Integration of Indigenous Research Methodologies, Traditional Ecological Knowledge and molecular scatology in an assessment of mesocarnivore presence, diet and habitat use on Yurok Ancestral Lands.

Partnerships between Tribes and researchers in wildlife monitoring and application of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) have taken a variety of forms, and some scholars have noted a need for culturally sensitive approaches. Guided by Indigenous Research Methodologies, this research is coupled with Yurok TEK, or hlkelonah 'ue-megetohl ('to take care of the earth'), enabling an applied, culturally sensitive approach in partnership with the Yurok Tribe. We present results from a molecular scatology study of wildlife within the ancestral territory of the Yurok Tribe. Scats were collected opportunistically on road transects. All samples (N = 132) were analysed via DNA barcoding and results matched to documented 'Oohl 'we-toh (Yurok language) names to determine the depositor species (N = 8). Though there were four focal mesocarnivore species in our study, only bobcat (Chmuuek; Lynx rufus) and gray fox (Wergers; Urocyon cinereoargenteus) were detected as depositor species. Post hoc analyses were conducted to explore distribution, habitat use and selection in a use-availability context, and food habits of these two species. We found almost complete separation of bobcat and gray fox use of transects, as well as indication of partitioning of vegetation cover types and food. We demonstrate an integrated framework of Western and Indigenous sciences that allows the Indigenous researcher to transcend structured academic disciplinary boundaries. Our approach can be modified for partnerships between Tribes, agencies, academics and students for wildlife monitoring in broader geographic regions in various research applications.

Design and implementation of the Our Health Counts (OHC) methodology for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis (FNIM) health assessment and response in urban and related homelands.

OBJECTIVES: Methods for enumeration and population-based health assessment for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis (FNIM) living in Canadian cities are underdeveloped, with resultant gaps in essential demographic, health, and health service access information. Our Health Counts (OHC) was designed to engage FNIM peoples in urban centres in "by community, for community" population health assessment and response. METHODS: The OHC methodology was designed to advance Indigenous self-determination and FNIM data sovereignty in urban contexts through deliberate application of Indigenous principles and linked implementation strategies. Three interwoven principles (good relationships are foundational; research as gift exchange; and research as a vehicle for Indigenous community resurgence) provide the framework for linked implementation strategies which include actively building and maintaining relationships; meaningful Indigenous community guidance, leadership, and participation in all aspects of the project; transparent and equitable sharing of project resources and benefits; and technical innovations, including respondent-driven sampling, customized comprehensive health assessment surveys, and linkage to ICES data holdings to generate measures of health service use. RESULTS: OHC has succeeded across six urban areas in Ontario to advance Indigenous data sovereignty and health assessment capacity; recruit and engage large population-representative cohorts of FNIM living in urban and related homelands; customize comprehensive health surveys and data linkages; generate previously unavailable population-based FNIM demographic, health, and social information; and translate results into enhanced policy, programming, and practice. CONCLUSION: The OHC methodology has been demonstrated as effective, culturally relevant, and scalable across diverse Ontario cities.

