Northern Public Affairs

Northern Public Affairs August 2020 Volume 6, Special Issue 3 Changing NWT’s health system to improve Indigenous health outcomes DEBBIE DELANCEY Perspectives on health research in the NWT PERTICE MOFFITT Evaluating on-the-land programs MARY OLLIER & OTHERS Training Tłįchǫ citizens in community-based research SOPHIE ROHER & Hotıì ts’eeda ANITA DANIELS-BLACK Working together Cultural safety through Indigenous digital storytelling SHELLEY WIART for good health Community-university partnerships Research, resurgence, and Indigenous health for research and action DR. DONNA MAY KIMMALIARDJUK ANDREW SPRING & OTHERS LIANNE MANTLA-LOOK on community nursing Reviving the Įdaà Trail with TOM ANDREW, & JOHN B. ZOE What happens after the diamonds? REBECCA HALL An interview with KIMBERLEY FAIRMAN on knowledge translation and community health research DR. SANGITA SHARMA discusses community-based health research Canada $9.99 SAFE ON THE LAND Artist: Melaw Nakehk’o FOR MORE INFORMATION: HSS.GOV.NT.CA CANADA.CA/CORONAVIRUS Northern Public Affairs August 2020 Hotıì ts’eeda – Working together for good health 6 Dr. Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox Research, resurgence, and Indigenous health 8 Dr. Donna May Kimmaliardjuk ICHR’s Kimberley Fairman on knowledge translation and community based 12 approaches to health research Rachel MacNeill Community research, community priorities: An interview with Dr. Sangita Sharma 15 Rachel MacNeill Reviving the Įdaà Trail: Interview with Tom Andrew and John B. Zoe 19 Jessica Simpson Dene Heroes: How the Sahtú is strengthening literacy and leadership 23 Jessica Simpson, with files from Mary-Anne Neal Bridging the gap between two world views: Perspectives of an Indigenous nurse 25 Lianne Mantla-Look FEATURES Changing the system: Improving Indigenous health outcomes in NWT through policy and practice 29 Debbie DeLancey Conducting research in the Northwest Territories: Perspectives from a health 39 and social science researcher Pertice Moffitt Project Jewel: Innovation in evaluating an on-the-land program 45 Mary Ollier, Audrey R. Giles, Meghan Etter, Jimmy Ruttan, Peggy Day, Nellie Elanik, Ruth Goose, Esther Ipana, Sarah Rogers,Evelyn Storr, Francine Darroch, & Tricia McGuire-Adams Strengthening health and wellness through community-based research in the Tłįchǫ region 51 Sophie Roher & Anita Daniels-Black Decolonizing health care: Indigenous digital storytelling as pedagogical tool for 55 cultural safety in health care settings Shelley Wiart Building community-university research partnerships to enhance capacity for 63 climate change and food security action in the NWT Andrew Spring, Kelly Skinner, Sonia D. Wesche, Jennifer Fresque-Baxter, Meghan Brockington, Gina Bayha, Warren Dodd, Jessica Dutton, Myriam Fillion, Tiff-Annie Kenny, Brian Laird, Alex Latta, Jullian MacLean, Kaitlyn Menard, Sonja Ostertag, Mylene Ratelle, Melaine Simba, & John B. Zoe After the diamonds: “Blue sky” visions 68 Rebecca Hall This special issue of Northern Public Affairs was produced in partnership with: This issue of Northern Public Affairs is distributed with the support of: Northern Public Affairs Volume 6, Special Issue 3 August 2020 Founding Editorial Team Joshua Gladstone Sheena Kennedy Dalseg Jerald Sabin Managing Editor Joshua Gladstone Guest Editors Stephanie Irlbacher Fox Rachel MacNeill Editorial Team Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox Rachel MacNeill Jessica Simpson Layout and Production Mark Finn Copy Editing Alex Merrill COVER IMAGE: By Amos Scott LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address, and daytime phone num- ber via email to [email protected], or by mail to Northern Public Affairs 57 Balsam St., Ottawa, ON CANADA K1R 6W8. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium. All letters become property of Northern Public Affairs and will not be returned. VOLUME 6, SPECIAL ISSUE 3, August 2020. NORTHERN PUBLIC AFFAIRS (ISSN 2291-9902) is published three times a year by Northern Public Affairs. NORTHERN PUBLIC AFFAIRS IS A TRADEMARK OF NORTHERN PUBLIC AFFAIRS. COPYRIGHT © 2020 NORTHERN PUBLIC AFFAIRS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN CANADA. INTRODUCTION Hotıì ts’eeda – Working together for good health Dr. Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox his special issue of Northern Public Affairs on Department of Medicine’s Global and Indigenous Working Together for Good Health is pub- Health Research Group. lishedT in partnership with Hotıì ts’eeda. “Hotıì ts’eeda” (pronounced Ho-tee’ t’say-dah) Hotıì ts’eeda is funded by the Canadian In- in the Tłı̨chǫ language roughly translates into: stitutes of Health Research Strategy for Patient working together for good health, in a way that we Oriented Research (SPOR), and is one of 11 such leave each other in a state of grace. health research support units in each province In the NWT, Indigenous Peoples have suffered and the NWT (with Yukon and Nunavut units in a long history of overcoming colonization and its planning stages). SPOR SUPPORT (Support for impacts. As an organization, Hotıì ts’eeda involves People and Patient-Oriented Research and Trials) patients in health research primarily by building units are meant to promote and establish best prac- health research capacity with a focus on Indige- tices and their uptake, by involving patients in all nous Peoples and communities, in ways that build stages of health research, and ensuring that health on Indigenous strengths. research results make it into the hands of health Themes explored in this issue include how to policy makers. build trust between Indigenous communities and In the provinces, SPOR SUPPORT Units look the health system. Building trust requires working and function differently from Hotıì ts’eeda: Those in a way that supports Indigenous reclamation of units focus mainly on health research being done in Indigenous governance and control of health re- hospitals or by scientists, health sciences research- search, acknowledging and valuing Indigenous ers and medical practitioners, and in the context knowledge and methods, and changing common- of larger scientific and Western medical initiatives. place and harmful approaches to conceptualizing, The provinces have significant physical infrastruc- interpreting, and deploying research in ways that utre (hosptials, univerisites) and health researchers are harmful to Indigenous Peoples and commu- and professionals, as well as university students nities. It means transforming research paradigms involved in unit activities. In the NWT, only four grounded in non-Indigenous perspectives, values, communities have hospitals, and there is no uni- and priorities that emphasize deficits, and instead versity. The context for doing research, and doing supporting research that builds on Indigenous cul- research in a good way, is completely different. tures and realities, recognizing them as strengths. Hotıì ts’eeda is the only SPOR SUPPORT Too often the stories we hear about Indigenous Unit in Canada that is hosted by a self-governing health and Indigenous Peoples highlight deficits. Indigenous government, the Tłı̨chǫ Government. Programs and services often require Indigenous It is the only one with a governing council made Peoples to change to fit into what is being offered. up of a majority of Indigenous governments work- Hotıì ts’eeda’s partners and Governing Council ing together toward a vision that sees building have been clear: this organization is one that must health research approaches and health research meet Indigenous people where they are at, and it capacity with a focus that incorporates Indigenous must recognize and build on the strengths in Indig- knowledges and ways of knowing. The Governing enous communities. This is an orientation of re- Council of Hotıì ts’eeda includes representatives spect, and it is in contrast to approaches that mar- of the Tłįchǫ Government, the Inuvialuit Region- ginalize Indigenous Peoples. al Corporation, the Gwich’in Tribal Council, the The name of our organization is also our mis- Délı̨nę Got’ı̨nę Government, the Government of sion: To establish norms in health research where the Northwest Territories Department of Health the work undertaken and accomplished is done in and Social Services, and the University of Alberta a way that researchers and their partners, commu- 6 Northern Public Affairs, August 2020 nities and policymakers, organizations and funders This special issue highlights examples of ex- leave each other in a state of grace. That is the cellence and innovation, where communities are foundation of any good relationship: Respectful leading the way on their health priorities and collaboration that lays the ground work for a con- partnerships are being created that embody the text of trust and ongoing relationship. Colonization meaning of working together for good health. and colonial approaches to research leave no one Some examples describe areas where more needs in a state of grace. Dominant-subordinate power to be done, and others highlight where momen- relations, in whatever context they are found, leave tum is growing across the NWT. The intention of no one in a state of grace. Working respectfully, in this volume is to provide readers with a deeper partnership, and in ways that create spaces for In- understanding and appreciation for the impor- digenous control and decision making, is central to tance of Indigenous cultural resurgence as a ba- Hotıì ts’eeda’s mandate. sis for good health. And an appreciation of the Some of the contributions in this volume are importance of working together

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