful that our communities may not know the full 

impact. And then, of course, around this issue there's a lot of shame that comes along with it for men 

and for women um for both genders. So it may go unreported. So any data or information that you have 

is likely underreported. So I would just say, when you're designing your program evaluation, and you're 

designing your metrics and you're designing your measures for a program such as this, just be really 

mindful that the data is going to be very scams and very limited. Thank you.

Mr. Antone: Thank you, Jamie. I do hope that uh CDC has heard what she has had to say, because that's 

one of the issues that many tribes do have, as far as a knowing the data and how much data is there, or 

is there any? If you could be mindful of that any (inaudible) you do a pretty good job of suicide issues. 

This issue in particular is troublesome.

Mr. Antone: Do we have another person who would wish to speak to question one. 

Dr. Jones: Uh Tanya, Your hand is up.

Tonya Grassel-Krietlow: Hi. My name is Tanya Krietlow. I’m a member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, 

and I am authorized by our chairman, Clyde Estes, to speak on behalf of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe 

today. Um, I echo what my colleague before me stated about data. The Lower Brule Sioux Tribe does not 

use NCIC and so the database we use does not talk with NCIC, so when extracting data, it’s there’s vital 

information missing. 
15

There is also the issue of data sovereignty that South Dakota tribes are really struggling with on once we 

do release the data who it belongs to and what is it used for?

Um. But the actual sexual violence, what we’re seeing is, we have some implicit biases when it comes to 

law enforcement, recognizing the victims in these crimes as being victims and not perpetrators of 

another crime. 

We’re seeing a a lack of understanding with a definition of the word consent, and what that means to 

the victims as opposed to what that means to those that prosecute sexual violence cases.

And we’re um also struggling when with lack of services when it comes to either, um, SANE nurses or 

access to eSANE, the Lower Brule Sioux tribe has a I.H.S. clinic that is only open 8-4:30 Monday through 

Friday and so any sexual assault that happens outside of those hours are referred to local hospitals, so 

our victims are transported up to one hundred miles, for services that may or may not be, um, have 

cultural considerations when dealing with our, um, tribal victims. And so all of those issues come into 

play when reporting our data or discussing the number of sexual violence cases that we have. 

Of course the impact is great because sometimes our victims, it’s become normalized almost to the 

point where some of our victims don’t recognize that they are in fact, victims of a sexual violence. 

So that’s what I have from the Lower Brule and I also work with Crow Creek right across the river but I 

do not have the ability to speak for the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe. 

Mr. Antone: Thank you, Tanya

For question one, is there anyone else that wishes to speak to question one?

Samantha Enos: Hi. This is Samantha, I’m an ORISE Fellow with the CDC, um, Healthy Tribes Program.

Um, so um, I just wanted to say a couple of words um, from, I guess some experience. Um ah, Navajo 

Nation and am Diné and so enrolled tribal member. Um, but I guess speaking on the impacts of sexual 

violence also, I guess to, in addition, the issue to add is domestic violence or intimate partner violence 

happening on a reservation, um, and then you know some of the issues to that are a burden slash a

barrier to possibly, you know, um, I guess, speaking on intervention, I know the topic here is talking 

about prevention, but intervention, there is like jurisdictional issues, like boundaries between the tribal, 

the State, and who, you know, can assess an event, a violent event that happens especially, it makes 

things difficult for the bordering towns that are boarding the reservations. 

So speaking on that it really goes down to almost, which I guess, regardless of like law enforcement, you 

know, almost using that as an excuse to not provide any intervention services here at all slash, um, 

because of that jurisdictions that’s put in place. 

But that’s just one of the issues, I think I wanted to share slash highlight within my own tribe, Navajo 

Nation.

Chat Message: Please announce your name, title, and tribal nation you are representing

Mr. Antone: Thank you. Thank you very much.

Do we have any? Do we have any other persons.
16

I want to. Maybe before we go to question two, I just wanted to uh, say a few things about what has 

been stated already. One of the issues in Indian Country, it’s distance. There are long distances like you 

just heard earlier about a hundred miles. I know in Navajo it’s five hundred, maybe six hundred mile to 

travel to go to a medical facility.

