Grant: Doctoral Research Award - PA: Aboriginal Research Methodologies

The research will explore the utilization of traditional Dakota "winter counts" as First Nations ways of knowing and sharing their knowledge. It is important to understand what health means to First Nations youth and how these youth come to understand health. Approximately half of the First Nations population in Saskatchewan is under 19 years of age. First Nations youth are at high risk for developing long-term health related problems, being hospitalized, being incarcerated, committing suicide, and becoming infected with HIV. Past health research and health systems efforts have focused on Western knowledge in the effort to reduce the individual's risks and to reduce costs to the health care system. The time has come to reconsider how we engage First Nations youth in learning about their meaning of health and ways of knowing from a First Nations lens. Oral and visual methods such as winter counts may lead to improved health individually and collectively through better health policies, more effective research, and perhaps creative health delivery models. This research will involve be open to mutual capacity building and co-research in the pursuit of meaningful and innovative approaches to understanding and achieving health for First Nations youth.