Grant: Operating Grant: Indigenous Gender and Wellness - Knowledge Sharing

Building on the findings from our previous project, niizh jijaag gashkibijigan: Building Our Bundles of Support with Two-Spirit Youth, this proposal seeks to share knowledge generated by and for Indigenous 2SLGBTTQIA+ youth through culturally grounded, youth-led approaches to knowledge mobilization. Over 50 Indigenous youth participants in the original research, sharing stories, artistic creations, and teachings that explored cultural understandings of gender, wellness, and belonging. A powerful and recurring theme was the overwhelming need for cultural spaces where Two-Spirit youth can gather, connect, and learn alongside peers, mentors, and knowledge holders. Many participants expressed that this was their first experience being in community with so many other Two-Spirit and trans Indigenous youth, underscoring the importance of continuing this work. We aim to: mobilize youth-voiced findings by creating digital stories, podcasts, radio broadcasts, and other multimedia expressions of Indigenous gender and wellness; host a youth-led knowledge sharing gathering that brings together project participants, their families, community members, and sector partners to explore cultural knowledge exchange, land-based activities, and intergenerational learning; and strengthen cross-sector knowledge translation by ensuring findings are shared widely with communities, educators, and policy makers. Grounded in Indigenous methodologies and wholistic understandings of health, this project honours the voices of Indigenous Two-Spirit and gender diverse youth participants.