Ralph T. Bryan ^1*, Rebecca McLaughlin Schaefer ², Lemyra DeBruyn ¹, Daniel D. Stier ¹

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
² University of Virginia School of Law

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rrb2{at}cdc.gov.

	Abstract

American Indian/Alaska Native tribal governments are sovereign entities with inherent authority to create laws and enact health regulations. Laws are an essential tool for ensuring effective public health responses to emerging threats. To analyze how tribal laws support public health practice in tribal communities, we reviewed tribal legal documentation available through online databases and talked with subject-matter experts in tribal public health law. Of the 70 tribal codes we found, 14 (20%) had no clearly identifiable public health provisions. The public health–related statutes within the remaining codes were rarely well integrated or comprehensive. Our findings provide an evidence base to help tribal leaders strengthen public health legal foundations in tribal communities.

Key Words: Government, Health Law, Health Policy, Public Health Practice, Native Americans, Race/Ethnicity