Um, here on the Tohono O'Odham Nation we have facilities here, but we have one hospital that is 

twenty-four hours. That’s all but we have a large land base so we have a lot of issues with the law 

enforcement sometimes. 

And I think that if you, when you, when CDC sits down and takes a look at the testimony that has been 

provided, no matter where you will start seeing to see some common themes coming out, and I think 

those are the themes that we, uh, we need to take consideration of, because we, within there, lies some 

of the ability, or you can get the ability to do certain things with a tribal nation. For instance, statistics, 

how are you going to collect it? You know, I know that it’s also very standardized with CDC. But I think 

there has to be some leeway given somewhere in order to do a good, the best possible job that you can. 

And those, over and over in tribal consultations. That is one of the issues that we, uh, a couple of the 

issues that we face out here. Jurisdictions for instance so, yeah, just wanted to say a few things that I 

haven’t really seen too much of change lately but we also realize that some of the things that CDC that is 

very helpful, very helpful.

So we’ll go down to question number two. Is there anyone else that wishes to speak to question two?

Chat Message: If you want to provide us additional feedback you can email us using the subject line: 

RPE Tribal Consultation Feedback to violenceprevention@cdc.gov. The written testimony deadline is 

5:00pm EDT July 24, 2023

Chat Message: If you would like to speak, we ask that your raise your hand using that feature in Zoom. If 

you are on the phone, press *6 to unmute. We request that you please start by sharing your name, title, 

and the tribal nation you are representing. 

Dr. Jones: Looks like Jaime has raised her hand. 

Chester Antone: Okay, go ahead Jamie. 

Jaime Ritchey: Hi, good afternoon or good morning again. Um, so strengths and barriers to prevent 

sexual violence within our communities. Currently, I’m working with communities in Utah, Nevada, and 

in Arizona so the distance piece is really important. And so that is definitely a strong barrier, but also just 

even a lack of services within those areas. I know that our behavioral health folks that are largely 

(inaudible) from Indian Health Service do want to work on these topics. They have asked to purchase 

things like rape exam kits and tables, and they do want to build these programs within their 

communities to get over a travel distance barrier or going to a place where someone wouldn’t be as 

comfortable going to a place outside of their tribe, um, to have that type of exam done, but would still 

want to make sure that they have a thorough investigation done that would be admissible in court. 

So they have asked for some of those types of purchases and things at some of our tribal hospitals. So I 

know there is a want for this, but I think that even just getting started to implement something of this 

nature to make sure that tribal staff are able to do this, and in a good way, um, but also in a way that, 
17

um, can, there can be accountability is very important. And um, so that’s based on some of my 

conversations that I’ve had with some of my colleagues within our 48 tribal communities. Thank you. 

Mr. Antone: Thank you, Jaime. 

Are there anyone, is there anyone else raising their hand?

Dr. Jones: Uh, Tanya

Mr. Antone: Go ahead

Tanya Grassel-Krietlow: Hi Tanya, again from Lower Brule. I just wanted to say, bizarrely, one of the 

strengths that we’re finding in South Dakota among our tribes is that our political climate on the state 

level is very problematic when it comes to discussing sexual violence of any kind. Um, and so we have 

been fortunate that our tribes have stepped up and allowed us to really, ah, utilize the curriculums, um 

adaptive curriculums to a more cultural, um, slant, and that our partner with the Department of Health, 

has allowed us to use a lot of traditional, um, programs, with our youth to implement, to really teach 

about boundaries, um, and move ahead of what the rest of the State is allowed to do now in schools, 

and with a lot of the prevention efforts that they had historically been allowed to do. So, our sovereignty 

is a big strength right now when it comes to, um, implementing a lot of these programs. 

The barriers outside of travel, that has been mentioned, lack of services, that has been mentioned, um, 

also include, the um, horrific issues with infrastructure that really jump ahead of what’s important to 

our community members. When you absolutely have to pay for roads, where you absolutely have to 

take care of mold in schools, where you absolutely have to buy another trailer for students. A lot of 

times those infrastructure issues become barriers to doing the programmatic work that we need to do 

with our community members. 

Thanks for letting me speak again and thanks for having me. 

