Lisa Lefler
Associate Professor Western Carolina University
- Cullowhee NC
Lisa Lefler’s Research Focuses on Native Health and Indigenous Knowledge in American Indian Communities
Media
Social
Areas of Expertise
Education
University of Tennessee Knoxville
Ph.D.
Anthropology
1996
Western Carolina University
M.A.
Appalachian State University
B.A.
Media Appearances
Forum seeks ways to advance maternal health equity in NC
WFAE 90.7 online
2023-05-24
Two young Cherokee women who formed the Selu Mothering Project on the Qualla Boundary are seeing good results, said Lisa Lefler, who leads culturally-based Native Health Programs at Western Carolina University.
“They really are able to speak in a way that their young native mothers understand. They are able to address some of the other issues for the mothers, helping them receive good food for their baby," Lefler said.
Cherokee Studies Program’s endowed scholarship renamed for T.J. Holland
WCU Stories online
2020-10-05
Brett Riggs, WCU’s Sequoyah Distinguished Professor of Cherokee Studies, described Holland as the bridge between the Eastern Band and the university, the “person who translated academia for his Cherokee community and constituency, and who brought understanding of the perspectives of his community to the academy.” Lisa Lefler, director of WCU’s Culturally Based Native Health Program, recalled he was instrumental in “assisting with our annual medicine walks, elders and clinicians’ meetings, as well as the annual Rooted in the Mountains symposium,” and wrote extensively about the importance of respecting tribal protocols in conducting research in native communities.
Cherokee conference celebrates power of place
Mountain Xpress online
2017-10-21
“My mother and my brother were mountain people,” says conference organizer Lisa Lefler, founder of the Center for Native Health, a nonprofit based in Dillsboro. “They loved the mountains; the mountains allowed them to survive through their childhood into adulthood. My mother used to talk with Tom Belt … for hours about the mountains.”
