Weaving Knowledge Systems Resource Materials

This study employed a critical narrative approach to examine the experience of Aboriginal Veterans in Canada adopted and/or fostered during the Sixties Scoop. The objectives of this study was to: 1) understand lived experiences of Aboriginal veterans adopted and/or fostered during the Sixties Scoop, 2) investigate health needs articulated by this population, and 3) provide suggestions for the creation of health services to aid Aboriginal veterans adopted and/or fostered during the Sixties Scoop with their health needs. Individual interviews were audio-recorded and conducted with eight participants from across Canada. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using the holistic-content model (Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach & Zilber, 1998). Data analysis of the interviews uncovered three overarching themes: a) sense of belonging, b) racism: experienced and perceived, and c) resilience: not giving up in the face of adversity. Two main health needs conveyed by the participants included mental health care and support to fight substance abuse. More awareness regarding the historical realities experienced by this population and the impact this may have on their overall health is needed. Increased coordination between Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), Royal Canadian Legion (RCL), National Aboriginal Veterans Association (NAVA), Aboriginal Veteran Autochthones (AVA), and Aboriginal agencies is needed to address the mental health needs experienced by this group of veterans. [From Author]

This invisibility of Indigenous children’s pain and hurt, and the long-term impact of under-treated pain, means we need to find alternate ways for these children to express their hurt.

We know from our early research that Western methods of pain assessment may not always be appropriate for Indigenous children. In our research, we looked for other, more culturally-safe ways for Indigenous children to express themselves. [From Website]

The Western perspective is well established within existing pain literature and clinical practice. However, the Indigenous point of view is not generally considered in health care. Our philosophy offers a balanced perspective which will lead to more effective pain assessment and treatment for Indigenous children. Going forward, we hope to learn how to improve health care, reduce hurt, and enrich the well-being of First Nations children by merging Western and Indigenous perspectives and knowledge. [From Website]

The ACHH Initiative’s ultimate goal is to gather and combine traditional and Western knowledge to better understand how Indigenous children’s pain is experienced, expressed, interpreted, assessed and treated. What began in one Indigenous community (Eskasoni First Nation) expanded to three maritime communities and will now be expanding to additional communities across the country and internationally in the coming years.

Early research findings suggest that a complex mix of factors have led to a cultural divide for First Nations children in pain and non-Indigenous health care providers. We want to help bridge that gap.

Western-based health care professionals use pain measurements like facial expressions and numeric scales which may not be accurate tools for diagnosis and treatment of Indigenous children’s pain. Issues of discrimination and intergenerational trauma (including residential school experiences), as well as a lack of understanding of cultural traditions by health professionals, have added to the problem. [From Website]

No longer updated since 2014 but a collection of various publications about Aboriginal Health.

Children and youth comprise 40% of the Canadian Indigenous population. These young people face significant health inequities compared to their peers, especially those living on-reserve. Data on health and well-being is needed to guide community policies, health services planning and evaluation, that supports Indigenous communities on their path to health and well-being. This evidence to promote better health outcomes is lacking. Part of the reason is the shortage of outcome measures that are appropriate for use with First Nation, Métis and Inuit children and youth. It is important to have self-report measures that are both culturally relevant to original Canadians while meeting the requirements of scientific rigor. The ACHWM is proposed as one mechanism to bridge this gap, inform and support action. [From Website]

First Peoples, Second Class Treatment explores the role of racism in the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples in Canada. We begin with an overview of the historical and contemporary contexts of racism, and
the ways in which racism is fundamentally responsible for the alarming disparities in health between
Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. We examine Indigenous responses to racism including individual,
family and community level strategies and resiliencies; health service-level responses (including Indigenous
and non-Indigenous led services); efforts directed at the training of health professionals; and provincial,
territorial and national-level policies and recommendations. [From Author]

A Venn diagram with accompanying description developed by Lorna Andrews based on her interpretation of the concepts from the open access BCCampus textbook: Pulling Together: a guide for Curriculum Developers. [From Author]

The University of the Fraser Valley has presented its first-ever Indigenization and Reconciliation Award to Teaching and Learning Specialist Lorna Andrews. Lorna speaks about her work to educate faculty and staff on Indigenous issues in the efforts towards reconciliation in Canada. [From Website]

The Indigenization Committee of the FECHD worked with colleagues from the College of Arts, the FPS, and the Teaching and Learning Office to create this video and we are excited to share it with faculty, staff, and students at UFV. We were hearing a number of concerning stories from Indigenous faculty and students regarding microaggressions they were experiencing in classrooms, meetings, and in the hallways at UFV. These micoagressions are contributing to a lack of cultural safety on our campuses. We wanted to create a video to encourage conversation, share resources, and provide an entry point into considering how to make UFV a more culturally safe environment for everyone.

This video looks specifically at territorial acknowledgements and introductions with guidance from UFV Elders. It includes examples and discussions from interdisciplinary perspectives. It is not a ‘how-to guide,’ nor does it represent the official expectations of UFV. Instead, it provides some guidance around important things to consider when starting to Indigenize and decolonize our work and spaces at UFV. [From Website]

The VALUE rubrics were developed by teams of faculty experts representing colleges and universities across the United States through a process that examined many existing campus rubrics and related documents for each learning outcome and incorporated additional feedback from faculty. The rubrics articulate fundamental criteria for each learning outcome, with performance descriptors demonstrating progressively more sophisticated levels of attainment. The rubrics are intended for institutional-level use in evaluating and discussing student learning, not for grading. The core expectations articulated in all 16 of the VALUE rubrics can and should be translated into the language of individual campuses, disciplines, and even courses. The utility of the VALUE rubrics is to position learning at all undergraduate levels within a basic framework of expectations such that evidence of learning can by shared nationally through a common dialog and understanding of student success. [From Author]

Indigenous students face immense educational disadvantage in mainstream schooling which leads to a number of negative consequences for them as individuals and for their communities. Therefore, the issue of teaching literacy with principles derived from research informed by Indigenous ways of knowing is of critical importance. This article reviews adolescent literacy learning in general and the challenges faced especially by Indigenous students in Western classrooms. Next we discuss the importance of cultural sensitivity in literacy teaching and describe a literacy education program based on principles for teaching literacy to Indigenous students using Indigenous research practices. We found that Indigenous students need teachers who establish relationships with them; classroom activities that encourage active involvement, inclusion of their cultural background, power sharing in the classroom, and use of a variety of sign systems — especially oral and visual ones — in order to improve their literacy. [From Author]

This article demonstrates how Indigenous pedagogy (IP) can be used in anatomy and physiology education in the tertiary sector. We propose that bringing IP to tertiary education may increase the engagement of Indigenous students in the first year of university study. Current literature focuses on IP applied to primary and secondary education and only one study to date has been published in the tertiary sector. In this paper, we present a series of IP informed learning activities designed to increase student engagement with anatomy and physiology across a broad range of educational settings. We will present a total of 4 activities each focusing on a different aspect of IP. This paper aims to provide examples and a starting point where academics can foster creativity in their teaching practice and help build on the discourse of Indigenous andragogy in the tertiary education sector. [From Author]

Background: The use of storytelling in qualitative research involving Inuit compliments the oral tradition of Inuit culture. The objective of the research was to explore the use of qualitative methods to gain understanding of the experience of living with diabetes, with the ultimate goal of better formulating health care delivery and health promotion among Inuit. Methods : In-depth interviews were analyzed and interpreted using thematic analysis, open coding, and structured narrative analysis. Inuit community members acted as partners through all stages of the research. Results: ‘‘Because the more we understand, the more we’re gonna do a prevention on it … What I want is use my, use my diabetes, what I have … so that it can be used by other people for prevention because they’ll have understanding about it’’ — an Inuk storyteller speaks to the value of education in health promotion. Key methodological issues found relevant to improving qualitative research with Indigenous Peoples include: (i) participatory research methods, grounded in principals of equity, through all phases of research; (ii) the presentation of narratives rather than only interpretations of narratives; (iii) understanding of culture, language, and place to frame the interpretation of the stories in the context within which storytellers experience living with their diabetes, and (iv) the value of multiple methods of analyses. Interpretation: This article comments on the challenges of conducting rigorous research in a cross-cultural setting and outlines methodologies that can improve qualitative narrative analyses research. The research highlighted experiences of living with diabetes and the ways in which storytellers coped and negotiated social support. (Global Health Promotion, 2009; 16 (4): pp. 16—26) [From Author]

