Conference testimonials

“The Second Annual Conference on Native American Nutrition was, by far, the most welcoming, inspiring, and powerful conference I have ever attended. The program did a phenomenal job of connecting academic and community-based research. As a Native academic, the conference provided excellent networking opportunities with colleagues from across the country.”
-Kau’i Baumhofer, ScD (Native Hawaiian), Assistant Professor, University of Hawaii

“Reclaiming and building relationships with Indigenous foods is the answer to the majority of the health issues afflicting American Indian and Alaska Native communities. The Native nutrition conference is so important because it creates a space for Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals from all over the world to gather and share knowledge to achieve the shared goal of improving health.”
-Amber Ruffin, MPH, Cancer Equity Manager, American Indian Cancer Foundation

“I was super impressed by the conference and felt very grounded, centered and calm when I returned. As we go through life we sometimes lose track of our roots and the teaching of our families. It is amazing that a large conference like this can send one away with wholeness. In my work life of conference attending, I seldom returned to work feeling more like myself!”
-Nonie Woolf (Yakama/Choctaw), retired public health nutritionist, FAST Blackfeet member

“The Second Annual Conference on Native American Nutrition was one of the most powerful professional experiences that I have had the privilege to attend. The entire agenda from morning until night combined science, history, and personal perspectives from a wide range of backgrounds, ages and cultures with an overall sensitivity to the topics that was inspiring. From a scientific point of view, the “brief talks” highlighting multiple researchers in a short time was a brilliant way to make the posters (and the researchers) come alive to attendees. The food was amazing and the connections I made with colleagues across the country are priceless. I have already blocked my calendar for next year to make sure I don’t miss the third annual conference.”
-Sacha Uelman, RDN, CDE, Director, Nutrition, Scientific and Medical Division, American Diabetes Association

“The knowledge that is brought together at the Native American Nutrition conference is overwhelmingly powerful as you feel the sense of purpose in meeting Indigenous people around the world who capture the very essence of their people within them. It is a time and place to gather, to begin renewing our minds and spirits, exchanging cultural knowledge for the betterment of our communities, networking and reviving what was once ours to begin with. By bridging the gap between Indigenous wisdom and academic knowledge, it gives rise to the rejuvenation and resiliency of how powerful our native people can be once again.”
-Valerie Nuvayestewa (Hopi), Diabetes Prevention Educator, The Hopi Tribe

“This is a unique conference that brings together the latest in nutritional science and the remarkable perspectives of our traditional leaders. I think both the traditional world and the scientific community has much to learn from each other. This conference provides the perfect venue for a new type of learning to occur.”
-Donald Warne, MD, MPH (Oglala Lakota), Professor and Chair, Department of Public Health, North Dakota State University 

“I am a practicing dietitian of over 30 years and no other conference has impacted me or uplifted me as much as this conference. Native people do have the answers and this conference agenda and presenters continue to prove that! It is the only conference that focuses entirely on nutrition and Indigenous people – all other conferences might offer one session that few attend. It is also the only nutrition conference I’ve attended or heard of where Indigenous peoples are as honored as those who conduct academic nutrition research.”
-Sarah Miracle, MBA, RDN, LD, FAND, SNAP-Ed Program Manager, Chickasaw Nation

“I value the Native nutrition conference for so many reasons… it brings together Native practitioners, academics and researchers from around the country and gives them the opportunity to interact, learn from each other and support each other in their work. Important relationships were formed at the first conference in 2016, which continued during the intervening year and were reinforced at [the 2017] conference.”
-Kathleen Fluegel, Executive Director, HRK Foundation, Saint Paul, MN

“The Native American Nutrition Conference is the most important conference I attend all year. The networking opportunities are amazing. After just two years of attendance, I now have connections across the United States at every level from grassroots movements in my own state, to connections with faculty at the University of Wyoming that I am now engaged in joint research with, to national level “movers and shakers” that have opened-up many professional opportunities for me, to invaluable mentoring.”
-Holly Hunts, PhD, Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Science, Montana State University