RéSUMé: OBJECTIFS: Les méthodes de dénombrement et d'évaluation populationnelle de la santé des personnes des Premières Nations, des Inuits et des Métis (PNIM) vivant dans les villes du Canada sont sous-développées, ce qui laisse des lacunes dans les informations essentielles sur le profil démographique, la santé et l'accès aux services de santé. Le projet Notre santé compte (NSC) vise à collaborer avec les personnes des PNIM dans les centres urbains au moyen d'une évaluation de la santé des populations et d'une intervention « pour nous-mêmes, par nous-mêmes ¼. MéTHODE: La méthode NSC est conçue pour renforcer l'autodétermination autochtone et la souveraineté des données des PNIM vivant en milieu urbain par l'application délibérée de principes autochtones et de stratégies de mise en œuvre connexes. Trois principes imbriqués (« les bonnes relations sont fondamentales ¼; « la recherche en tant qu'échange de cadeaux ¼; et « la recherche comme vecteur de résurgence des communautés autochtones ¼) constituent le cadre de stratégies de mise en œuvre connexes : l'établissement et le maintien actifs de relations; la guidance, la participation et le leadership significatifs des communautés autochtones dans tous les aspects du projet; le partage transparent et équitable des ressources et des avantages du projet; et les innovations techniques, dont l'échantillonnage en fonction des répondants, les enquêtes de santé exhaustives et personnalisées, et les couplages avec les fonds de données de l'Institut de recherche en services de santé (ICES), pour produire des indicateurs d'utilisation des services de santé. RéSULTATS: L'approche NSC a réussi dans six agglomérations urbaines de l'Ontario : à renforcer la souveraineté des données et la capacité d'évaluation de la santé des populations autochtones; à recruter et à mobiliser de vastes cohortes représentatives des PNIM vivant en milieu urbain et sur les territoires connexes; à personnaliser des enquêtes de santé exhaustives et des couplages de données; à générer des informations démographiques, sanitaires et sociales non disponibles auparavant sur les populations des PNIM; et à traduire ces résultats en politiques, en programmes et en pratiques améliorés. CONCLUSION: Il est démontré que la méthode NSC est efficace, culturellement appropriée et modulable dans différentes villes de l'Ontario.

Developing Trust in Collaborative Research: Utilizing Indigenous Pacific Methodologies to Create Dialogue Within Research Teams.

This article explores the processes involved in developing international, cross-cultural research teams. Scholarship on Indigenous and Pacific Methodologies demonstrate the importance of employing methodologies that center Indigenous approaches to research and relationships. This article explores using these methodologies within research teams as a preliminary step in developing sustainable and impactful international, cross-cultural research teams. Although this is not a formal study, the article reports that the importance of building trust within research teams as an essential step in addition to building trust with communities.

Exploring the Lived Experience of Self-management Practices of Indigenous Men, Women and Two-spirited Individuals Living With Type 2 Diabetes in Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand: A Scoping Review.

OBJECTIVES: Indigenous men, women and two-spirted individuals have been significantly impacted by type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its complications. It is believed that T2DM in Indigenous peoples is a direct result of colonization and the introduction of changes to traditional Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and living. The broader question will guide the aim of this scoping review: What is currently known about the lived experience of self-managing diabetes in Indigenous men, women, and two-spirited individuals living with T2DM in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand? Specific objectives of this scoping review include 1) exploring the lived experience of self-management practices of Indigenous men, women, and two-spirited individuals living with T2DM; and 2) describing how self-management experiences differ from physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual perspectives. METHODS: A total of 6 databases were searched, including Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsychINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane, and the Native Health Database. An example of keywords searched included "self-management," "Indigenous," and "type 2 diabetes mellitus." A total of 37 articles were included in the synthesis of results, and the 4 quadrants of the Medicine Wheel were used to organize and interpret data. RESULTS: The use of culture within self-management practices was important for Indigenous peoples. Demographic data were collected for many of the studies, including sex and gender characteristics, but only a small number of studies addressed the influence of sex and gender on outcomes. CONCLUSION: Our findings inform future Indigenous diabetes education and health-care service delivery and future research.

Indigenous Social Enterprises and Health and Wellbeing: A Scoping Review and Conceptual Framework.

Indigenous people and communities are establishing social enterprises to address social disadvantage and overcome health inequities in their communities. This review sought to characterize the spectrum of Indigenous social enterprises in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States to identify the operational models and cultural values that underpin them and their impact on Indigenous health and wellbeing. The scoping review followed Arksey and O'Malley's six-stage methodological framework with recommended enhancements by Levac et al. underpinned by Indigenous Standpoint Theory, and an Indigenous advisory group to provide cultural oversight and direction. Of the 589 documents screened 115 documents were included in the review. A conceptual framework of seven different operational models of Indigenous social enterprises was developed based on differing levels of Indigenous ownership, control, and management: (1) individual, (2) collective, (3) delegative, (4) developmental, (5) supportive, (6) prescriptive and (7) paternalistic. Models with 100% Indigenous ownership and control were more likely to contribute to improved health and wellbeing by increasing self-determination and strengthening culture and promoting healing than others. Indigenous social enterprises could offer a more holistic and sustainable approach to health equity and health promotion than the siloed, programmatic model common in public health policy.