This multidisciplinary research project brought together experts in First Nations child welfare, community development, economics, management information systems, law, social work and management to inform the development of three funding formula options to support policy and practice in First Nations child and family service agencies in Canada. This unique research approach involved specialized research projects on the incidence and social work response to reports of child maltreatment respecting First Nations children, prevention services, jurisdictional issues, extraordinary circumstances, management information services and small agencies. These research projects were complimented by the results of twelve case studies of First Nations child and family service agencies in Canada. Findings indicate that First Nations children are over represented at every level of the child welfare decision making continuum including
reports to child welfare, case substantiation rates, and admissions to child welfare care. In fact an analysis of child in care data by cultural group indicated that one in ten Status Indian children in three sample provinces were in care as of May 2005. Research results indicate that First Nations child and family service agencies are inadequately funded in almost every area of operation ranging from capital costs, prevention programs, standards and evaluation, staff salaries and child in care programs. The disproportionate need for services amongst First Nations children and families coupled with the under-funding of the First Nations child and family service agencies that serve them has resulted in an untenable situation. Recommendations for policy change and future research are discussed. [From Author]

The San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training Program is an Indigenous-led, policy-driven, and systems-level educational intervention to foster health equity and mitigate the effects of systemic racism experienced by Indigenous people in health and other sectors. Currently, San’yas is being scaled-up across Canada. This article focuses on the following: (a) the pedagogical underpinnings of San’yas grounded in transformational learning principles and Indigenous knowledges; (b) the scope, reach, and scale-up of San’yas as an explicit anti-racism educational intervention; (c) its unique program delivery approaches; and (d) program evaluation trends. We discuss the insights gained from implementing San’yas over the past decade, which will be relevant for leaders and policy-makers concerned with implementing anti-racism educational interventions as part of broader system transformation. [From Author]

In Labrador, the NunatuKavut (formerly Labrador Inuit Métis) have begun to introduce a rigorous community-based research review process. We conducted a study with leaders and health care workers in and beyond the NunatuKavut community of Labrador, asking them what should be emphasised in a community review. We also sought to identify whether and how community review should be distinct from the centralised, “institutional” research ethics review that would be the mandate of Newfoundland and Labrador’s impending provincial health research authority. In this article we report on our findings with the aim of providing strategies and direction for researchers, research ethics boards, and Aboriginal communities dealing with dual-level ethics review. We argue for the adoption and use of a consistent label for community review of research (“Community Research Review Committee”) as distinct from research ethics boards. We provide suggestions for the development of separate roles and responsibilities for community review of research to ensure that its tasks are clearly understood and delineated. Our objective is to promote a form of community research review, distinct from the “ethics” review of research ethics boards, that explicitly attends to research in the context of ongoing colonialism, assimilation, and exoticism. [From Author]

Background: Health promotion organizations are increasingly embracing social media technologies to engage end users in a more interactive way and to widely disseminate their messages with the aim of improving health outcomes. However, such technologies are still in their early stages of development and, thus, evidence of their efficacy is limited. Objective: The study aimed to provide a current overview of the evidence surrounding consumer-use social media and mobile software apps for health promotion interventions, with a particular focus on the Australian context and on health promotion targeted toward an Indigenous audience. Specifically, our research questions were: (1) What is the peer-reviewed evidence of benefit for social media and mobile technologies used in health promotion, intervention, self-management, and health service delivery, with regard to smoking cessation, sexual health, and otitis media? and (2) What social media and mobile software have been used in Indigenous-focused health promotion interventions in Australia with respect to smoking cessation, sexual health, or otitis media, and what is the evidence of their effectiveness and benefit? Methods: We conducted a scoping study of peer-reviewed evidence for the effectiveness of social media and mobile technologies in health promotion (globally) with respect to smoking cessation, sexual health, and otitis media. A scoping review was also conducted for Australian uses of social media to reach Indigenous Australians and mobile apps produced by Australian health bodies, again with respect to these three areas. Results: The review identified 17 intervention studies and seven systematic reviews that met inclusion criteria, which showed limited evidence of benefit from these interventions. We also found five Australian projects with significant social media health components targeting the Indigenous Australian population for health promotion purposes, and four mobile software apps that met inclusion criteria. No evidence of benefit was found for these projects. Conclusions: Although social media technologies have the unique capacity to reach Indigenous Australians as well as other underserved populations because of their wide and instant disseminability, evidence of their capacity to do so is limited. Current interventions are neither evidence-based nor widely adopted. Health promotion organizations need to gain a more thorough understanding of their technologies, who engages with them, why they engage with them, and how, in order to be able to create successful social media projects. [From Author]

A number of universities have introduced Indigenous student-specific programming to improve recruitment. These programs target the needs of Indigenous students and often impart a sense of comfort or belonging that may be more difficult to obtain in a mainstream program. The University of Saskatchewan, College of Nursing, implemented a Learn Where You Live delivery model that challenged the university community to think differently about outreach and engagement. This is best described by redefining distance such that student services and supports would no longer be localized to a main campus but redesigned for distribution across the province. Sustaining this model meant the College leadership had to find new ways to support faculty to engage in teaching and learning opportunities that would be context relevant and aid student recruitment and retention. The new position of Strategist for Outreach and Indigenous Engagement was created to lead opportunities for faculty and staff to gain knowledge and expertise in policy development, negotiation and implementation for success in the distributed delivery model. The framework of Two-Eyed Seeing was adapted to guide the introduction and ongoing implementation (Bartlett et al. 2012). [From Author]

Marilee Nowgesic has been the executive director of the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association since January 2018 and has more than 25 years of experience working on Indigenous issues. Originally from Thunder Bay, she is a member in good standing with the Fort William First Nation and is an Eagle clan member. Canadian Nurse sat down with her recently to get an update on what her association is working on. [From Author]

Learning About Walking in Beauty: Placing Aboriginal Perspectives in Canadian Classrooms comes from the Coalition for the Advancement of Aboriginal Studies (CAAS) with funding support from the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF). Walking in Beauty is a term that speaks of conducting oneself in harmony with all of the living world, and is respectfully borrowed from the Navajo People.

In 2000-2001, the CAAS conducted a national Student Awareness Survey, measuring awareness, attitudes and knowledge of facts about Aboriginal Peoples' histories, cultures, worldviews and current concerns. Five hundred and nineteen young adults (460 Canadian, 35 Aboriginal and 24 Newcomer students in first year university and college courses across Canada) responded to this 12-page survey. The survey questionnaire was developed and administered by Aboriginal and Canadian educators, scholars, traditional Elders and advocates within the 300-member CAAS network.

The Learning About Walking in Beauty report includes the findings from this survey, together with pedagogical, social and historical analyses. The report offers a pedagogical framework and proposals for learning about "walking in beauty" together. [From Website]

American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research is a professionally refereed scientific journal. It contains empirical research, program evaluations, case studies, unpublished dissertations, and other articles in the behavioral, social, and health sciences which clearly relate to the mental health status of American Indians and Alaska Natives. [From Website]

In the last decades, health in the Region of the Americas has improved dramatically, yet many people are being left behind. PAHO has established the Commission on Equity and Health Inequalities in the Americas to analyze the impact of drivers influencing health, while proposing actions to improve inequalities in health. According to the evidence presented in this report, much of ill health is socially determined. Factors such as socioeconomic position, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, being a migrant—alone or in combination—can contribute to marked inequalities in health on life. The analysis also reveals that other structural factors, such as climate change, environmental threats, and one’s relationship with the land, as well as the continuing impact of colonialism and racism, are also slowing progress towards a dignified life and enjoying the highest attainable standards of health. Furthermore, the impact of daily life conditions shows that the effect of inequalities is seen at the start of life. The report provides examples of successful policies, programs, and actions implemented in countries and presents 12 recommendations to achieve health equity, calling for coordinated actions among local and national governments, transnational organizations, and civil society to jointly address the social determinants of health. [From Website]

ToC
Local Collaboration to Grow the Seeds of STEM Investment from School and Beyond
Michael Joseph Donovan

Effective STEM Outreach for Indigenous Community Contexts - Getting it Right One Community at a Time!
Sandy Marie Bonny

Grounding the Teaching of Anatomy and Physiology in Indigenous Pedagogy
Natalia Bilton

