A $3.2 million grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse will allow American Indians to work with Iowa State’s Center for Family Research.

The research project is designed to develop alcohol and drug prevention programs for families on two Ojibwe Indian reservations, said Jerry Stubben, an ISU Extension state community specialist.

One group, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, is located in north-central Minnesota. Lac du Flambeau Reservation, the other, is in north-central Wisconsin.

“It offers us the chance to study, on a large scale, a number of rural American Indian families for an extended period of time,” he said. “Hopefully, four years from now we will have a culturally adapted prevention program that may be adopted or utilized for other tribes.”

This is the largest grant any ISU department or center has received to work with American Indians. Stubben said he hopes the project will expand research and outreach on a long-term basis.

“If research goes as we want it to there will be other universities and tribes looking to us for research data and assistance in development, implementation and evaluation of prevention programs among American Indians,” Stubben said.

The partnership with the Ojibwe tribe is important, said Les Whitbeck, an associate sociology professor with the Center for Family Research.

It has taken two years to obtain the grant and the project will continue for four years. The first-year researchers will develop a pretest for families. Researchers will intervene with half of the families and save half of the families as a control group. Post tests will take place again one year later.

Ojibwe graduate students will be recruited to work with the project. They will be trained at ISU.

Larry Martin became a consultant for the Ojibwe tribe following his work as a visiting professor at ISU. He recommend the Center for Family Research because he knew of its work with families.

“We are very enthusiastic,” Whitbeck said. “This gives us a chance to work with another culture.”

From past research, Stubben said he has found American Indians to have positive influences on family outcomes. Youths tend to do better in school if they have a strong identity with their tribal family.

“American Indians who understand their tribal identities, ceremonies, histories and participate in events tend to have higher rates of self-esteem and positive behavior,” Stubben said.

Stubben said the Mille Lacs have worked well with researchers.

“They have really opened up,” he said. “We hope we can honor them by doing something good.”