Publications

2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017

2023

Buse, C., Aker, A., McLaren, L., HubkaRoa, T., Sweeney, E., van der Jagt, R., and members of the National Working Group on Environments, Health, and Societal Wellbeing (inc. Castleden, H). (2023). Canada needs a funding institute focused on environments, health and societal well-being research. Canadian Journal of Public Health.
Sloan Morgan, O., Kennedy, R. Castleden, H. & Huu-ay-aht First Nations (2023). The living nature of a modern treaty: Preparing for the Maa-nulth Treaty’s first period review. BC Studies 216: 41-71.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14288/bcs.no216.197622

ABSTRACT

In 2011 the Maa-nulth Treaty came into effect, replacing the Indian Act for the five Nuu-chah-nulth signatories to the Maa-nulth Final Agreement. Tucked in the first section of the treaty is the periodic review where the “Living Tree” doctrine – a foundational legal principle that directs and sets precedent for common law in Canada – is enacted. In 2026, the Maa-nulth Treaty will undergo its first periodic review, with the option to open up and revise the treaty. While Nuu-chah-nulth Nations have long revisited sacred agreements included in legal principles, revisiting such agreements with Crown parties is relatively new in British Columbia. Based on the thematic analysis of twenty-five interviews with Maa-nulth Treaty implementation team members from the Maa-nulth Treaty Society, the federal and provincial governments, and the Alliance of British Columbia Modern Treaty Nations, in this article we explore how treaty signatories perceive and are preparing for the periodic review. We do so while nesting our findings in the supposed evolution of treaty conceptualizations from cede and surrender through to the current Recognition and Reconciliation of Rights Policy in British Columbia. Findings suggest that representatives from across the treaty table are generally willing to uphold the living nature of treaty per priorities identified by Maa-nulth Nations. Yet challenges with implementation remain, particularly associated with poor funding of the treaty, the shuffling of representatives in federal and provincial governments, the magnitude of implementing self-governance for First Nations, and a lack of understanding across federal and provincial governments about the complexity of implementation.

Johnson L.R., Wilcox A.A.E., Alexander S.M., Bowles E., Castleden H., Henri D.A., Provencher J.F., Orihel D.M. Weaving Indigenous and western-based ways of knowing in ecotoxicology and wildlife health: A systematic review of Canadian studies. Environmental Reviews.
https://doi.org/10.1139/er-2022-0087

ABSTRACT

Western-trained, non-Indigenous researchers in Canada have an ethical responsibility to collaborate with Indigenous Peoples and to re-envision the scientific research process through the lens of reconciliation. The health of the natural environment has long been a concern to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples, and weaving different ways of knowing could provide a path forward to address critical wildlife health concerns. Here, we conducted a review of the peer-reviewed and grey literature that claims to weave Indigenous and Western ways of knowing in ecotoxicology and wildlife health in Canada, coding for background information, wildlife health stressors, research methods, Indigenous participation, and research outcomes. Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria, the majority of which were published since 2015 and took place in Canada’s North. Research collaborations were often between First Nations or Inuit knowledge holders (most frequently, active harvesters and Elders) and Western-trained, non-Indigenous academics. Most studies were initiated by mutual agreement between community partners and researchers, but no study was “Indigenous-led” at any stage of research. Studies investigated environmental contaminants and health-related topics in a range of wildlife, usually traditional subsistence species. The most commonly studied disease was avian cholera, and the most studied class of toxicants was metals and trace elements. Indigenous knowledge was primarily collected via interviews. Studies often used multiple methodologies to braid or weave knowledge, but the most frequently used methodology was community-based participatory research. To provide a more holistic understanding of the process of weaving knowledge, we conducted an in-depth examination, applying a decolonizing lens, of two exemplar cases of collaborative research with Indigenous communities. This exploration led to the conclusion that research that weaves ways of knowing must not be approached with a “one-size-fits-all” mindset, but instead should emphasize relationship building, continuous engagement, and ethical practices. By adopting such practices, Western-trained, non-Indigenous academics can better address critical wildlife health concerns while contributing meaningfully to advancing healing and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples.

2022

White, I., & Castleden, H. Time as an instrument of settler evasion: Circumventing the implementation of truth and reconciliation in Canadian geography departments. The Canadian Geographer, pp. 1-14.
https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12793

ABSTRACT

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada released its final report on the Indian Residential Schools system and issued 94 calls to action. Education was identified as core to the reconciliation process. Universities across the country responded swiftly, acknowledging the calls as urgent and long overdue. Institution-wide task forces were established, and glossy reports were produced with directives to faculties and departments. Given Geography’s historic and ongoing implication in white settler colonialism, Geography departments were in unique positions to surface the truths, engage in healing, and reconcile their relationships to Indigenous Peoples and the Land. This paper presents findings from an exploratory case study that sought to understand precisely what Canadian Geography departments have been doing to operationalize the TRC’s calls to action in the five years since the TRC report was released. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis of semi-structured interviews with Geography department heads, we show how settler-colonial space-time geographies were often used as a scapegoat to circumvent responsibility at the department level. We are calling on Geography departments to take time away from their standing state of affairs to strategically, structurally, and systematically operationalize the calls to action.