Principles of an Indigenous Community-Based Science Program
Hiria McRae

An Analysis of Language Use in Analogical Indigenous Knowledge Presented in Science Texts
M. Mukwambo, L. Ramasike, K. Ngcoza

Learning Together about Culturally Relevant Science Teacher Education: Indigenizing a Science Methods Course
Saiqa Azam, Karen Goodnough

Letters from Mungo: A Dialogue on Decolonisation to Improve Academic Engagement with Aboriginal Students
Malcolm Ridges, Tim Wess

This article outlines the methodological process of a transdisciplinary team of indigenous and nonindigenous individuals, who came together in early 2009 to develop a digital narrative method to engage a remote community in northern Labrador in a research project examining the linkages between climate change and physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being. Desiring to find a method that was locally appropriate and resonant with the narrative wisdom of the community, yet cognizant of the limitations of interview-based narrative research, our team sought to discover an indigenous method that united the digital media with storytelling. Using a case study that illustrates the usage of digital storytelling within an indigenous community, this article will share how digital storytelling can stand as a community-driven methodological strategy that addresses, and moves beyond, the limitations of narrative research and the issues of colonization of research and the Western analytic project. In so doing, this emerging method can preserve and promote indigenous oral wisdom, while engaging community members, developing capacities, and celebrating myriad stories, lived experiences, and lifeworlds. [From Author]

The Grizzlies is an inspiring true story based on a group of Inuit students in the small Arctic town of Kugluktuk. Suffering from widespread drug use, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and one of the highest teen suicide rates in the world, this northern community is periled by the legacy of colonialism. The students are naturally skeptical when Russ Sheppard, yet another ignorant and unprepared white rookie teacher, arrives from the South on a one-year teaching contract. With much to learn, but deeply shaken by the death of one of his students, Russ introduces his class to the sport of lacrosse in an effort to help lift the dangerous fog of trauma existing in his students. While initially resistant, the students gradually come together to embrace the sport, form Team Grizzlies, and find inspiration to make shifts in their own lives. Together with Russ, the team gains the support of a deeply divided town and eventually negotiates its way to the National Lacrosse Championships in Toronto. Despite their ultimate defeat, The Grizzlies discover that success doesn't lie in the outcome of a lacrosse game; but instead, in the spirit of community. [From Publisher]

The need for Native Americans (NA) in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences research workforce has never been so pronounced. The American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) population reflects high rates of chronic disease that continue to rise rapidly. The multifaceted dis-parities in access to education and educational achievement contribute to and complicate the resolution of health disparities (Nesbitt & Palomarez, 2016). Research suggests that the health and health care of underrepresented minorities are improved when providers of similar ethnic and racial backgrounds provide the care (Brown, DeCorse-Johnson, Irving-Ray, & Wu, 2005; Smedley & Mittman, 2011). This chapter provides perspectives relat-ed to drawing AI/AN students into these fields through cultural grounding, gathering and experiencing scientific knowledge, and making meaning for the students and their tribal communities. [From Author]

Developing appropriate risk messages during challenging situations like public health outbreaks is complicated. The focus of this paper is on how First Nations and Metis people in Manitoba, Canada, responded to the public health management of pandemic H1N1, using a focus group methodology (n = 23 focus groups). Focus group conversations explored participant reactions to messaging regarding the identification of H1N1 virus risk groups, the H1N1 vaccine and how priority groups to receive the vaccine were established. To better contextualize the intentions of public health professionals, key informant interviews (n = 20) were conducted with different health decision makers (e.g., public health officials, people responsible for communications, representatives from some First Nations and Metis self-governing organizations). While risk communication practice has improved, ‘one size’ messaging campaigns do not work effectively, particularly when communicating about who is most ‘at-risk’. Public health agencies need to pay more attention to the specific socio-economic, historical and cultural contexts of First Nations and Metis citizens when planning for, communicating and managing responses associated with pandemic outbreaks to better tailor both the messages and delivery. More attention is needed to directly engage First Nations and Metis communities in the development and dissemination of risk messaging. [From Author]

Background: During the first wave of the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009, Aboriginal populations in Canada experienced disproportionate rates of infection, particularly in the province of Manitoba. To protect those thought to be most at-risk, health authorities in Manitoba listed all Aboriginal people, including Metis, among those able to receive priority access to the novel vaccine when it first became available. Currently, no studies exist that have investigated the attitudes, influences, and vaccine behaviors among Aboriginal communities in Canada. This paper is the first to systematically connect vaccine behavior with the attitudes and beliefs that influenced Metis study participants' H1N1 vaccine decision-making. Methods: Researchers held focus groups (n = 17) with Metis participants in urban, rural, and remote locations of Manitoba following the conclusion of the H1N1 pandemic. Participants were asked about their vaccination decisions and about the factors that influenced their decisions. Following data collection, responses were coded into the broad categories of a social-ecological model, nuanced by categories stemming from earlier research. Responses were then quantified to show the most influential factors in positively or negatively affecting the vaccine decision. Results: Media reporting, the influence of peer groups, and prioritization all had positive and negative influential effects on decision making. Whether vaccinated or not, the most negatively influential factors cited by participants were a lack of knowledge about the vaccine and the pandemic as well as concerns about vaccine safety. Risk of contracting H1N1 influenza was the biggest factor in positively influencing a vaccine decision, which in many cases trumped any co-existing negative influencers. Conclusions: Metis experiences of colonialism in Canada deeply affected their perceptions of the vaccine and pandemic, a context that health systems need to take into account when planning response activities in the future. Participants felt under-informed about most aspects of the vaccine and the pandemic, and many vaccine related misconceptions and fears existed. Recommendations include leveraging doctor-patient interactions as a site for sharing vaccine-related knowledge, as well as targeted, culturally-appropriate, and empowering public information strategies to supply reliable vaccine and pandemic information to potentially at-risk Aboriginal populations. [From Author]

Indigenous knowledge and approaches to health research have historically been marginalized by Western traditions. Efforts to overcome this marginalization by recognizing Indigenous methodologies as a distinctive form of inquiry are gathering momentum. Health research that seeks to establish levels of agreement about disputed or conceptually unclear subjects frequently relies on consensus methods. Aajiiqatigiingniq is a principle of cultural knowledge and a consensus decision-making approach among Inuit in the Canadian Arctic. We used group meetings and individual interviews involving Inuit elders and other senior community members in Arviat, Nunavut, to explore and describe aajiiqatigiingniq as an appropriate and ethical methodology in qualitative health research. Findings reveal a systematic but apparently informal approach focused on sustained individual and community well-being. Consensus is achieved through the successive addition of group members, respectful communication, mainly narrative discourse, subjective personal engagement, and an unhurried meeting style. While previous research has used Western consensus methods to embed Inuit knowledge in health research, this study provides a first descriptive account of a wholly Inuit consensus methodology. [From Author]

The First Nations Child & Family Caring Society is a non-profit organization that works with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people of all ages and organizations to ensure First Nations children and young people have the same opportunities as others to grow up safely at home, be healthy, achieve their dreams, celebrate their languages and culture and be proud of who they are. [From Website]

The Traditional Wellness Strategic Framework document represents one of the many milestones needed in supporting the efforts of communities to protect, incorporate, and promote their traditional medicines and practices. It is hoped that the following strategic framework can serve as a guidepost in supporting the efforts of communities to move this important work forward. [From Author]

The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) partnered with Health Standards Organization (HSO) to bring together a BC First Nations-led Cultural Safety and Humility Technical Committee to oversee the development of a HSO 75000:2022 (E) British Columbia Cultural Safety and Humility standard.​ [From Website]

Keegan brought together Stó:lō and Coast Salish leaders to transform the health system from a sickness model to a wellness model of care. In Keegan’s memory, the Fraser Salish Health Caucus leadership will work with the Board and Senior Executive Team of Fraser Health Authority to transform the care provided to all. In his memory, we will work together to ensure that all peoples from all places and all races will be provided the highest quality of care that is respectful of all cultures and beliefs. [From Author]

The First Nations Health Council is a provincial-level political and advocacy organization that represents — and is accountable to — First Nations in BC. [From Website]

