Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

According to the RCMP National Operational Overview (2014), Indigenous women are almost three times at greater risk of victimization than non-Indigenous women. This has sparked a call to action to address the larger systemic, psychosocial factors underlying violence against Indigenous women. Indigenous peoples have been marginalized and silenced, leading to cultural diffusion that has disrupted the Indigenous identity and lived experience. This diffusion originates from a complex network of historical trauma resulting from centuries of colonization, oppressive government practices, repression/prohibition of Indigenous cultural practices, displacement of whole communities, and childhood separation from families (Adelson, 2000). Modern manifestations of colonization, systemic racism and discrimination, reinforce this, calling for more decolonized, community-based approaches to research (Wesley-Esquimaux and Smolewski, 2004). Cultural identity and participation in traditional ceremony/storytelling are considered to be protective factors against trauma and discrimination (Weaver & Braveheart, 1999; Napoli, 2002). Culturally sensitive programs also help to empower the Indigenous community through capacity building, relationality and ownership in the research process. Likewise, programs that incorporate culture with creativity can play a key role in fostering equity and inclusiveness, healing the human spirit and developing social connectivity (Gray et al., 2008). Drawing on an Indigenous view of health, the proposed study will engage Indigenous women who are on a healing journey of the mind, body and spirit as they recover from sexual/gender violence. Intersecting community based participatory research (CBPR) with arts-based research, I will determine the extent to which a community-based program positively impacts women's emotional, mental, physical and spiritual healing.