Grant: DRA : Canada Graduate Research Scholarship - Doctoral Program (CGRS D)

Reconnecting to the land and waters is a crucial pathway to health for young Indigenous peoples who use drugs. However, substance use interventions are usually derived from Western ways of knowing and employ Western methods of healing. This study focuses on the potential for land- and water-based approaches that promotes both wellness and healing from substance use. Named Strengthening Our Spirit, the Cedar Project Partnership, along with Cedar participants, have designed a program based on culture and land that is meant to help support young Indigenous peoples who use drugs out of the threats of overdose and racism. In 2023, Cedar launched this program in Prince George with the support of a CIHR project grant. The Strengthening Our Spirit program is now being introduced in Vancouver through another CIHR project grant. My proposed research program will be nested within the Cedar Project cohort, a community driven longitudinal research initiative located in Prince George and the downtown eastside of Vancouver, which has a long track record of doing research that is meaningful to Indigenous people who use drugs. Over three years, I will investigate quantitative relationships between Cedar's land-based programming and resilience and non-fatal overdose with the hypothesis that higher engagement in cultural activities will result in higher resilience and lower incidence of non-fatal overdose. The cultural program will be delivered through 10 distinct cultural bundles based on Squamish and Lheidli T'enneh teachings. Enriching our statistical findings, further impacts of the cultural program will be explored through Jo-Ann Archibald's method of Lifestory work, and photovoice - uplifting participants to tell their own stories and experiences with the program.