Reclaiming Tom Longboat recounts the history of Indigenous sport in Canada through the lens of the prestigious Tom Longboat Awards, shedding light on a significant yet overlooked aspect of Canadian policy and Crown-Indigenous relations. Drawing on a rich and varied set of oral and textual sources, including interviews with award recipients and Jan Eisenhardt, the creator of the Awards himself, Janice Forsyth critically assesses the state's role in policing Indigenous bodies and identities through sport, from the assimilationist sporting regulations of residential schools to the present-day exclusion of Indigenous activities from mainstream sports. This work recognizes the role of sport as a tool for colonization in Canada, while also acknowledging its potential to become a tool for decolonization and self-determination. [From Publisher]

This article is part of a larger study that explored how an Indigenous early intervention programme in British Columbia (BC), Canada, known as the ‘Aboriginal Infant Development Program’ (AIDP), influenced family and children's health and well-being and was responsive to child health inequities. Postcolonial feminist and Indigenous feminist perspectives provided a critical analytical lens to this qualitative inquiry. The study was undertaken with AIDPs based in diverse community organisations located in off-reserve urban municipalities throughout the province of BC. From September 2013 to March 2014, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with: Indigenous primary caregivers (n = 10), Indigenous Elders (n = 4), AIDP workers (n = 18) and administrative leaders (n = 3). The purpose of this article is to examine and analyse the findings that focus on how AIDP workers supported family and children's health and well-being by transforming their routine policies and practices in ways that fostered caregivers' active engagement in their programmes. Findings centre on three main themes: (i) overcoming mistrust; (ii) ‘being willing to move a step forward’ and (iii) resisting what's taken-for-granted. These inter-related themes are examined and discussed in relation to the concept of cultural safety. The findings have international relevancy for social and healthcare community-based programmes that are questioning how to engage with parents who may be hard to reach as a result of multi-faceted social and structural factors. [From Author]

Jordan's Principle makes sure all First Nations children living in Canada can access the products, services and supports they need, when they need them. Funding can help with a wide range of health, social and educational needs, including the unique needs that First Nations Two-Spirit and LGBTQQIA children and youth and those with disabilities may have.

Jordan's Principle is named in memory of Jordan River Anderson. He was a young boy from Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba. [From Website]

The Inuit Child First Initiative ensures Inuit children have access to the essential government funded health, social and educational products, services and supports they need, when they need them. [From Website]

Find information about health care services and non-insured health benefits (NIHB), careers, how to fight drug and substance use, environmental health, food safety and how to have a healthy pregnancy. [From Website]

Overview of Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health initiative. Includes background, main objectives and list of relevant centres; including names, descriptions and contact information. [From Website]

Currently, there is limited literature demonstrating awareness of how contemporary Aboriginal Peoples understand and define health, address their health concerns, and perceive barriers to obtaining optimal health. This knowledge is an important and essential first step in program planning for delivering effective health care for all aspects of health. An additional challenge is to effectively address and meet these needs in a timely manner which is critical to overall
Indigenous wellness. The primary researcher, who is Indigenous (Plains Cree), wondered whether the social determinants of health were reflective and an appropriate framework to address the existing health disparities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Peoples of Canada, and more specifically, the Plains Cree people from Thunderchild First Nation. This paper examines the results from a qualitative descriptive research study completed in Thunderchild First Nation, Saskatchewan. There were four predominant themes that were derived from the data: health was consistently described in relation to physical, mental (intellectual), emotional, and spiritual wellness; value of health; factors related to the environment; and factors related to economics. Collectively, there does appear to be a holistic perception of health, similar to the teachings from the Medicine Wheel. Pursuing and maintaining health included a combination of information and practices from both the western and Traditional Indigenous world. This data supports that the determinants of health may be an appropriate framework to address the health needs of Indigenous Peoples, and an appropriate frame for federal, provincial and local policy makers to implement structural changes necessary to decrease the health disparities between the Indigenous Peoples and the rest of Canada. [From Author]

In this article, I explore the question, “What is the relationship between appropriation of Indigenous thought and what might be called ‘deep learning’ based in years of education in Indigenous contexts.” Beginning with an examination of meanings ascribed to cultural appropriation, I bring texts from Gee on secondary discourses, Foucault on the production of discourse, and Wertsch on the deep structures underpinning discourse into conversation with critical fieldwork experiences extracted from years of research and teaching. Ultimately hopeful, I conclude the article with direction from Indigenous scholars on appropriate cultural protocol in the use of Indigenous knowledges by non‐Aboriginal people in educational contexts. [From Author]

Research on Indigenous participation in sport offers many opportunities to better understand the political issues of equality, empowerment, self-determination and protection of culture and identity. This volume compares and conceptualises the sociological significance of Indigenous sports in different international contexts. The contributions, all written by Indigenous scholars and those working directly in Indigenous/Native Studies units, provide unique studies of contemporary experiences of Indigenous sports participation. The papers investigate current understandings of Indigeneity found to circulate throughout sports, sports organisations and Indigenous communities. by (1): situating attitudes to racial and cultural difference within the broader sociological processes of post colonial Indigenous worlds (2): interrogating perceptions of Indigenous identity with reference to contemporary theories of identity drawn from Indigenous Studies and (3): providing insight to increased Indigenous participation, empowerment and personal development through sport with reference to sociological theory. [From Publisher]

A variety of documents and webinars about cultural humility and safety from a Healthcare perspective.

This Toolkit defines a sample Aboriginal health bridging program by laying the groundwork for communities to use to conceptualize a blended framework. This Toolkit highlights best practices, recommends resources, focuses on Aboriginal pedagogy, and suggests areas of further exploration. Most importantly, it can be used to map out a health care educational program implementation plan. The Toolkit provides a framework, while respecting that each community has unique needs, governance plans and long-range goals which will ultimately influence the actual content of a community-based health training program. [From Website]

In 2005, the Council of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) set the following goal (3.4) for the Strategic Directions:

“To work toward improving the health status of Aboriginal Canadians”.

In pursuit of that objective, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada entered into a contribution agreement with Health Canada–First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) which supported the establishment of the Advisory Committee on Improving the Health of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples Through Enhancements to Postgraduate and Continuing Medical Educational Programming. [From Author]

There are analogous challenges when it comes to the management and provision of health services and drinking water in First Nations reserves in Canada; both represent human rights and both involve complex and multijurisdictional management. The purpose of this study is to translate the tenets of Jordan’s Principle, a child-first principle regarding health service provision, within the broader context of First Nation drinking water governance in order to identify avenues for positive change. This project involved secondary analysis of data from 53 semi-structured, key informant (KI) interviews across eight First Nation communities in western Canada. Data were coded according to the three principles of: provision of culturally inclusive management, safeguarding health, and substantive equity. Failure to incorporate Traditional Knowledge, water worldviews, and holistic health as well as challenges to technical management were identified as areas currently restricting successful drinking water management. Recommendations include improved infrastructure, increased resources (both financial and non-financial), in-community capacity building, and relationship building. To redress the inequities currently experienced by First Nations when it comes to management of and access to safe drinking water, equitable governance structures developed from the ground up and embedded in genuine relationships between First Nations and Canadian federal government agencies are required. [From Author]

In recent years a new lexicon has emerged in the world of research, as terms such as “translating research,” knowledge translation,” “knowledge exchange,” and “knowledge sharing” have become increasingly
part of the language of health research planning and execution. The incorporation of these concepts into research activities represents a major step forward in the development of community/researcher partnerships and in the integration of research evidence into health policy and practice (Bowen & Martens, 2005). This is particularly true for research conducted with Aboriginal communities. [From Author]

Indigenous knowledge and wisdom continue to guide food and land practices, which may be key to lowering high rates of diabetes and obesity among Indigenous communities. The purpose of this paper is to describe how Indigenous, ancestral, and wise practices around food and land can best be reclaimed, revitalized, and reinvented through the use of an online digital platform. Key informant interviews and focus groups were conducted in order to identify digital data needs for food and land practices. Participants included Indigenous key informants, ranging from elders to farmers. Key questions included: (1) How could an online platform be deemed suitable for Indigenous communities to catalogue food wisdom? (2) What types of information would be useful to classify? (3) What other related needs exist? Researchers analyzed field notes, identified themes, and used a consensual qualitative research approach. Three themes were found, including a need for the appropriate use of Indigenous knowledges and sharing such online, a need for community control of Indigenous knowledges, and a need and desire to share wise practices with others online. An online Food Wisdom Repository that contributes to the health and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples through cultural continuity appears appropriate if it follows the outlined needs. [From Author]

