New study identifies key factors supporting indigenous well-being
Large representative study finds 3 in 10 Indigenous adults meet criteria for healthy functioning, highlighting the role of financial security, physical activity, and reduced chronic illness
University of Toronto
The study is among the first to examine strengths-based indicators of well-being in a large, population-level Indigenous sample.
Healthy functioning was significantly associated with never smoking, being physically active, having fewer chronic health conditions, and meeting basic financial needs. These results challenge deficit-focused narratives that blame individuals or groups rather than policies, socioeconomic conditions, and other structural issues. Instead, they underscore the value of identifying factors that support thriving in Indigenous communities.
“Understanding wellness among Indigenous Peoples requires recognizing both the structural barriers created through colonization and the remarkable strengths our communities continue to embody,” said first author Ashley Quinn, an Assistant Professor in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW) at the University of Toronto. “Our findings highlight that Indigenous adults can experience meaningful well-being despite longstanding inequities.”
The study, which drew on data from the 2022 and 2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), also found strong connections between socioeconomic stability and healthy functioning. Respondents who could reliably pay their bills or access transportation had substantially higher odds of meeting the study’s well-being criteria.
“Financial security is not simply an economic indicator—it is a health determinant,” said co-author Teagan Miller, a recent Master of Social Work graduate from the FIFSW. “Stable access to food, transportation, and housing meaningfully increases the likelihood of healthy functioning, which reinforces the need for policy interventions that address systemic inequities.”
Chronic physical and mental health conditions were key predictors of lower healthy functioning. Notably, respondents without depression had more than four times the odds of meeting positive well-being criteria compared to those with depression.
“Mental health cannot be separated from community, family, land, and cultural identity,” said co-author Philip Baiden, an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington. “Interventions that incorporate Indigenous worldviews are essential to supporting emotional wellness and healing.”
Healthy behaviors—including avoiding smoking and engaging in regular physical activity—also played a significant role. More than half of respondents had never smoked, and roughly three-quarters were physically active.
“This study flips the script—shifting the narrative from deficits to the strengths and resilience of Indigenous Peoples,” said co-author Esme Fuller-Thomson, a Professor at FIFSW and Director for the Institute of Life Course and Aging at the University of Toronto. “Healthy functioning among Indigenous Peoples is not rare—it’s real, measurable, and deeply shaped by social and economic conditions.”
The authors note that while nearly 30% of Indigenous respondents were functioning healthily, two-thirds did not meet the study criteria—indicating a need for expanded public health initiatives that address both structural inequities and culturally meaningful pathways to wellness.
This research contributes to a growing field that emphasizes Indigenous strengths, resilience, and wholistic wellness rather than focusing solely on disparities. The authors call for future studies that incorporate Indigenous-defined measures of health, including community, cultural, spiritual, and environmental dimensions. This research was published recently in the Journal of Indigenous Well-Being.
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
A Closer Look at Healthy Functioning in Indigenous Peoples: Findings from a Population-Based Study
American Indian and Alaska native peoples experience higher rates of fatal police violence in and around reservations
Drexel University
Indigenous people in the United States are at higher risk of fatal police violence in and around American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) reservations, according to the first comprehensive national study on the subject from researchers at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health and the University of Washington. The study, using data on the 203 AIAN people killed by police from 2013 through 2024, was published today in the journal PNAS. The authors hope this work will inform policy action to better protect these communities.
The team found that roughly three out of four deaths (73%) among AIAN people from police violence occurred on or within 10 miles of reservations, despite only about 40% of AIAN people living there, a number that rises to 50% if multiracial AIAN people are included.
“We know that disinvestment in Indigenous communities living on reservations, along with unique policing models and police harassment on tribal lands, coincide with this disproportionate risk of fatal police violence,” said lead author Gabriel Schwartz, PhD, an assistant professor in the Dornsife School of Public Health. “Colonial policies designed to confine, displace and dispossess Indigenous peoples are not just history—they continue to shape who is killed by law enforcement today.”
Using data from the U.S. Census and Mapping Police Violence database, the researchers mapped the geographic locations of these deaths and saw a disproportionate risk even after accounting for community features that might influence the findings, such as population density or rurality.
The data also showed differences in the type of police work conducted in tribal lands. Federal, state and tribal police were responsible for the majority of deaths on reservations, while municipal and county police were primarily responsible for deaths that occurred away from reservations (>10 miles). The reasons police gave for stops also differed between tribal lands versus elsewhere, with police giving no reason for stopping one in five of those killed on reservations.
“Indigenous communities have been documenting and resisting police violence for generations — from the American Indian Movement's records of killings in the 1960s to youth-led protests happening right now,” said study co-author, Theresa Rocha Beardall, JD, PhD, an associate professor at the University of Washington. “Researchers are still catching up. What this paper does is put rigorous population-level data behind what Native peoples have long understood about their own lives and safety."
The authors hypothesize that border lands, the few miles of land around a reservation, may experience this increase in deaths due to higher concentration of Indigenous people living in these areas who often cross back and forth across reservation borders, alongside frequent racial profiling as people come and go from reservations.
“Fatal interactions with law enforcement on reservations are structurally instigated—by entrenched poverty, poorly funded schools and chronically neglected health systems,” said Schwartz. “These inequities are vast and the structures holding them in place must be reimagined. That will likely require a lot of things: Indigenous-led prevention, stronger accountability for police and sustained public health investment.”
Future research is needed, the authors say, to measure specific drivers of the geographic disparity in deaths, the psychological and physical health impacts of fatal police violence for Indigenous communities, and what impact proposed solutions (such as Indigenous-led healing and wellness responses to crime and poverty, instead of police) would have on fatal police violence rates.
In addition to Schwartz and Beardall, Jaquelyn L. Jahn, PhD from Drexel’s Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements & Population Health Equity was a co-author.
This is not the first time this group has documented fatal police violence inequities for Indigenous people in the U.S. Authors Jaquelyn Jahn and Gabriel Schwartz also found that among all racial groups, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. experience among the highest rates of fatal police violence, according to a 2022 paper analyzing 2013-2019 data from Mapping Police Violence.
This study was partially supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health (U54CA267735).
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Method of Research
Data/statistical analysis
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Heightened risk of fatal police violence in and around reservations for American Indian/Alaska Native peoples in the United States
Article Publication Date
9-Mar-2026
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