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Mr. Antone: Thank you, Tanya

Do we have anyone else? So it appears that we can move on to question number three. 

How can CDC improve our efforts to communicate and support programming that impacts tribal 

prevention of violence in tribal nations? 

Question three, do we have anyone that wishes to speak to that? 

It’s so the uh,

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Dr. Jones: It looks like Jamie’s hand is up
18

Mr. Antone: Okay

Jamie Ritchey: Good morning, This is Dr. Jaime Ritchey. I’m with the InterTribal Council of Arizona Tribal 

Epidemiology Center. I think that, um, improving efforts to communicate and support programming that 

impacts prevention of violence and travel communities is really complex. However, I do think there is a 

strong need for technical assistance at the local level. That’s one thing that the tribal epidemiology 

center does, but we can’t do everything, and we’re very small. 

So, of course, support for programming is crucial in particular in this area, not just for data, but for 

program planning implementation and for program support at all levels. It’s going to be extremely 

important. 

Also, you know, just keeping in mind that a violence prevention program may look really different from 

tribe to tribe. It may not look the same. Um, the impact information that is received for each 

community, it may look very different from community to community. So that’s important to keep in 

mind. And please make sure that this type of funding announcement would be very, very flexible in 

being able to do that. 

Um, the Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country, healthy tribes programming, the tribal 

epidemiology center, public health capacity building programs are all really good examples of 

programming, um, within tribal communities. 

And then I would also, you know, urge the CDC to remember, um, the UIHI tribal epi center that serves 

our urban populations. So please please do not leave the urban populations out. They provide support 

to approximately seventy-five percent of our urban membership, um, potentially more. Um, so that’s 

going to be really important. Um, particularly in urban areas where, um, support may be lower. Um, but 

we do have, um, support providers in our urban areas as well that I know would like to work on 

preventing violence in American Indian communities there too. 

Thank you. 

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Mr. Antone: Thank you, Jamie. 

Do we have anyone else wanting to speak to question three? 

If there is no one else, we’ll go down to question four.

What are important partnerships for preventing sexual violence in your communities and how can we 

help strengthen existing partnerships and/or help establish new partnerships? 

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you are on the phone, press *6 to unmute. We request that you please start by sharing your name, title, 

and the tribal national you are representing. 

Dr. Jones: Tanya, go for it. 

Tanya Grassel-Krietlow: Hi, um again, Tanya Krietlow here from the Lower Brule Sioux tribe. Um, I have, 

I also work under a different grant. Um, that works with the tribe, and that one is all about um creating 

partnerships for preventing sexual violence in our communities partnering with our neighboring 
19

communities off reservation. I mean, over seventy percent of us now live off reservation and are urban 

Indians, and so we must partner with our urban Indian health, if we have them or our agencies that 

serve a high population of Native Americans. 

And so, in tandem with Rape Prevention and Education on the reservation, I’m also working with our 

communities to ensure that our tribal members receive the same level of care off reservations and that 

our on reservation folks have access to those services as well, if it’s necessary, because we can’t support 

their needs within the reservation. And so those partnerships have been critical, and the transfer of our 

victims, if the issues in Lower Brule are greater than what Lower Brule can handle, we transfer them to 

Pierre, which is all South Dakota by the way. There’s a fluid, and there’s a partnership in place, so that 

the continuity of care exists for our victims and their families, and the same with establishing a safe 

place to live after, or establishing what they may need to support their treatment, progress, or road of 

recovery after. And so those partnerships are with shelters, health care centers, schools, um, the 

homeless coalitions, and with the Department of Health. 

Thanks. 

Mr. Antone: Thank you. Thank you, Tanya. 

Do we have anyone now, anyone else?

And so since we have, since we do have time, if anyone wants to speak to any one of these questions, it 

is time now to do that. 

Are there any folks that wish to speak to any of the four questions.

So um, I appreciate the, um, testimony or the response from Jamie and, uh, Tanya, and Sam. When you 

have the floor, you need to capture the floor and you all did that. It’s a good thing It’s really a good 

thing, because the, uh, subject matter. 

But if I may, maybe you generate some more, of what I think, what I would like to ask the participants. 

Do you have any, um, do you have any problems dealing with the States? State governments or county 

governments in your area when it comes to prevention of sexual violence. 