Indigenous peoples throughout the world have sustained their unique world views and associated knowledge systems for millennia. Many core values, beliefs, and practices associated with those world views have an adaptive integrity that is as valid today as in the past. However, traditional educational processes to transmit indigenous beliefs and practices have frequently conflicted with Western formal schooling and its world view. This paper examines the relationship between Native ways of knowing and those associated with Western science and formalized schooling in order to provide a basis for an education system that respects the philosophical and pedagogical foundations of both cultural traditions. Although examples are drawn from the Alaska Native context, they illustrate issues that emerge anywhere that efforts are underway to reconnect education to a sense of place. Elements of indigenous and Western world views are contrasted. Vignettes and examples depict the obstacles to communication between state agency personnel and local elders discussing wildlife and ecology issues; a cross-cultural immersion program for non-Native educators, held at a remote camp with Native elders as instructors; areas of common ground across world views; and indigenous implications for a pedagogy of place. Educational applications of four indigenous views are discussed: long-term perspective, interconnectedness of all things, adaptation to change, and commitment to the commons. [From Author]

American Indian/First Nations/Native people have been historically under-represented in the ranks of college and university graduates in Canada and the United States. From an institutional perspective, the problem has been typically defined in terms of low achievement, high attrition, poor retention, weak persistence, etc., thus placing the onus for adjustment on the student. From the perspective of the Indian student, however, the problem is often cast in more human terms, with an emphasis on the need for a higher educational system that respects them for who they are, that is relevant to their view of the world, that offers reciprocity in their relationships with others, and that helps them exercise responsibility over their own lives. This paper examines the implications of these differences in perspective and identifies ways in which initiatives within and outside of existing institutions are transforming the landscape of higher education for First Nations/American Indian people in both Canada and the United States. [From Author]

Using Indigenous methodologies to guide a doctoral study honouring cultural traditions and protocols was integral in working with the local community. Traditional talking circles were used to create a culturally safe environment for urban Aboriginal women to talk about their health care experiences and recommend strategies for change. The methodological research process was guided and shaped by Elders and community members sharing their knowledge and stories. This fluid non-linearity and unpredictability, common in Indigenous methodologies, challenged the researcher to stay true to the methodology while simultaneously respecting cultural protocols and traditions. The successes and challenges of embracing Indigenous methodologies in the midst of academia without losing sight of respect, commitment and accountability to Indigenous peoples and the institution are offered. [From Author]

Based on a review of works by Indigenous educators, this paper suggests a four-domain framework for developing course outcome statements that will serve all students, with a focus on better supporting the educational empowerment of Indigenous students.
The framework expands the three domains of learning, pioneered by Bloom to a four-domain construction based on the four quadrants of the Medicine Wheel , a teaching/learning framework that has widespread use in the Indigenous communities of North America (Native American, First Nation, Metis, Inuit, etc.). This paper expands on the cognitive (mental), psychomotor (physical) and affective (emotional) domains to add the fourth quadrant, spiritual, as being essential for balance in curricular design that supports students in their learning goals. The description of the spiritual quadrant includes a progression of learning outcomes and suggested verbs for developing learning outcome statements. Evaluation and practical implications are also discussed. [From Author]

Community-based and Indigenous-led health and wellness approaches have been widely advocated for Indigenous peoples. However, remarkably few Indigenous designed and led interventions exist within the field. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an Indigenous-led and community-based health and wellness intervention in a remote and rural Indigenous community. This protocol was designed by and for Indigenous peoples based on the aspirations of the community (established through sharing circles). A total of 15 participants completed a 13-week walking and healthy lifestyle counselling program (incorporating motivational interviewing) to enhance cardiometabolic health. Measures of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; 7-day accelerometry and self-report), predicted maximal aerobic power (VO2max; 6-min walk test), resting heart rate and blood pressure, and other health-related physical fitness measures (musculoskeletal fitness and body composition) were taken before and after the intervention. The intervention led to significant (p < 0.05) improvements in VO2max (7.1 ± 6.3 % change), with the greatest improvements observed among individuals with lower baseline VO2max (p < 0.05, r = -0.76). Resting heart rate, resting systolic blood pressure, and resting diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly (p < 0.05) after the intervention. Self-reported and accelerometry-measured frequency of MVPA increased significantly (p < 0.05), and the total MVPA minutes (~275 min/week) were above international recommendations. Change in VO2max was significantly correlated with change in self-reported (r = 0.42) and accelerometry-measured (r = 0.24) MVPA minutes. No significant changes were observed in weight, body mass index, waist circumference, body fat (via bioelectrical impedance), grip strength, and flexibility. These findings demonstrate that a culturally relevant and safe, community-based, Indigenous-led, health and wellness intervention can lead to significant and clinically relevant improvements in cardiometabolic health and physical activity behaviour, with the greatest changes being observed in the least active/fit individuals. [From Author]

It is abundantly clear that Aboriginal nations cannot progress as long as this pattern of recycling trauma and dysfunction generation after generation is allowed to continue. Something is needed to interrupt the cycle and to introduce new patterns of living that lead to sustainable human wellbeing and prosperity. [From Author]

Increasing evidence shows that more than a century of assimilative government policies has resulted in personal, familial and community trauma for Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The institutions and systems, such as residential schools, implemented as a result of these policies attempted to eradicate Aboriginal perspectives and values and replace them with ideological systems that continue to undermine life for Aboriginal peoples. Generations of people continue to be affected by the traumas of abuse, state-enforced separation and racist devaluation of culture. This chapter reviews the evolving literature on intergenerational trauma and explores how culturally appropriate therapeutic interventions need to be informed by the history of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Based on my own experience as a social work practitioner and therapist, the infusion of culturally appropriate healing strategies within therapeutic responses is a viable model for addressing the mental health needs of Aboriginal people. [From Author]

Adoption into an Indigenous society can be thick with obligations and relations if the adoptee understands they are entering into a legal order that organizes and regulates their new kinship relations. Implicit within these kinship orders are limits to what inclusion into an Indigenous society provides. Conversely, adoption can be used as a thin line of extraction, aiming at social capital within Indigenous communities. Adoptions void of an understanding of the legal order they should be accountable to, may be used in a way that circumvents obligations towards Indigenous stories, knowledge systems, and law, and to continue to prop up the modes of extraction of Indigenous cultural knowledge. A turn towards Indigenous laws and legal orders provide an accountability against those who may use adoption into an Indigenous society as a means for extractive, unreciprocated, personal gain. [From Author]

In this article, we discuss Indigenous epistemology that ensures research is inclusive of Māori cultural values, such as collectivity and storytelling. We explain an adapted photovoice methodology used in research investigating Māori (the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa/New Zealand) patient's perspectives on rongoā Māori (traditional Māori healing) and primary health care. Traditional photovoice theoretical frameworks and methodology were modified to allow Māori participants to document and communicate their experiences of health and the health services they utilised. Moreover, we describe the necessity for cultural adaptation of the theoretical framework and methodology of photovoice to highlight culturally appropriate research practice for Māori. [From Author]

As with many Indigenous groups around the world, Aboriginal communities in Canada face significant challenges with trauma and substance use. The complexity of symptoms that accompany intergenerational trauma and substance use disorders represents major challenges in the treatment of both disorders. There appears to be an underutilization of substance use and mental health services, substantial client dropout rates, and an increase in HIV infections in Aboriginal communities in Canada. The aim of this paper is to explore and evaluate current literature on how traditional Aboriginal healing methods and the Western treatment model “Seeking Safety” could be blended to help Aboriginal peoples heal from intergenerational trauma and substance use disorders. A literature search was conducted using the keywords: intergenerational trauma, historical trauma, Seeking Safety, substance use, Two-Eyed Seeing, Aboriginal spirituality, and Aboriginal traditional healing. Through a literature review of Indigenous knowledge, most Indigenous scholars proposed that the wellness of an Aboriginal community can only be adequately measured from within an Indigenous knowledge framework that is holistic, inclusive, and respectful of the balance between the spiritual, emotional, physical, and social realms of life. Their findings indicate that treatment interventions must honour the historical context and history of Indigenous peoples. Furthermore, there appears to be strong evidence that strengthening cultural identity, community integration, and political empowerment can enhance and improve mental health and substance use disorders in Aboriginal populations. In addition, Seeking Safety was highlighted as a well-studied model with most populations, resulting in healing. The provided recommendations seek to improve the treatment and healing of Aboriginal peoples presenting with intergenerational trauma and addiction. Other recommendations include the input of qualitative and quantitative research as well as studies encouraging Aboriginal peoples to explore treatments that could specifically enhance health in their respective communities. [From Author]

