Grant: Project Grant

Worldwide, colonizers erroneously viewed Indigenous homelands as an empty space-something to be owned, developed, and exploited. However, Indigenous homelands were not empty spaces, they were Indigenous places of culture where on-the-land activities took place. Encouragingly, First Nations in Canada, such as, the James Bay Cree have been participating in on-the-land activities for health and wellbeing benefits. However, there are also risks associated with being on-the-land related to chemical contamination and physical hazards from resource development projects. We propose to minimize risks, while optimizing health & wellbeing benefits with respect to land-based activities. To do this, we will evaluate Cree land-based activities using non-invasive biomedical measures-such as, salivary cortisol, an objective stress biomarker, and the Perceived Stress Scale which measures subjective stress-while the Garmin wearable devices will measure heart rate variability, sleep stages, and physical activity for participants. Also, photovoice/videovoice will be used to gain Indigenous perspectives of land-based activities. Additionally, we will conduct human health risk assessments after chemical analyses of tissues taken from game and fish harvested for food. With the information generated from the proposed study, we will minimize risks while optimizing health & wellbeing benefits with respect to Cree land-based activities. The information generated will also improve the ability of Indigenous groups worldwide to make evidence-based decisions when negotiating impact benefit agreements with resource developers, and treaties with governments in relation to the inclusion of land-based programs.