I don’t know if, uh, if you’ve seen the literature that exists on, uh, the CDC websites. I think that, um, 

previously, I believe it’s been a while where CDC has interacted with the states mostly, but with the new 

notice of funding opportunity that CDC is talking about, the funding opportunity that goes for five years. 

I think that offers a lot of planning time or time to build up what works. I believe that tribes will benefit 

greatly from that. 

And I believe the CDC is offered, I believe this is the first tribal consultation that they’ve had on this Rape 

Prevention Education, with tribes or given that opportunity, to have tribes speak to them with regard to 

some of the lack of services that exist within our communities. And that was the reason why I brought 

that up, because there seems to be some sort of loosening of what was very rigid before. Which was 

only through States, through States, and a lot of the Federal agencies have to say the, I won’t say 

attitude, and I don’t want to make it, I don’t want to make it something really negative, but it has just 

worked that way over the years and maybe because we were probably silent. A lot of the issues that 

were affecting us and that there was support or means available at the State level, or even at the county 
20

level that we we did, we didn’t pursue in such a way, where is to bring up our needs and so that’s why I, 

um, I brought that up today. 

We are beginning to see a bit of a difference, as um, I believe it was Tanya who mentioned, some of the 

programs that came from CDC. It was the Good Health and Wellness in Indian Country. There were 

some other ones that one of them mentioned. But, uh, when you see that happening, it really gives and 

it shows, give us some of where things are going, and when is when it’s looking positive for us. I think we 

need to get on that boat, or get on that wavelength, and see how far we can go. And that’s why I 

brought that up. Hoping to maybe have anybody, if anyone has something to say about that, anyone. 

So there’s not um, there aren’t any more respondents, and we have about um, maybe twenty minutes, 

so I would just maybe at this time defer, um, to Mr. Jones. 

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Dr. Jones: Great, I think that, thanks very much, and thanks for helping to co-facilitate and for those who 

shared. I just wanted to cover a couple of high-level summary themes that we’ll, we’ll take back here at 

CDC as we continue to think about this work and approach this work, and greatly appreciate the 

feedback that’s been received. 

So first was the issue of data. There are questions of data sovereignty who owns that data? Um, what 

types of biases might be going into, how data are collected, how things are defined, but also recognizing 

that because our limitations in data, communities, tribal populations, may not fully comprehend or be 

able to measure the full impact of sexual violence among tribal populations and so as we’re thinking 

about programmatic prevention work thinking through the data component of that to help and so help 

communities understand why this is an important topic, but also to measure the impact will be 

particularly important. 

There’s stigma, other biases involved with people coming forward to report incidents of sexual violence, 

as well as how law enforcement, prosecutors, others might view sexual violence versus those who have 

experienced, um, sexual violence. 

Other themes around issues of rurality or transportation and geography, the availability of, uh, services 

in particular communities. Um, there may be long distances that individuals have to travel to get 

services, and that even when services, and that even when services are available, they may not be 

culturally tailored or culturally competent. And as we think about prevention within tribal communities, 

it’s important to build in flexibility to building cultural competence into those efforts. 

There was a theme around technical assistance, which is very much needed, but also needed at the local 

level to support programmatic planning implementation support at all levels. 
21

And a theme that, you know, this will look and feel different in different tribal populations. So again, the 

theme of flexibility as well, as certain CDC programs were brought up as examples where flexibility has 

been built into those programmatic efforts. 

I think those were the main themes from those who spoke and provided testimony. Again, greatly 

appreciate the feedback. This will be tremendously helpful, as we continue to embark on this work with 

tribal communities. And I did want to say that for those who did not feel compelled to speak up today, 

or didn’t want to speak up for a variety of reasons, or have thoughts that might occur to them 

afterwards. You can always submit written comments to us at violenceprevention@cdc.gov

We would ask that comments be submitted by 5pm on July 24th, and again, violenceprevention@cdc.gov

is the email to provide comments. 

So again, thank you very much. Let me turn it back to Chester for some final closing thoughts and a 

closing prayer. 

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Mr. Antone: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jones. That was a very nice summary. I mean, I think you 

captured basically what was being discussed here. 

