Grant: Indigenous Gender and Wellness Development Grants

The objective of this development grant is to partner with Lytton First Nation and 11 surrounding Nlaka'pamux communities to co-create knowledge translation resources and approaches designed to improve health and wellness among Indigenous girls, boys, women, men, Two-Spirit, and LGBTQ people. In our previous discussions with leaders from Lytton First Nation, there was a strong desire to include more men, boys, and Two-Spirited people and persons who identify as LGBTQ in healthy lifestyle initiatives. To achieve this goal, we will hold eight knowledge sharing circles with community members (including Elders and Sex and Gender leaders) regarding the aspirations for health and wellness with a particular focus on the roles sex and gender play in shaping wholistic health and wellness. This community-based and Indigenous-led project will build upon partnerships that we have created in our past work with Lytton First Nation. We will build upon our community-based health and wellness toolkit, and our healthy lifestyle intervention model "With Every Step, We Grow Stronger" that we co-created with Lytton First Nation. Through our proposed work, we will create a new health and wellness toolkit that will provide insight into the roles sex and gender play in shaping healthy lifestyle behaviours at the level of the community. This first-of-its-kind toolkit will be shared through our existing Indigenous knowledge translation portals and accessed worldwide. We will also build new community relationships by working with Stein Valley Nlaka'pamux School to host a community-based conference in Lytton First Nation. We believe that connecting youth, Elders, Sex and Gender champions, and community members in the Stein Valley Nlaka'pamux School will bring the community together to share knowledge and remove barriers related to health, wellness, gender inequality, and racial discrimination that have resulted from colonization and its institutions.