Abigail Echo-Hawk (She/Her)
by Verisha Bhatti (She/Her)
In the world of public health, Abigail Echo-Hawk is an expert in decolonizing and creating data for and by Indigenous people. Echo-Hawk is the Executive Vice President of the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB) and the Director of the Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI). Echo-Hawk was born and raised in Alaska. She is an enrolled citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and a member of the upper Ahtna Athabascan (Esser, 2020). Her work supports the mission to decolonize data on Indigenous people. Indigenous communities control their story by deciding what information to gather and how to interpret their data. Echo-Hawk has two university degrees from the University of Washington: a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies with a minor in Human Rights from the UW Bothell (UWB) in 2007 and a Master of Arts in Policy Studies at UWB in 2009.
Echo-Hawk was inspired to pursue public health after facing racial prejudice against Indigenous people at a Seattle hospital system. While attending a prenatal appointment, Echo-Hawk’s medical assistant saw her ethnicity, then asked if she used drugs. Even after declining several times, the medical assistant did not believe her. This experience was traumatizing, and she felt that she and her baby were unsafe. Her sister advised her to go to the Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB) for care. The SIHB is a Federally Qualified Health Center, serving American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AI/AN) in King County. This experience led Echo-Hawk into grassroots activism.
Indigenous communities face what is called data genocide. Without data, there are no resources to address the problems AI/AN are facing. Echo-Hawk is working to decolonize data with the UIHI, one of twelve tribal epidemiology centers in the US and the only center that is national and serves urban AI/AN, where 71% live (Secaira, 2019). Echo-Hawk helped to create the first online dashboard of health indicators among urban AI/AN in the U.S. Her research practice goes beyond Western principles, using an Indigenous lens to evaluate data, create programs, and databases that meet the needs of Indigenous people.
During COVID-19, Echo-hawk noticed misguided public health information on vaccinations for Native Americans. She and a former staff member created a national survey to study Indigenous beliefs on the COVID-19 vaccine. They discovered that 75% of Native Americans would get the vaccine if this could help make their community safer. This research was shared with Tribal health places to guide their vaccine distribution. According to Senator Patty Murray, Echo-Hawk increased the vaccination rate among AI/AN by 98% in King County. Echo-Hawk has numerous awards and accolades: including the 2011 UWB Distinguished Alumna Award, for her dedication to eliminating health disparities, and the 2015 Class of National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) Native American 40 Under 40.
Echo-Hawk’s expertise in AI/AN health empowers her community. She demonstrates strength and resiliency, advocating for Indigenous people’s right to a healthy and fulfilling life.
