Grant: Project Grant

Indigenous Knowledge is a body of knowledge and beliefs transmitted orally, being both cumulative and dynamic. During the 1970s, Indigenous knowledge gained credibility on the international stage. When there is more than one way of knowing, all ways should be used to contribute to a more complete understanding of complex environment-and-health issues, such as, development on Indigenous traditional homelands. The proposed project will use Indigenous knowledge and mainstream science as complementary ways of knowing and doing, in order to evaluate land-centered mitigation strategies related to development projects on Indigenous homelands. It is well recognized worldwide that Indigenous groups have significantly lower standards of health compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts, and although many closing-the-gap programs have been initiated, this gap remains. Recently, there has been a movement away from this deficit model with more attention being paid by governments and researchers to the importance of time on the land as related to health and wellbeing. The proposed project will evaluate two existing land-centred mitigation programs. To evaluate the programs, we will use both quantitative and qualitative methods. We are trying to identify the key elements of these land-centered mitigation programs that promote health and wellbeing in Indigenous homelands, in the context of development. We want to develop a best practices framework that can be used to help inform future negotiated agreements between governments (or other proponents of development) and Indigenous groups, and also inform other government-administered programs. The proposed study will provide Indigenous communities, health care professionals, development proponents, and policy makers with new information on health and wellbeing, with respect to land-centered mitigation strategies.