DURANGO, Colo.— Standard health advice often overlooks Indigenous knowledge, culture, and traditions that connect food to identity, healing, and trust.
It rarely recognizes the effects that Colonization has had on Indigenous communities, from limited access to electricity that makes storing fresh food difficult, to the way breastfeeding, once honored in Indigenous traditions, became a source of shame instead. 
To help shift that paradigm, Fort Lewis College recently hosted the conference “Nourishing Our Communities: The Power of Indigenous Nutrition in Healthcare.”
The conference started as a one-day workshop in 2024 and expanded to two full days of talks, lessons, and hands-on activities to learn, share ideas, and improve healthcare for Native communities.
More than 130 people, including health care professionals, nutrition experts and students attended the conference held at Fort Lewis College April 3-4. Many wanted to learn to care better by respecting culture and traditional foods.
“For a long time, people were told to stop eating their traditional foods,” said Denee Bex, a registered dietitian from the Din茅 (Navajo) Nation. “That message often came from healthcare workers. And that hurts our communities.”
Learning to close the gap
The conference focused on a major problem: standard health advice often ignores cultural knowledge, including how food connects to identity, healing, and trust.
Bex helped organize the event with Marnie Clay and Chelsie Begoody. They invited nurses, dietitians, public health workers, students, and Indigenous food producers. Their goal was to help people learn from and with each other.
“Sometimes our tools don’t match the needs of the community,” Bex said. “If a dietitian doesn’t know about cultural foods, their advice might not help.”
The numbers show the need for change. Diabetes is three times more common in Native communities than in the rest of the country. Colorectal cancer rates can be up to 40% higher. Yet Bex said most care providers get little to no training on Indigenous health and food practices.
Making it useful
Clay is an assistant health and human performance professor at Fort Lewis College. She said the event was designed to be useful right away.
“Some conferences are full of great ideas, but they don’t apply to your day-to-day work,” she said. “This one was different. People saw how it connects to real problems they face.”
The conference started with basic nutrition training, which was for people who aren’t dietitians but still work in healthcare. Later sessions covered diabetes, behavior change, and food access.
Each session focused on trust. Without trust, Bex said, even good advice may be ignored. With confidence, healthcare workers can make a real difference.
“Our number one job is to build trust,” Bex said. “If we shame someone’s food or ask them to give up part of their identity, why would they come back?”
Respecting traditions
One powerful session was about breastfeeding in Native communities. ShawMarie Tso, an advanced lactation consultant with Shining Mountain Health & Wellness on the Southern Ute Indian reservation, and April Sandman, a public health training associate from the Southwestern Colorado AHEC, led the presentation.
They said breastfeeding used to be a strong tradition in Indigenous families. However, colonization and past trauma caused a drop in those rates.
“Breastfeeding was once a normal and respected practice,” Sandman said. “But forced change and shame made it harder for families.”
They also discussed how healthcare workers can support new parents. That includes meeting people where they are and offering help during pregnancy—not just after birth.
“It’s a personal choice,” Sandman said. “We just want to give good information and support.”
Building connections
Clay said the breaks between sessions were just as significant as the sessions themselves, so the organizers also set aside time for networking.
“We saw people trading business cards and writing down names,” Clay said. “That kind of sharing is what we hoped would happen.”
One panel was called “Knowing Your Indigenous Farmer.” It focused on how access to healthy food affects health. Farmers talked about the struggles they face and the pride they feel in growing traditional foods.
“When people can’t get the food they need, our advice doesn’t matter,” Bex said.
This panel helped healthcare workers see that healing isn’t just about clinics and hospitals. It’s also about gardens, traditions, and food systems, she said.
Students take part
At least a dozen Fort Lewis College students attended the conference. Clay said many students shared their thoughts after the event. One student talked about her grandmother, who has diabetes. The session on diabetes made her think about ways to help her family.
“She was already planning what foods to suggest,” Clay said. “The conference brought her learning to life.”
Other students said they felt inspired by the farmers and speakers. Many had never thought about food as part of healthcare before. Begoody, assistant director at Southwestern Colorado AHEC, said her favorite moment came during a panel with farmers and healthcare providers.
“When farmers talk about their work, it shows how food and health go together,” she said. “It helps healthcare workers feel more comfortable talking about cultural foods.”
Looking ahead
The Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center partly funded the event, which about 100 people attended in person or online. Bex said the energy in the room was clear. People stayed late after sessions, talking and sharing, which she believes is a sign that the conference had an impact.
“The more healthcare workers know about Indigenous foods, the better they can serve our communities,” Bex said. “We want people to feel heard and understood.”
As the final session ended, many attendees stayed to talk. Clay watched quietly from the side of the room.
“We wanted to plant seeds,” she said. “And I think we did.”