Current Projects

This project, entitled IndWisdom, supports the resurgence and assertion of Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Being, and Doing in research contexts. The ultimate goal is to bring Indigenous knowledge systems into the academy to transform the way people access, view, and value Indigenous Knowledge. This project looks at how and why Inedigenous Knowledge is included in research to the benefit of Indigenous peoples. Indigenous Knowledges are relevant, valuable, scientific, sacred and historical – and also frequently misunderstood, misused, or oversimplified in Western research contexts. The team working on this project supports the resurgence and assertion of Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing in research contexts and hopes to transform the way academic institutions train future researchers.

Project website: https://sites.google.com/view/indwisdom/home

Funder: New Frontier for Research Fund - Exploration

Mushuau and Sheshatshiu Innu have always lived by Innu laws, values, and principles that have been passed on through oral traditions. Colonization replaced and penalized Innu ways of knowing, being, and doing – using written policies to justify and mobilize actions. This project will articulate an Innu-specific framework (a guide) that will be used to write policies – policies that uphold Innu values, principles, and protocols to guide day-to-day actions and decisions (across programs, supports, services). This project will lay the foundation needed to select and train local members to develop and write policies for our own communities.

The New Brunswick FASD study examines people’s knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with alcohol, pregnancy, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) across New Brunswick. The NB FASD Centre of Excellence is the primary knowledge user that is well-situated and resourced to use evidence from this study to identify priorities and incorporate changes/initiatives to their work, based on the findings. This study targets 1) health professionals, 2) educators, 3) justice/correctional system workers, 4) social service and child welfare workers, and 5) community organizational staff.

Funder: Mostly in-kind contributions, Canada Research Chair Program, New Brunswick FASD Centre of Excellence staff time, Regional Service Commission, and Community Capacity Regional Resiliency

There are current efforts to develop a Canadian Child Welfare Information System (CCWIS). Through this study, we aim to understand the processes and contextual conditions which generate administrative child welfare data. This study will reveal potential strengths, limitations, and sources of bias that can be accounted for during quantitative analysis and interpretation of a forthcoming national CCWIS. The findings can help support the transparent use of administrative data, and guide data quality improvement initiatives.

1. Conducting patient-oriented research: An online tutorial for the use of a collaborative framework for community-research partnerships. (With Janet Jull, Alexandra King, Malcolm King, Ian Graham, Kristen Jacklin, Penny Moody-Corbett, Julia Moore, & Jaime Flamenbaum. Funded by SPOR Evidence Alliance, CIHR)
2. Community Researcher Outcomes and Indicators in Participatory Research. (With Zack Marshall, Simon Coulombe, Edith Law, Ciann Wilson, Catherine Worthington, Janice Duddy, Sonia Gaudry, Elayne Greeley, Christine Lalonge, Mohammad Lasker, Darren Lauscher, Valerie Nicholson, Sherri Pooyak, Sarah Switzer, James Watson, & Derek Yee. Funded by SSHRC)
3. Minuinniuin: Understanding ways of achieving wellbeing among the Labrador Innu (listed by CIHR as Outpost Program: A culture intervention for suicide for the Innu of Labrador). (With Mary Janet Hill, Annie Picard, Samantha Wells, Janet Jull, & Nathaniel Pollock. Funded by CIHR)
4. The First Nations wellness initiative: A community-driven approach to promoting mental wellness in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. (With Samantha Wells, Renee Linklater, Branka Agic, Lisa George, LeeAnn Hampton, Sheena Kewageshig, Lori Kewaquom, Sonya Roote, Kathryn Graham, & Sean Hillier. Funded by CIHR)
5. Indigenous community research partnerships: A community-centred research approach to develop and conduct Indigenous evaluation of an open access training resource. (With Janet Jull, Lindsay Brant, Michelle Firestone, Gordon Moses, Alexandra King, Darrel Manitowabi, Patricia O’Campo, Cassandra Opikokew Wajuntah, Malcolm King, Angela Mashford-Pringle, Jennifer Walker, & Malaya Zehr. Funded by CIHR)