Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

Health differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians are well-documented in the literature. Recent events concerning Indigenous people in Canada have highlighted the pervasiveness of colonialism through all aspects of society. Integrating Indigenous knowledge into healthcare services and systems is critical to creating health equity. Knowledge translation (KT) involves incorporating research knowledge into practice and policy decision-making and has been mandated by Canadian Institutes of Health Research as a requirement of all research. However, current approaches to KT with Indigenous populations are plagued by a fundamental problem stemming from the very core of the knowledge-to-action cycle: knowledge creation. Epistemologically, evidence-based approaches in nursing and healthcare are based on an empirical-analytical definition of knowledge which values objectivity over all else; nature follows laws and regularities that can be quantified, categorized, and objectively studied in order to make predictions. This understanding of knowledge inherently excludes Indigenous ways of knowing, which can be described as relational and bound to time and space. Further, the empirical-analytical tradition has been critiqued by feminist scholars as a patriarchal form of knowledge that has systematically excluded the standpoint of women. This is particularly important in the context of Indigenous knowledge where patriarchal institutions have worked to keep women and 2SLGBTQQIA people out of the decision-making process. Using a critical historical approach, this proposed project will explain the problems of integrating Indigeneity into KT as it is currently conceptualized, and propose a different way of conducting KT from an Indigenous perspective. This analysis aims to challenge ongoing transformations in societies by exploring alternative realities, allowing me to create an openness to the future understanding of KT that honours Indigenous ways of knowing.