There other thing, maybe, is that Um, as I stated earlier, we we probably have basically the same thing’s 

happening with tribal communities across the United States in much the same way [inaudible]. But in 

general, there’s kind of a something there that we should take into consideration, technical assistance, 

has the jurisdictions. A lot of times, because it’s not coming from a recognize source like CDC, when a 

tribe comes forward with their data that becomes a problem at different times. When you go to a 

different direction, or a different jurisdiction, or otherwise, would not honor that because it’s not from a 

source that they work with or are familiar with, so that’s another obstacle that we have to cross over. 

There’s many instances I know of, were at CDC, with people, uh, being uh, written down as being 

Hispanic or another or another nationality, when they were Native, at that time when they passed. That 

they would, that happens a lot in the march where it’s funeral directors, so we really don’t know how 

many people have gone because we, it’s within a place that has operated in the same way for years. 

Those things are very hard to change, but the longer you go at it, things are possible. 

Like they say, um, the rocks are very hard, very heavy, but the rain can smooth them by rolling them 

down the mountain. So the thing there is, things are possible. Things happen, and I think that those are 

the the times where we, we, as many people need to take that walk. 

It may be something we might be uncomfortable with taking a walk with someone such as CDC, such as 

NIH, TOCC, but I think we’ll find that when we do, we get somewhere, so, um, just wanted to leave you 

with those thoughts because it’s been almost twenty years since I had been involved in the political 

arena here, in the nation, the United States, and we’ve heard many things coming form consultations 

such as this. 
22

Believe me, this and this isn’t as far as how many people spoke, it has happened before. Then there are 

times when not everybody has a chance to speak because there are so many people. So it goes both 

ways. 

But, um, I want to thank everyone for it, at least being on the line and getting to hear what is being 

relayed to CDC and vice versa. 

Now, hopefully we’ll continue to have these discussion in the future. And so, uh, I’m going to go ahead 

and say a closing prayer. As it is in Indian Country, we always, we always begin with a prayer and end 

with a prayer.

(Mr. Antone provides closing prayer in native language) 

Thank you all. Do we have anything else, Mr. Jones? 

Dr. Jones: I’ll just say thanks again, Mr. Antone for co-facilitating, um, for closing us out. 

As a reminder you can submit written comments to CDC by 5pm on the 24th to 

violenceprevention@cdc.gov

Again, thank you for your time, both speakers and audience members, and we will consider this 

consultation session adjourned. 

Chat Message: If you want to provide us additional feedback you can email us using the subject line: 

RPE Tribal Consultation Feedback to violenceprevention@cdc.gov. The written testimony deadline is 

5:00pm EDT July 24, 2023. 

Mr. Antone: Thank you.

Dr. Jones: Thank you. 
23

Written Testimony

Written comments were accepted until 5:00pm (EST) on July 24, 2023. CDC/NCIPC did not receive written 

comments during this time frame. 
24

Appendix B: List of Participants – July 12, 2023, Tribal 

Consultation

One tribal nation responded to the government-to-government testimony, specifically Tanya GrasselKreitlow with the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. Other tribal affiliations listed in the table were self-disclosed 

at registration and are included in the tribal affiliation column below. These individuals did not provide 

testimony on behalf of their tribes. In addition to the participants identified below, one person called in 

and did not identify themselves; for protection of their privacy, we have listed only the area code and 

not the entire phone number: 1- 435-XXX-XXX. 

First Name Last Name Agency Tribal Affiliation

Consultation Facilitators (Speaking Roles)

Chester Antone Tribal Co-Facilitator O’odham Elder, 

Tohono O’odham 

Nation

Gayle Holmes CDC

Debra Houry CDC (Opening Remarks 

video)

