Grant: Operating Grant - PA: Aboriginal Ways of Knowing and Two-eyed Seeing (Bridge)

OBJECTIVES: 1.To empower Indigenous youth to be leaders, teachers and researchers in health promotion through environmental and arts practices in their communities; 2. To build an international exchange for cultural reclamation and Indigenous health in partnership with Six Nations and the Mapuche of the A La Pinta Muralists of Chile; 3. To explore the efficacy of Indigenizing health promotion through Indigenous knowledge, decolonization, intercultural exchange, and community arts practice; 4.To build Indigenous youth capacity in the areas of cultural knowledge and tradition, as well as in research processes, and to develop by youth for youth resources to address health promotion. METHODS: Youth from the Six Nations communities will come together in Indigenous knowledge workshops with Elders, community members and the Chilean Alapinta Muralists where they will learn about community arts practices and discuss cultural reclamation, decolonization and the creation of healthy Indigenous communities. Collaboratively, youth will complete a mural in street-art style, which will also serve as the central piece of the larger ethnographic study that includes interviews, talking circles, and documentary footage. Once the murals have been completed, youth will host a celebration night in their communities to unveil the mural and to create a forum in which people can talk about healthy Indigenous communities. ANALYSIS: The research team and the Youth Advisory Committee will analyze the films, as well as interviews and talking circles with the youth who participate in the workshops. Evaluation of the impact of the workshops will also be undertaken. DISSEMINATION: We will create a report on our findings, which will be available for youth, community, and policy-making audiences. Wilfrid Laurier University Office of Aboriginal Initiatives and Six Nations will leverage an existing national network of Indigenous youth working in communities and with their peers.