“Before the internship, I didn’t have a clear idea of the extent of the impact on tribal health. I now understand exactly how important having access to traditional medicine is. It had made me feel closer with my community and the land I am on.”
- Katrean H. (Alutiiq), Naa káani Traditional Medicine Program Intern, Spring 2023
The Traditional Medicine Internship Program is a 12 week program focused on teaching Indigenous cultural health, knowledge, and skills by increasing access to culturally relevant education, ancestral lands, and traditional natural resources that have sustained the health of Indigenous peoples. The program focuses on plant identification, traditional plant uses, ethical harvesting methods, art with traditional natural resources, tribal sovereignty, and more. In order to combat adult scheduling and other struggles, Naa káani works to make the internship as inclusive and accessible as possible. Once the internship is over, participants are expected to use their newfound knowledge to impact their communities in a positive way, which has consistently been the case with those who have finished the internship.
