Agenda | National Tribal Tobacco Conference

National Tribal Tobacco Conference

Reclaiming and Restoring Traditional Tobacco in Today’s World

Day One |Tuesday, June 23, 2026

8-9 a.m. | Registration & Breakfast including time to visit with exhibitors and abstract posters
8:30-8:40 a.m. | Welcome & Opening Prayer with Melissa Buffalo, MS, Mat Pendleton
8:40-9:15 a.m. | Tobacco Ceremony with Traditional Tobacco Youth Theatre Productions
9:15-10:15 a.m. | Opening Keynote: Tribal Health Research with Karina L. Walters, PhD, MSW
10:15-10:30 a.m. | Break including time to visit with exhibitors and abstract posters
10:30-11:20 a.m. | Reclaiming Sacred Tobacco Coalition with Clinton Isham
11:20 a.m.-12 p.m. | Vaping 101 with Claradina Soto, PhD
12-1 p.m. | Lunch including time to visit with exhibitors and abstract posters
1-2 p.m. | Rez Cafe with Ravena Soto, Chase Kornacki
2-2:30 p.m. | Protecting Land and Health: Addressing Commercial Tobacco Waste in Tribal Communities with Colin Welker, MSL
2:30-2:45 p.m. | Break including time to visit with exhibitors and abstract posters
2:45-3:30 p.m. | “Keep Tobacco Sacred” Documentary Premiere with Lincoln Mondy, Hassan Hassan
3:30-4:15 p.m. | Breakout Session #1: Choose one to attend.

Intergenerational Bridging Generations: Leading Advocacy, Prevention, and Cultural Healing with Nicole Graumann
Lung Paths Team with Brandon Omernik, MS, CTTS
Sacred Smoke, Sacred Stories: Reclaiming Traditional Tobacco in North Carolina Tribal Communities with Ryan Dial, MCLS, MLS *subject to change

4:15-4:30 p.m. | Closing Day Reflections
4:30–5 p.m. | Seed & Cultural Exchange
Please bring anything you might want to trade/share during this time.

Day Two |Wednesday, June 24, 2026

7-8 a.m. | Sunrise Ceremony
8-9 a.m. | Breakfast & Check-In including time to visit with exhibitors and abstract posters
8:30-8:40 a.m. | Welcome, Prayer
8:40-8:50 a.m. | Sponsor Keynote
8:50-10 a.m. | Keynote
10-10:15 a.m. | Break including time to visit with exhibitors and abstract posters
10:15-11:10 a.m. | Breakout Session #2: Choose one to attend.

Multivalvis Species and the Cultural Impact with Nicole Romine, Steven Smartt
Honoring Culture, Promoting Health: A look at tobacco prevention efforts with Utah’s tribal communities with Kassie John, Hilary Makris

11:10 a.m.-12 p.m. | Breakout Session #3: Choose one to attend.

Commercial Tobacco Cessation – What’s working in Tribal & non Tribal cessation: curriculum, interventions, costs, and real-world outcomes with Angie Rideout
Developing Tribal Public Health Policies /Creating Commercial Tobacco-Free Outdoor Spaces in Tribal Communities: Practical Strategies for Engagement and Policy Development with Colin Welker, MSL, Rachel Miller-Reif, Natalie Hemmerich, MD

12-1 p.m. | Lunch including time to visit with exhibitors and abstract posters
1-1:45 p.m .| Breakout Session #4: Choose one to attend.

Create community access to ceremonial tobacco and use media and filmmaking to document and communicate with Andrew Pittman
IndigeQuit - Research study on smartphone apps to quit smoking with Chase Kornacki, Herschel Walker

1:45-2:15 p.m. | Carrying the Teaching Forward: Sacred Tobacco, Ancestral Ways, and the Unveiling of the Traditional Tobacco Staff with Nino Reyos and Circle of Cultures and Grantees
2:15-2:30 p.m. | Closing, Travel Song, and Adjournment