Researcher Guest-Edits Journal on Indigenous Health

Rachel Wilbur is guest editing a special issue of the journal SSM - Mental Health, focused on Indigenous self-determination and mental health.

Mar. 26, 2026 at 12:12am

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Historically, the relationship between academic research and Indigenous people was an extractive enterprise, with research conducted on Indigenous people without their participation and consent. Rachel Wilbur, a researcher at Washington State University, is now guest editing a special issue of the journal SSM - Mental Health, focused on Indigenous self-determination and mental health. The journal is rolling out articles as they are peer-reviewed and approved, covering a broad range of topics related to mental health and Indigenous communities.

Why it matters

Wilbur and her colleagues at IREACH have been reshaping science with Indigenous communities as a collaborative, community-based enterprise. The institute is a national leader in this effort, with a focus on including tribal people and organizations as partners and looking to focus on the strengths in those communities to support their health and well-being.

The details

The journal issue aims to bring more conceptual clarity to the framework of Indigenous self-determination, and explore how it operates "on the ground," in relation to institutions, and with regard to established concepts of theories of mental health. Wilbur's project will attempt to identify cultural practices and traditions that have sustained tribal people for generations and apply them to health care, turning a common paradigm of past Indigenous health research on its head.

  • The journal is rolling out articles as they are peer-reviewed and approved.

The players

Rachel Wilbur

An assistant research professor at WSU's Institute for Research and Education to Advance Community Health (IREACH) and a descendant of the Tolowa and Chetco tribes, who is guest editing the special issue of the journal SSM - Mental Health.

William Hartmann

An associate professor at the University of Washington Bothell, who is co-editing the special issue with Rachel Wilbur.

IREACH

A national leader in reshaping science with Indigenous communities as a collaborative, community-based enterprise, with a focus on including tribal people and organizations as partners and looking to focus on the strengths in those communities to support their health and well-being.

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What they’re saying

“They've been really diverse. We've had community researchers submitting, we've had students, we've had emeritus faculty. We've had submissions from all over the world, there are people engaging with international policy, and federal and state policy, and academic barriers - we have covered a really broad range of mental health.”

— Rachel Wilbur, Assistant research professor at WSU's IREACH

“It all comes down to the idea of Indigenous control and Indigenous agency in the research endeavor. It's only been within the last 25 years or so, that there's been pushback to include Native people in those conversations. A lot of that has come from more Native kids going through college and finding themselves in spaces where they can conduct this work and push for change.”

— Rachel Wilbur, Assistant research professor at WSU's IREACH

The takeaway

This special issue of the journal SSM - Mental Health, guest-edited by Rachel Wilbur, represents a shift in the relationship between academic research and Indigenous communities, moving away from extractive practices and towards a collaborative, community-based approach that emphasizes Indigenous self-determination and agency in the research process.