Grant: Project Grant

Colonization and colonial oppression have negatively impacted Indigenous women's personhood, families, political and spiritual life, work and social activities. As a result of inequitable social contexts (e.g., racism, sexism), Indigenous women continue to experience greater poverty, homelessness, ill-health, addiction, trauma, and violence (Kubik, Bourassa, & Hampton, 2009). Yet, community organizations such as All Nations Hope Network (ANHN) will create and test an evidence informed, culturally responsive program - Kotawe (start a fire) - that has the potential to address both the origin and impact of these inequities. Our goal is to develop, implement, and assess a community-based intervention built on more than a decade of health research with Indigenous women in which ANHN has acted as lead, co-lead, collaborator or participant. We aim to understand: 1How do Indigenous women experience cultural intervention practices or CIPs (i.e., in different contexts and settings)? (social, environmental) 2In what ways, if any, do CIPs influence how women experience physical wellness through fitness/strength, stress level, aches and pains, etc.? (physical) 3In what ways, if any, do CIPs influence how women experience relationship with themselves and/or spirit change? (spiritual, emotional, intellectual) 4What do women do to encourage wellness in their lives after participating in the CIPs? (spiritual, emotional, intellectual) Guided by the Cultural Responsiveness Framework (FSIN, 2008) and a Two-Eyed Seeing approach (Marshall, 2004), Indigenous informed qualitative methods (e.g., story-telling) to explore participants' experience, and an evaluation component, we will assess the impact of Kotawe. We expected to achieve 1Evidence to inform long-term funding of cultural interventions for Indigenous women, 2Long-term engagement of navigation and spiritual support; and 3Evidence to inform cultural safety training and pathways for systems who serve Indigenous women.