Decolonizing Pedagogies Teacher Reference Booklet presents: an overview of what “decolonizing pedagogies” means; how and why educational scholars and Indigenous educators suggest they be used to support learning in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal education environments; examples of decolonizing pedagogies (especially in history education); and, some of the opportunities and challenges identified by educators and scholars in implementing decolonizing pedagogies. [From Author]

Images are powerful tools for shaping perceptions of the past. In the context of sport at Canadian Indian residential schools, photographic images were consciously constructed and carefully selected and have been subsequently recirculated by contemporary media. Images of smiling, happy children at play at Canadian Indian residential schools have been used to lend credence to notions of sport as an unquestionable force for good without considering the context in which the images were created. In this paper, we explore how media, including online public repositories and newspapers, have taken up images of sport, specifically hockey, at Indian residential schools and how they evoke ideas about the nation and Indigenous–settler relations in Canada. We argue that photographs of residential school sports reinforce colonial narratives that lend ideological weight to settler colonial rule. [From Author]

The Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre has a mandate to become a centre of excellence of Aboriginal healthcare. Integral to that mission is the development of a culture of research. In collaboration with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and other northern organizations and researchers, Meno Ya Win nurses, physicians and administrators have produced a substantial body of academic literature. These contributions include both cross-cultural works on First Nations healthcare delivery and clinical articles on the practice of rural medicine. Papers in this complication include: palliative care, maternal care, cross-cultural care and rural medicine. [From Publisher]

The Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre has a mandate to become a centre of excellence of Aboriginal healthcare. Integral to that mission is the development of a culture of research. In collaboration with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and other northern organizations and researchers, Meno Ya Win nurses, physicians and administrators have produced a substantial body of academic literature. This is the 5th Research Compilation of Sioux Lookout-based cross-cultural research. Each volume encompasses several years of peer reviewed literature reproduced with permission of the authors. We thank the clinicians, fellow researchers, administrators, study participants and the SLMHC Research Review and Ethics Committee for contributing to the knowledge of the medical and social realities in our region. Over the past decade, research has become an integral part of the fabric of our healthcare provision and we are pleased to continue the tradition. Papers in this complication include: addiction medicine, maternal care, infectious diseases and rural medicine. [From Publisher]

This paper outlines the role of an Elder working as a full partner in a therapeutic environment with a Western trained mental health team. Research for the article is based on observation and interviews with the Elder and the team mental health staff. This article provides insight into one of the many roles that Elder Vern Harper has within a mainstream hospital setting. Elder Vern Harper participates in counseling sessions with Aboriginal clinicians trained in Western healing intervention. Within these sessions Elder Vern Harper provides traditional teachings and healing. Many clients have indicated that this two-pronged approach gives them the best of both worlds as they are provided insight into their problems both from an Aboriginal perspective as well as from a western clinical perspective. [From Author]

Many thanks to Cindy White for the opening, and to Chase McMurren and the UofTMed team for inviting me to deliver the 2020 Dr. Marguerite (Peggy) Hill Memorial Lecture on Indigenous Health. Presented by the Medical Alumni Association at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine in partnership with the University of Toronto Office of Indigenous Health and the Centre for Wise Practices in Indigenous Health at Women's College Hospital. [From YouTube]

"Exploring intergenerational trauma in Indigenous communities--and strategies for healing--with provocative prose and an empathetic approach Indigenous peoples have shockingly higher rates of addiction, depression, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions than other North Americans. According to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, these are a result of intergenerational trauma: the unresolved terror, anger, fear, and grief created in Indigenous communities by the painful experiences of colonialism, passed down from generation to generation. How are we to turn this desperate tide? With passionate argumentation and chillingly clear prose, author and educator Suzanne Methot uses her own and others' stories to trace the roots of colonial trauma and the mechanisms by which trauma has become intergenerational, and she explores the Indigenous ways of knowing that can lead us toward change." [From Publisher]

This seasonal food guide is a Haudenosaunee representation of how you can choose to eat and harvest foods in your Nations. Think about the foods and ceremonies that are happening in your Nations and map them out in a season fashion utilizing the four directions, medicines, life cycles and food availability. [From Author]

First Nations, Inuit and Métis populations in Canada suffer from a variety of health disparities, including higher rates of infant mortality, higher rates of diabetes and other chronic diseases, greater prevalence of tuberculosis and other communicable diseases, as well as a short life expectancy compared to non-Aboriginal Canadians. Public health experts, community health workers and health care providers are trying to reduce Aboriginal health disparities through research, programs and services. As part of this effort, a group of researchers from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States have proposed the development of a set of core competencies for Aboriginal public health. Together, they have established a collaboration called CIPHER: Competencies for Indigenous Public Health, Evaluation and Research. [From Author]

The National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH) is a national Indigenous organization established in 2005 by the Government of Canada and funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to support First Nations, Inuit, and Métis public health renewal and health equity through knowledge translation and exchange. The NCCIH is hosted by the University of Northern BC (UNBC) in Prince George, BC. [From Website]

By bringing together two important areas of contemporary health research—resilience among Indigenous youth and intersectionality theory—this study advances an intersectionality of resilience framework that exposes intersecting forms of oppression within inner city urban contexts, while also critically reframing intersectionality to include strength-based perspectives of overlapping individual, social, and structural resilience-promoting processes. Drawing on Indigenous methodologies, a “two-eyed seeing” approach, and Stake’s case study methodology involving multiple data sources (i.e., four sharing circles, 38 conversational interviews, four rounds of photovoice, and naturalistic interactions that occurred with 28 youth over an entire year), this qualitative study outlines three intersecting processes that facilitate youth resilience and wellness in various ways: (a) strengthening cultural identity and family connections; (b) engagement in social groups and service to self and community; and (c) practices of the arts and a positive outlook. In the end, implications for research, clinical practice, and health or community interventions are also discussed. [From Author]

Indigenous research methodologies prioritize community voices, perspectives, and stories. In Australia, yarning has emerged as a promising Indigenous oral history research methodology. Taking many forms for different purposes, common features of yarning include un-structured or semi-structured research interviews and discussion, flexible time schedules and Indigenous facilitation. Yarning is valued as a culturally appropriate and safe research conversational methodology that has the potential to yield findings and conclusions that are not always possible via traditional archive-based research. In this paper, we introduce a case study of yarning used specifically in a sport history research project in Australia. The focus is on a group of teenage girls from the Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement in Queensland who competed in marching in the 1950s and 1960s and offer a rare example of female Indigenous participation in organized sport during the oppressive ‘protection era’. Urged to ‘tell our story’ by surviving marchers, who are now community elders, we approached this research methodologically in two ways: archival-based research and yarning. The results from these two approaches were vastly different, and highlight the value of this oral history methodology in producing rich insight and counter-narratives to those available from traditional empirical sources. [From Author]

The health and wellness of Canada's Aboriginal peoples is often measured in narrow biomedical terms with little consideration given to how health is conceptualized in Aboriginal communities. This study attempts to address this gap by providing a perspective on health and wellness developed in collaboration with the Dene community of Lutsel K'e, Northwest Territories. The research was carried out in the wake of the environmental assessment of Canada's first diamond mine, located in the traditional territory of Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation. The study focussed on the questions “What is health?” and “What kinds of indicators would be useful for measuring the effects of diamond mining on the health of community?” Health was defined in the local language as “the Dene way of life.” Three core themes, 13 sub-themes and over 50 indicators of health were also identified through semi-structured interviews with individual community members. These indicators refer to many aspects of day-to-day life in Lutsel K'e, tying the concept of health, often discussed in theoretical terms, to tactile elements and processes at work at individual, household, and community levels. Interwoven in these narratives is a discourse about the importance of Dene values, knowledge, and institutions. The work is also telling of how small, remote northern communities respond to and resist the social, economic, and cultural pressures associated with natural resource development. [From Author]