Co-Designing Health Service Evaluation Tools That Foreground First Nation Worldviews for Better Mental Health and Wellbeing Outcomes.

It is critical that health service evaluation frameworks include Aboriginal people and their cultural worldviews from design to implementation. During a large participatory action research study, Elders, service leaders and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal researchers co-designed evaluation tools to test the efficacy of a previously co-designed engagement framework. Through a series of co-design workshops, tools were built using innovative collaborative processes that foregrounded Aboriginal worldviews. The workshops resulted in the development of a three-way survey that records the service experiences related to cultural safety from the perspective of Aboriginal clients, their carer/s, and the service staff with whom they work. The surveys centralise the role of relationships in client-service interactions, which strongly reflect their design from an Aboriginal worldview. This paper provides new insights into the reciprocal benefits of engaging community Elders and service leaders to work together to develop new and more meaningful ways of servicing Aboriginal families. Foregrounding relationships in service evaluations reinstates the value of human connection and people-centred engagement in service delivery which are central to rebuilding historically fractured relationships between mainstream services and Aboriginal communities. This benefits not only Aboriginal communities, but also other marginalised populations expanding the remit of mainstream services to be accessed by many.

A Research Publication and Grant Preparation Program for Native American Faculty in STEM: Implementation of the Six R's Indigenous Framework.

Faculty members in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines are typically expected to pursue grant funding and publish to support their research or teaching agendas. Providing effective professional development programs on grant preparation and management and on research publications is crucial. This study shares the design and implementation of such a program for Native STEM faculty (NAF-STEM) from two tribal colleges and one public, non-tribal, Ph.D. granting institution during a 3-year period. The overall development and implementation of the program is centered on the six R's Indigenous framework - Respect, Relationship, Representation, Relevance, Responsibility, and Reciprocity. The role of NAF-STEM and their interactions with the program, as members of the community formed by their participation, impacted the program. Their practices and the program co-emerged over time, each providing structure and meaning for the other. Through such reciprocity, NAF-STEM and the program research team continually refined the program through their mutual engagement. They took on the shared responsibility of the program while they participated in and shaped its practices. The process and results of formative and summative assessment and the impact of COVID-19 on the program are reported. Results of the program offer lessons on the implementation of six R's framework in professional development at institutions of higher education.

The "bug, that little guy" in the Colombian indigenous territories: Weaving thoughts with the Kankuama community in times of pandemic / El "bicho, ese chiquito" en los territorios indígenas colombianos: Tejiendo pensamientos con la comunidad Kankuama en tiempos de pandemia / O "bicho, aquele guri" nos territórios indígenas colombianos: tecendo pensamentos com a comunidade Kankuama, em tempos de pandemia

Objective: This paper aims to reflect on the experiences involved in affirming life and preparing for the death of the indigenous Colombian Kankuama community, in the face of the pandemic and physical, sociocultural, ecological and spiritual effects that underlie and impact their identity, visibility, awareness and occupational participation. Methods: Through collaborative ethnic-national research based on indigenous thought, "Yarning" or fabric was used to recover the narratives of three kankuamos through two semi-structured face-to-face and one virtual interviews, recorded and transcribed between April and August 2020. The narratives allowed to weave reflections linked to the struggle for the preservation of their own intercultural health dynamics, recognizing elements linked to its history, the resignification of the virus as a phenomenon for the learning of humankind in the relationship with Mother Earth, and the land. The paper also addresses the occupational processes linked to death, emphasizing the learnings of the loss and awareness of the spiritual legacy of the elders, seniors, and sages for the interpretation and guidance of mortuary practices towards the "Chundwa". Conclusion: The Kankuamos'perceptions on the current health situation, health and well-being concepts are presented, based on the "Ley de Sé" and its relationship with death-related occupations related to social, cultural and natural equilibrium, which must be considered within occupational therapy and occupational science in Latin America.  