Christopher Jones CDC

Consultation Support Staff

Pamela Brown CDC

Anna Hargett CDC/Contractor Closed 

Captioning Service

Calla Jamison CDC

Christiana Lancaster CDC

Samantha McKeithan CDC

Cristina Spear CDC

LaTonya Tripp-Dinkins CDC

Tribal Nation Designee

Tanya Grassel-Kreitlow Official designee of 

Lower Brule Sioux 

Tribe, The South 

Dakota Network 

Against Family Violence 

and Sexual Assault

Federal Agencies

Annabelle Allison CDC

Liris Stephanie Berra CDC

Tristi Bond CDC

Anna Fox Burnette CDC

Lucynda Dahozy IHS Navajo

Allayna DeHond CDC

Dora Ducak CDC

Sam Enos CDC Dine’ (Navajo)
25

Norah Friar CDC

Kellie Gilchrist CDC

Candace Girod CDC

Melinda Golub HHS OIG

Brittany Grear CDC

Grace Hazlett CDC

Roberto Henry CDC

Ceiara Hyde CDC

Kayla Johnson CDC

Kathryn Jones CDC

Reshma Mahendra CDC

Samantha Mandel CDC

Victoria McBee CDC

Jim Mercy CDC

Marilyn Metzler CDC Contractor/TJFACT

Khiya Mullins CDC

Skyler Nimmons CDC

Ishaka Oche CDC

Kristy Orisma CDC

Phyllis Ottley CDC

Amy Peeples CDC

Elizabeth Reimels CDC

Sarah Roby CDC

Joann Wu Shortt CDC

Tom Simon CDC

Sally Thigpen CDC

Sarah Treves-Kagan CDC

Brianna Williams CDC

Phillip Williams CDC

Other Agencies

Ariel Atkins Seekhaven Family Crisis 

& Resource Center

Starlyn Bigrope East Mountain 

Resource Center

Mescalero Apache

Bjorn Blomquist Nevada State 

Immunization Program

Cass Burson Wyoming Coalition 

Against Domestic 

Violence and Sexual 

Assault

Eastern Shoshone

Rachel Carr-Shunk Uniting Three Fires 

Against Violence

Sault Ste. Marie Tribe 

of Chippewa Indians

Lisa Ivey Cherokee Indian 

Hospital Authority, 

SAFE Nurse Program

Eastern Band of 

Cherokee Indians
26

Kathleen Jack California Rural Indian 

Health Board Inc.

Shoshone Pauite of the 

Duck Vallye Indian 

Reservation

Andrea Jones Glouchester County 

Health Department

Ashely Linschoten TriCounty Health 

Department

Stacey Martin Louisiana Department 

of Health

Julie McFarlane Oregon Public Health 

Department

Karen McGloughlin Delaware Health and 

Social Services

Sage Mcmickell TriCounty Health 

Department

Amy Mikkelson Utah Department of 

Health and Human 

Services

Alexis Mitchell Sexual Assault Services 

Organization

Sac and Fox Nation, 

Miami Tribe of 

Oklahoma

Jim Nowicki Booz Allen

Dori Pynnonen Hopkins Michigan Public Health 

Institute

Kim Ranger Montana Coalition 

Against Domestic and 

Sexual Violence

Jamie Ritchey Inter Tribal Council of 

Arizona Tribal 

Epidemiology Center

Mollie Rosier Alaska Deparmtent of 

Health & Social 

Services

Jody Sanborn Wyoming Coalition 

Against Domestic 

Violence and Sexual 

Assault

Abigail Taylor Seekhaven Family 

Cristis & Resource 

Center

Jamie Thongphet North Dakota 

Department of Health

Three Affiliated Tribes

Heather Tsosie Sexual Assault Services 

of Northwest New 

Mexico

Navajo
27

Danielle Tuft Colorado Department 

of Public Health & 

Environment

Navajo

Kelly Walling Pathways to Healing

Allison Wiedrich CAWS North Dakota

Rachel Wilson New York State 

Department of Health

1-435-XXX-XXXX
28

Appendix C: Dear Tribal Leader Letters for CDC/NCIPC July 12, 

2023, Tribal Consultation

05/12/2023 

Dear Tribal Leader: 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 

Registry (ATSDR) announce an upcoming consultation that will convene leaders from tribal nations, CDC, 

and ATSDR: 

CDC Rape Prevention and Education Program Tribal Consultation 

July 12, 2023 2:00–3:30 pm (EDT) 

The consultation will occur virtually via Zoom. To register, please use this registration link. The agenda 

will be available on May 12, 2023 at the CDC Tribal Health website www.cdc.gov/tribal. 