The relationship between the First Peoples of Canada and researchers is changing as processes of self-determination and reconciliation are increasingly implemented. We used storytelling and ceremony to describe a historic event, the Indigenous Women’s Data Transfer Ceremony, where quantitative data of 318 Indigenous women living with HIV were transferred to Indigenous academic and community leaders. Relationship building, working together with a common vision, the Ceremony, and the subsequent activities were summarized as a journey of two boats. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Calls to Action and Indigenous ethical principles were central to the process. The article ends with team members’ reflections and the importance of shifting power to Indigenous Peoples in regard to data collection, their stories, and the resulting policies. [From Author]

The historical and ongoing struggles for Indigenous communities in settler-designed school systems across what is now named the United States call for radical educational reform that includes a decolonized curriculum model for Indigenous children. These efforts must first acknowledge that Indigenous education existed prior to European contact and that settler-designed schools were and are detrimental to the well-being of Indigenous children and communities. Radical reform efforts must also recognize the continued systemic racism ingrained in school structures that privilege the dominant, whitestream communities and disadvantage communities of color, including Indigenous communities. [From Author]

This paper presents results from a recently completed inquiry that investigated culturally relevant physical education for Aboriginal students. Employing a decolonizing research methodology (storywork), we engaged seven Mi’kmaw Elders and three Mi’kmaw community physical activity/education leaders in conversations about culturally relevant physical education. Attending to Halas, McCrae, and Carpenter’s (2012) framework for culturally relevant physical education, we share our findings related to Mi’kmaw students and school communities. The results ought to be of notable interest to those who share an interest in culturally relevant pedagogy, physical education, and/or Aboriginal education. [From Author]

This article examines the experiences of select Indigenous female boxers from Canada and the United States to explore and appreciate the diverse meanings they attach to amateur and professional boxing and to write these athletes into history by constructing short case studies of fighters active from the 1970s through the 2010s. We augment each fighter’s story with context from scholarly and secondary source materials, such as newspapers, to round out each woman’s story and to illustrate the multiple overlapping conditions that shaped their boxing experiences. We embrace the work of van Ingen on the importance of understanding female boxers at the intersection of race and gender. In doing so, our work emphasizes the ideological foundations embedded in narratives, so that each narrative presents a certain point of view that results in real practical effects, whether it be supporting White liberal feminism or Indigenous self-determination. Following van Ingen, this article views all writing, whether by journalists or professional historians, as ideological acts, capable of exalting select athletes while marginalizing others. [From Author]

A childrens book collection of biographies of Native American athletes: Kenny Dobbs (Choctaw): Basketball dunking champion -- Shoni Shimmel (Umatilla): Professional women's basketball player -- Cheri Becerra-Madsen (Omaha): Wheelchair-racing Olympian and world record holder -- Cory Witherill (Navajo): Indy race car driver -- Alwyn Morris (Mohawk): Olympic gold medalist in kayaking -- Nagomi Lang (Karuk): Ice dancer, Olympian, and figure skater -- Beau Kemp (Choctaw and Chickasaw): Professional baseball pitcher -- Shelly Hruska (Métis): Ringette Team Canada -- Jordin Tootoo (Inuit): National Hockey League star -- Ross Anderson (Cheyenne-Arapahoe, Mescalero Apache): Fastest skier in North America -- Stephanie Murata (Osage): Championship wrestler -- Jim Thorpe (Sauk and Fox): An American legend -- Delby Powles (Mohawk): Lacrosse champion. [From Publisher]

Launched by healthcare providers in January 2018, the #aHand2Hold campaign confronted the Quebec government's practice of separating children from their families during medical evacuation airlifts, which disproportionately affected remote and northern Indigenous communities. Pediatric emergency physician Samir Shaheen-Hussain's captivating narrative of this successful campaign, which garnered unprecedented public attention and media coverage, seeks to answer lingering questions about why such a cruel practice remained in place for so long. In doing so it serves as an indispensible case study of contemporary medical colonialism in Quebec. Fighting for A Hand to Hold exposes the medical establishment's role in the displacement, colonization, and genocide of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Through meticulously gathered government documentation, historical scholarship, media reports, public inquiries, and personal testimonies, Shaheen-Hussain connects the draconian medevac practice with often-disregarded crimes and medical violence inflicted specifically on Indigenous children. This devastating history and ongoing medical colonialism prevent Indigenous communities from attaining internationally recognized measures of health and social well-being because of the pervasive, systemic anti-Indigenous racism that persists in the Canadian public health care system--and in settler society at large. Shaheen-Hussain's unique perspective combines his experience as a frontline pediatrician with his long-standing involvement in anti-authoritarian social justice movements. Sparked by the indifference and callousness of those in power, this book draws on the innovative work of Indigenous scholars and activists to conclude that a broader decolonization struggle calling for reparations, land reclamation, and self-determination for Indigenous peoples is critical to achieve reconciliation in Canada. [From Publisher]

Background: Indigenous people experience significant poor oral health outcomes and poorer access to oral health care in comparison to the general population. The integration of oral health care with primary health care has been highlighted to be effective in addressing these oral health disparities. Scoping studies are an increasingly popular approach to reviewing health research evidence. Two-eyed seeing is an approach for both Western and Indigenous knowledge to come together to aid understanding and solve problems. Thus, the two-eyed seeing theoretical framework advocates viewing the world with one eye focused on Indigenous knowledge and the other eye on Western knowledge. This scoping review was conducted to systematically map the available integrated primary oral health care programs and their outcomes in these communities using the two-eyed seeing concept. Methods: This scoping review followed Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage framework and its methodological advancement by Levac et al. A literature search with defined eligibility criteria was performed via several electronic databases, non-indexed Indigenous journals, Indigenous health organizational websites, and grey literature. The charted data was classified, analyzed, and reported using numeral summary and qualitative content analysis. The two-eyed seeing concept guided the interpretation and synthesis of the evidence on approaches and outcomes. Results: A total of 29 publications describing 30 programs conducted in Australia and North America from 1972 to 2019 were included in the final analysis. The following four program categories emerged from the analysis: oral health promotion and prevention programs (n = 13), comprehensive dental services (n = 13), fly in, fly out dental services (n = 3), and teledentistry (n = 1). Biomedical approaches for integrated primary oral health care were leadership and governance, administration and funding, capacity building, infrastructure and technology, team work, and evidence-based practice. Indigenous approaches included the vision for holistic health, culturally appropriate services, community engagement, shared responsibility, and cultural safety. The program outcomes were identified for biological, mental, and emotional dimensions of oral health; however, measurement of the spiritual dimension was missing. Conclusion: Our results suggest that a multiple integrated primary oral health care approach with a particular focus on Indigenous culture seems to be efficient and relevant in improving Indigenous oral health. [From Author]

Of the 94 Calls to Action within the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) Final Report, almost one-fifth focused on matters of education. This represents a strong belief that formal teaching and learning can positively impact the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada. However, there is no established framework for such education. Reflecting on the report and drawing on critical pedagogy scholarship, I work towards a better understanding of the necessary pedagogy required for education for reconciliation. Recognizing the ways in which the work of “reconciliation” is situated in particular cultural, historical, and social realities, I outline an approach to education for reconciliation that is attentive to the Canadian context. Drawing on both critical pedagogy and Indigenous knowledges, this framework attempts to honour the TRC Final Report, offering an approach that is both pointedly critical and deeply relational. [From Author]

Imagine that your daughter or sister or mother disappeared – and when you asked for help from police, your concerns weren’t taken seriously. Then, a week later her body is discovered.
While the exact details of the story may vary, this is the current scenario for thousands of family members of missing and murdered Indigenous women. After years of advocacy and emotional turmoil, a national inquiry has finally been struck to find out what went wrong and how to fix it. For many family members, news of the inquiry is accompanied by a sense of relief and perhaps a glimmer of hope that the healing might finally begin. The focus of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, however, is on the systemic causes and institutional policies and practices that underlie this national tragedy. It is not designed to directly respond to the suffering of families. In fact, Inquiry-related media and processes, such as providing statements, even if “trauma-informed” are likely to exacerbate suffering. We therefore call upon the public health community to work in partnership with local Indigenous and allied communities and organizations to ensure that adequate and ongoing supports are in place for families before, during and especially after the Inquiry proceedings. [From Author]