Objetivo : Este artículo tiene como objetivo reflexionar sobre las experiencias de afirmación de vida y preparación para la muerte de la comunidad indígena Kankuama colombiana, frente a la pandemia y los efectos físicos, socioculturales, ecológicos y espirituales que subyacen e impactan en su identidad, visibilidad , conciencia y participación ocupacional. Método: A través de investigaciones colaborativas étnico-nacionales basadas en el pensamiento indígena, se utilizó "Yarning" o tejido para recuperar las narrativas de tres kankuamos a través de dos entrevistas cara a cara semiestructuradas y una virtual, grabadas y transcritas entre abril y agosto de 2020. Las narrativas permitieron reflexiones vinculadas a la lucha por la preservación de la propia dinámica intercultural de la salud, reconociendo elementos vinculados a su historia, la resignificación del virus como fenómeno del aprendizaje del hombre en la relación con la Madre Tierra y el territorio. El artículo también aborda los procesos ocupacionales vinculados a la muerte, enfatizando las lecciones aprendidas de la pérdida y conciencia del legado espiritual de los ancianos, Conclusiones : Se recuperan las percepciones de los Kankuamos sobre la situación de salud actual, conceptos de salud y bienestar, a partir de la Ley de Sé y su relación con ocupaciones relacionadas con la muerte, el equilibrio social, cultural y natural, que deben ser considerados dentro de la terapiacional y la ciencia de la ocupación en América Latina.  

Objetivo : Este artigo tem como objetivo refletir sobre as experiências de afirmação de vida e prepação para a morte da comunidade indígena Kankuama colombiana, diante da pandemia e dos efeitos físicos, socioculturais, ecológicos e espirituais que fundamentam e impactam sua identidade, visibilidade, consciência e participação ocupacional. Métodos: Por meio de pesquisa étnico-nacional colaborativa com base no pensamento indígena, o "Yarning" ou tecido foi utilizado para recuperar as narrativas de três kankuamos por meio de duas entrevistas semiestruturadas face a face e uma virtual, gravadas e transcritas entre abril e agosto de 2020. As narrativas permitiram tecer reflexões vinculadas à luta pela preservação da própria dinâmica intercultural da saúde, reconhecendo elementos vinculados à sua historia, a ressignificação do vírus como fenômeno de aprendizagem do homem na relação com a Mãe Terra e com o território.O artigo também aborda os processos ocupacionais vinculados à morte, enfatizando os aprendizados da perda e da consciência do legado espiritual dos mais velhos, decanos e sábios para una interpretación e orientação das práticas mortuárias da pasagem ao "Chundwa".  Conclusiones : Resgatam-se as percepções que os Kankuamos possuem sobre a situação atual de saúde, conceitos de saúde e bem-estar, com base na "Ley de Sé" e sua relação com as ocupações relacionadas à morte, ao equilíbrio social, cultural e natural, que devem ser considerado dentro de la terapia ocupacional e da ciência ocupacional en América Latina.  

Enhancing Indigenous Health Promotion Research Through Two-Eyed Seeing: A Hermeneutic Relational Process.

The intention of this article is to demonstrate how Indigenous and allied health promotion researchers learned to work together through a process of Two-Eyed Seeing. This process was first introduced as a philosophical hermeneutic research project on diabetes prevention within an Indigenous community in Quebec Canada. We, as a research team, became aware that hermeneutics and the principles of Haudenosaunee decision making were characteristic of Two-Eyed Seeing. This article describes our experiences while working with each other. Our learning from these interactions emphasized the relational aspects needed to ensure that we became a highly functional research team while working together and becoming Two-Eyed Seeing partners.