Tamara Littlesalt-Butler – Coconino County, Arizona

Coconino County Health and Human Services, in north-central Arizona, is one of SPIRIT’s U.S. sites. Tamara Littlesalt-Butler, a mother of two and program manager for Coconino’s Healthy Families Program, serves 62 families, a majority of them Navajo/Diné, while some are Hopi. Families can hear about Tamara’s services in several ways: The program has relationships with the labor and delivery team at the local hospital, the federal Woman Infants and Children program, the local jail’s pathways programs, and through Northern Arizona University.

 

For Tamara, whose background is in youth development work, the Family Spirit curriculum stands out. “It really allows for that reciprocal and respectful exchange of information versus just another non-Native entity coming in and telling us what to do,” she said. It also works well for families who benefit from more structured approaches to learning. At Coconino County Health and Human Services, Tamara matches new families with the program that best fits their needs. Many families from West Africa, Central/South Asia and Europe benefit from the Family Spirit track because it includes opportunities for conversations around culture, which can prove comforting for newcomers.

 

For many of her families, on top of the history of forced assimilation and suppression unique to Indigenous peoples, day-to-day life in Arizona brings its own set of hurdles: a relatively high cost of living, including rising housing prices, as well as a lack of comprehensive, culturally sensitive support for Indigenous families.

 

Tamara compares the role home visits play for Indigenous children to the process of stacking building blocks: One on top of another, and remember to place with caution. “Imagine all the positive and negative blocks or experiences a child has encountered before entering a given space,” Tamara says. Your role must be to fill their day with as many good blocks, despite their attitude. It's about moving families into a space where they can be receptive to the curriculum at hand.”