Tulalip agreement expands access to Washington public health data
Data-sharing agreement affirms tribal sovereignty and improves access to disease surveillance information
The Tulalip Tribes and the Washington State Department of Health signed a first-of-its-kind tribal data-sharing agreement in January 2025 that expands the tribe's access to state public health data, according to reporting from Pew. The agreement gives the Tulalip Tribes access to Department of Health datasets at the same level as other public health authorities, including the Washington Disease Reporting System, which tracks diseases such as influenza, measles, rabies and tetanus.
The agreement affirms tribal data sovereignty by recognizing the authority of tribal nations to collect and manage their own public health data, according to the Pew reporting. The fact sheet says the agreement was shaped by years of advocacy and policy work led by tribes in Washington and identifies tribal leadership, trust-building and recognition of tribal sovereignty as key factors that can help other states improve public health data-sharing with tribal nations.
- 1.Pew.
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