This tribal consultation will provide opportunities for leaders from tribal nations, CDC, and ATSDR to 

have a government-to-government discussion to ensure that the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) 

for new funding from the Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) program is sensitive to the needs and 

concerns of tribal communities, and that the funding opportunity is as effective as possible in preventing 

sexual violence. CDC/ATSDR wants to hear how to best support tribes and tribal communities on RPE 

efforts and addressing injury prevention-related health inequities. 

Your input is very important to us as we work to improve CDC/ ATSDR public health capacity, programs, 

and services and to strengthen partnerships with tribes and American Indian and Alaska Native 

community organizations. CDC/ATSDR remains committed to respecting tribal sovereignty while working 

together to leverage capacity, expertise, and resources to achieve the greatest impact to prevent sexual 

violence. 

Elected tribal officials are encouraged to submit written tribal testimony by 5:00 pm (EDT) on July 24, 

2023, by email to CDC’s Tribal Support mailbox, tribalsupport@cdc.gov, or by mail at the following 

address: 
29

Office of Tribal Affairs and Strategic Alliances 

Center for State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Support 

1600 Clifton Road, N.E., Mailstop V18-4 

Atlanta, GA 30329-4027 

Telephone: (404) 498-0300 

We look forward to the consultation and hope you will be able to participate. 

Sincerely, 

Christopher M. Jones, PharmD, DrPH, MPH 

Director, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
30

July 26, 2023

Dear Tribal Leader:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Agency for Toxic Substances 

and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) federally 

recognized tribes share the goal of establishing clear policies to further the governmentto- government relationship between the United States Government and federally 

recognized AI/AN tribes. Effective consultation results in information exchange, mutual 

understanding, and informed decision-making.

Thank you for your recommendations to improve our policies and practices to better 

engage with AI/AN federally recognized tribes. CDC/ATSDR recognizes our unique 

relationship with AI/AN federally recognized tribes and are committed to fulfilling our 

critical role in promoting the health and safety of AI/AN people.

We will review and incorporate your feedback from the July 12 Tribal Consultation on 

the Rape Prevention Education (RPE) Program to inform the new five-year Rape 

Prevention Education: Enhancing Capacity for Sexual Violence Prevention Across State, 

Territories, and Tribal Coalitions Through a Health Equity Lens (NOFO). We understand 

the importance of providing timely and clear responses to AI/AN federally recognized 

tribes, and we remain committed to holding open and meaningful engagement on 

programs that have significant implications for tribes.

We will provide you with a report summarizing the feedback and next steps by October 

20, 2023. 

Sincerely,

Christopher M. Jones, PharmD, DrPH, MPH

Director, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
31

Appendix D: Federal Register Notice for CDC/NCIPC July 12, 2023, 

Tribal Consultation for Rape Prevention and Education Program

Federal Register Notice for CDC/NCIPC July 12, 2023, Tribal Consultation for Rape Prevention and 

Education Program
32

Appendix E: RPE Tribal Listening Session 

Rape Prevention and Education Program 

Tribal Listening Session Announcement 

Please join us for a virtual 90-minute Zoom listening session to share your lived experience, needs, and 

ideas related to preventing sexual violence in your community on Thursday, December 8, 2:00-3:30 PM 

EST. Click here for Registration Link

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would like to hear from American Indian and 

Alaska Native tribes, as well as urban Indian communities, about ways to prevent sexual violence in their 

communities. 

CDC will be hosting a listening session on December 8, 2022, to gain insight from your experiences, learn 

from your ideas and hear more about how we can be a partner in addressing the impacts of sexual 

violence. Your inputs will inform the Rape Prevention and Education (RPE) program, which focuses on 

the primary prevention of sexual violence. 

If you are an urban Indian leader or community member, urban Indian and tribal sexual assault coalition, 

or someone who has been impacted by sexual violence in Indian Country, we welcome your attendance. 

Specifically, we are interested to hear your thoughts on: 

• How and why sexual violence impacts your community 

• Strengths and barriers to prevent sexual violence in your community 

• How your community partners with tribal sexual assault coalitions 

• Your ideas on how we can strengthen our partnership and what the most effective solutions 

are to addressing the challenges associated with sexual violence