To acquire an understanding of the pathways of health information dissemination and use by Indigenous community members, the researchers applied an Indigenous participatory action research approach in partnership with one urban Inuit, one urban Métis, and one semirural First Nations community in Ontario, Canada. A descriptive community case study was conducted in each community through the use of focus groups, key informant interviews, and document inquiry. Results were corroborated by the communities. Each of the three community consultations generated distinct and striking data about health information sources and dissemination strategies; decision-making processes; locally relevant concepts of health, local health services, and programs; community structures; and mechanisms of interface with noncommunity systems. In addition, several crosscutting themes were identified. The participatory research approach successfully engaged community partners. These findings support the hypothesis that understanding local Indigenous processes of knowledge creation, dissemination, and utilization is a necessary prerequisite to effective knowledge translation in Indigenous contexts. [From Author]

Many disciplines have used focus groups in research and the use has increased in the past 15 years ( Smith, 1995). Procedural concerns have been explored, such as the selection of the participants, the location, and the size of the group, but little attention has been given to the consideration of cultural influences. The purpose of this paper is to focus attention on the impact of culture in conducting focus groups. Experiences from 15 focus groups conducted in two qualitative research studies with two Washington state Indian tribes over a 5 year period are presented and illustrate the importance of culture in conducting focus groups. Communication patterns, roles, relationships, and traditions were found to be important elements that must be considered in conducting focus groups cross-culturally. While some strategies discovered were found to be helpful, additional research is needed. [From Author]

The year 2020 marks five years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada released its Calls to Action, directing nursing to take action on both “truth” and “reconciliation.” The aim of this article is to examine how nurses have responded to the TRC’s call for truth in uncovering nursing’s involvement in past and present colonial harms that continue to negatively impact Indigenous people. A narrative review was used to broadly examine nurses’ responses to uncovering nursing’s complicity in five colonial harms: Indian hospitals, Indian Residential Schools, child apprehension, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), and forced sterilization. The paucity of results during the post-TRC period demonstrates a lack of scholarship in uncovering the truth of nursing’s complicity in these systems. Based on findings, we explore two potential barriers in undertaking this work in nursing, including a challenge to the image of nursing and anti-Indigenous racism. [From Author]

A seminar that talks about the findings in the publication of "In Plain Sight"

The summary report, In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care, concludes that this problem is widely acknowledged by many who work in the system, including those in leadership positions. The report makes 24 recommendations to address what is a systemic problem, deeply rooted in colonialism. [From Website]

The full report, In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care, concludes that this problem is widely acknowledged by many who work in the system, including those in leadership positions. The report makes 24 recommendations to address what is a systemic problem, deeply rooted in colonialism. [From Website]

The International Journal of Indigenous Health (IJIH) was established to advance knowledge and understanding to improve Indigenous health. The Journal seeks to bring knowledge from diverse intellectual traditions together with a focus on culturally diverse Indigenous voices, methodologies and epistemology. The Journal is peer-reviewed, online, open-access and shares innovative health research across disciplines, Indigenous communities, and countries. Building on its trusted reputation for sharing community-relevant and high-quality knowledge, the IJIH welcomes submissions within the IJIH mandate from researchers and practitioners in Indigenous health around the world. [From Publisher]

Abstract

Objectives
In Canada, and elsewhere, indigenous peoples who use illicit drugs and/or alcohol (IPWUID/A) commonly experience vulnerability and a disproportionate burden of harm related to substance use. In Vancouver, Canada, there are concerns that inequitable access, retention, and post treatment care within substance use treatment programs may exacerbate these harms. This study sought to understand the policies and practices with the potential to produce inequities and vulnerabilities for IPWUID/A in substance use treatment, situate the vulnerabilities of IPWUID/A in substance use treatment within the context of wider structural vulnerability of IPWUID/A, and generate recommendations for culturally safe treatment options.


Methods
This research employed a qualitative indigenous-led community-based approach using the indigenous methodology of talking circles to explore experiences with substance use treatment. Under the participatory research framework, community researchers led the study design, data collection, and analysis. Talking circles elicited peers’ experiences of substance use treatment and were audio-recorded and transcribed.


Results
The talking circles identified three key themes that illustrated the experiences of IPWUID/A when accessing substance use treatment: (a) barriers to accessing detox and substance use treatment; (b) incompatible and culturally inappropriate structure, policies, and procedures within treatment programs, such as forced Christianity within treatment settings; and (c) the importance of culturally relevant, peer-led substance use treatment programming.


Discussion
Our work demonstrates that some IPWUID/A have limited access to or retention in mainstream treatment due to excessive waiting times, strict rules, and lack of cultural appropriate care while in treatment. However, IPWUID/A narratives revealed strategies that can improve IPWUID/A access and experiences, including those informed by the diverse perspectives of IPWUID/A and those that include trauma-informed and culturally safe practices. [From Author]

Several correlates of Indigenous youth participation in sport and/or physical activities (S/PA) have been recognized; however, there is a paucity of research on the relative importance of these predictors, especially those related to the context in which the youth’s physical activities take place. The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to explore the correlates of participation in S/PA among off-reserve Indigenous youth. Using data from the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS), our analysis was limited to those between the ages of 12 and 17 who were attending elementary or high school and were identified as having a single Indigenous identity (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit [N=4,790]). Using logistic regression, we first assessed unadjusted the effects of each of the correlates on participation in S/PA. We then examined the magnitude of the independent effects of these correlates, controlling for the effects of others. Sampling weights and bootstrap weights were used to account for the multi-stage sampling design employed in the 2012 APS. The results of the multivariate analysis suggest that, controlling for other correlates, youth’s sex, age, health status, drinking behaviour, participation in Indigenous cultural activities and volunteering in community, as well as parental involvement in school activities, strength of family ties, and living in a lone-parent family had statistically significant effects on participation in S/PA. Further research should explore the relationships between these correlates using meditational models to better understand the nature of their effects on participation in S/PA at this age. [From Author]

Introduction: The objective of this study was to assess the effect of parental residential school attendance on youth's participation in sport and physical activity (S/PA) at school and to explore the potential role that parental education and parental involvement in school activities may play in mediating this relationship.
Methods: This cross-sectional study used the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Survey and included youth ages 12-17 (N=4,840). Structural equation modeling techniques were used for models with observed and latent variables. Sampling weights and bootstrap weights were used for all analyses.
Results: The results indicate 62.87% of youth participated in S/PA; 27.54% at school; 31.52% outside of school, and 40.94% in school and outside school. Mothers who attended residential schools had lower levels of educational attainment. Maternal education had a positive effect on parental involvement in school activities in dual parent households and parental involvement had a positive effect on S/PA. The indirect effects of residential school attendance on parental involvement and participation in S/PA were significant only for youth living with both parents and only for the effect of maternal residential school attendance. Maternal residential school attendance had a negative effect on parental involvement and on participation in S/PA.
Discussion: The findings from this study indicate that interpersonal factors and historical contexts shape Indigenous youth's participation in S/PA. [From Author]

Finding ways to validate and encourage traditional Aboriginal values and customs into modern western (whitestream(f.1)) educational practices must become a priority for teachers who work with Aboriginal students. Circle work, sometimes referred to as "talking circles" (Four Worlds Development Project 1985) is one of many customs that can be adapted for classroom use, parenting (Bruyere 1984), healing (Hampton et al. 1995), and culturally relevant sentencing and justice treatment programs (Ross 1996). While serving as a useful tool for behaviour modelling and classroom management, the circle embraces and teaches the traditional values of respect, care, and noninterference (Ross 1992). [From Author]

Children and youth comprise 40% of the Canadian Aboriginal population and experience gross inequities in health compared to their peers. Emerging data from health indicators (e.g., morbidity and mortality rates) provide some insights on the patterns of disease among children living off-reserve, based on population-level data. For example, infant mortality, obesity, diabetes, and depression rates are all much higher than among the general population. There is little evidence to guide the delivery and assess the impact of local-level health promotion and health care services for Aboriginal children and youth.

Self-report is the gold standard in health and well-being assessment for children over 5 years of age. However, we cannot assume that the content of self-report measures, developed for other cultures, is valid for Aboriginal children and youth.10 The purpose of
this research was to identify concepts of health and well-being, from the perspectives of Aboriginal children and youth, to form the basis of a new measure. [From Author]

Learning Bird was founded on the principle that students learn best when the content they are engaging with is interesting and relevant to them. This is why we work in collaboration with schools and communities to integrate local Indigenous culture, language, history, and teachings into the content. We help communities infuse their voices into classrooms across Canada, to the benefit of all students. [From Website]