Healing, Culture, and Public Health

As the Great Lakes Associate Director of Operations for the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health and an Anishinaabe woman, Bloomberg Fellow Brooklynn Barney spends her days balancing tasks that range from revising research protocols to sewing ceremonial bags. The work may look varied, but to her, every piece is essential to advancing health, culture, and healing in Indigenous communities.

Growing up on the Fond du Lac Reservation in Minnesota, Barney always envisioned herself working at the tribal clinic. It was, she recalls, “the heart of the rez—a place focused on healing our people.” While her original plan of becoming a nurse shifted, her drive to give back never wavered, and public health research became her path. “Through this work, we can better understand health disparities and find solutions that foster our cultural ways and values,” she says.

One of the most pressing challenges facing her community—and many others across the country—is the opioid crisis. Native American communities have been disproportionately impacted, and Barney and her colleagues are determined to meet this challenge head-on. 

The Center for Indigenous Health leads the longest-standing epidemiological study of substance use across three generations of tribal members and was recently awarded a five-year, $12 million NIH grant to expand culturally rooted prevention and recovery efforts. Their work emphasizes protective factors—community, family, and culture—as powerful tools of healing.

Barney draws inspiration from the people she serves. Having spent years in the field collecting data on the way the opioid crisis has impacted tribal communities, she has witnessed firsthand the courage of individuals who have been silenced and shamed regarding their use of drugs, yet continue to show up and share their stories to help save others. “The statistics we all hear about are real people,” she emphasizes. “We need to remember that.”

But progress is not without obstacles. Bureaucratic systems often create barriers for community partners who live in rural areas; these administrative burdens often disproportionately impact members of Native communities. Even compensating partners fairly for their contributions can become a hurdle. Still, Barney remains determined, advocating for systems that center inclusivity and for policies that tackle the root causes of drug misuse rather than focusing solely on supply control.

Her role as a Bloomberg Fellow has been transformative. As a mother of four, the fellowship made graduate school possible without the stress of relocating or taking on a significant financial burden. More than that, it connected her to a network of changemakers across the country who share her passion for humanizing and protecting people who use drugs.

“I want to keep showing up, creating and holding space for people, and working together to live the good life,” Barney reflects. “There is so much work left to do, and we all have a role in it.”