Sylvestre, P., & Castleden, H. Asinabka in four transformation: How settler colonialism and racial capitalism sutured urbanization in Canada’s capital to the plunder of Algonquin territory. Settler Colonial Studies
https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473X.2022.2077902

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes to scholarship on settler colonial urbanism by examining the historical constitution of Canada’s National Capital Region at the intersection of racial capitalism and settler colonization. Its impetus arises from four years of solidarity work with Algonquin land defenders and accomplices struggling to reclaim Asinabka, an Algonquin sacred complex of islands and waterfalls in the Kitchissippi (Ottawa River) between the Canadian cities of Ottawa and Gatineau. Situating the current struggle within the 200 years of crisis and consolidation that produced the Ottawa Valley, we track the entwined histories of settler capitalists transforming Asinabka in response to the shifting demands of racial capitalism alongside the ceaseless effort by Algonquin people to exercise jurisdiction over the islands in the face of colonial incursion and theft. To do so, we read across 100 years of colonial archives in conjunction with settler historiographies of the lumber industry. We argue that while local in form, Asinabka’s transformations were constitutive of place- and race-making processes at a variety of scales and sites throughout Algonquin territory. We conclude by considering how traces of this history are recursively mobilized in the present to transform Asinabka into an investment property.

Sylvestre, P., & Castleden, H., (in press). Refusing to Relinquish: How Settler Canada Uses Race, Property, and Jurisdiction to Undermine Urban Indigenous Land Reclamation. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space.
https://doi.org/10.1177/02637758221083312

ABSTRACT

Critiques of settler colonial urbanism have paid close attention to the political work that property and racism do in materializing settler colonial cities and naturalizing settler control over urban land and resources. We contribute to these debates by examining how the co-production of property and race intersects with jurisdiction to secure white possession against the demands of an urban Indigenous land reclamation in Canada’s national capital. Drawing on an analysis of government records obtained using Access to Information and Privacy requests, key informant interviews, and a three-year engagement with land defenders and allies, we demonstrate how property and jurisdiction carved the contested space into distinct spheres of settler governing authority. The need to confront the singularity of each governing authority on its own terms made it impossible to directly contest ongoing dispossession as a singular process involving the entire site. Instead, organizers and activists were forced to fight for separate pieces of land, dividing limited time, energy, and resources across multiple facets of a settler colonial structure of invasion. We argue that this process of jurisdictional fragmentation, which organized the co-production of property and race in defence of white possession, can be productively understood as a process of fortification.

Cullen, C., Castleden, H., Wein, F. Two-Eyed Seeing In the Colonial Archive: Reflections on Participatory Archival Research. Area (Accepted, January 28, 2022).
https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12786

ABSTRACT

Due to their origins and purpose, institutional archives present us with a set of limits when we seek to use them in struggles against colonialism. Here we explore to what extent we can negotiate those limits and practice participatory historical research. In particular, we explore how our project’s direction by Indigenous methodology, a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, influenced our relationship with the colonial archive. The research reported on in this paper involved establishing a historical narrative from Canadian federal and provincial colonial archives. This narrative was used in conjunction with oral histories from and interviews with Elders and Knowledge-holders of the Mi’kmaq Nation to document the emergence of social assistance policy as a central aspect of colonial processes. Our historical research was, thus, explicitly tied to understanding the Mi’kmaw struggle for sovereignty in the colonial present. Here we sketch out aspects of our attempt to navigate between the colonial past and colonial present using a participatory approach to the historical geographies of Indigenous–settler relations.

Rose, J., & Castleden, H. ” A serious rift”: The Indigenous Health Research Community’s refusal of the 2014 CIHR funding reforms and underlying methodological conservatism. The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 13(3), 1-19.
https://doi.org/10.18584/iipj.2022.13.3.13961

ABSTRACT

In 2014, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) senior administration established reforms to the Open Suite of Programs and Peer Review processes (OSP), implementing changes that it claimed would improve its funding and peer review structures. The purpose of the research reported in this paper was to investigate how CIHR reforms to the OSP were poised to negatively affect Indigenous health research. We found that the reforms were guided by a governmental and institutional trajectory of methodological conservatism that (a) privileged commercial research over projects that focus on social determinants of health and community relations, and (b) created a peer review system re-designed in ways that reduce inclusiveness. Interventions by the CIHR Institute of Indigenous Peoples Health’ Advisory Board and an ad-hoc Indigenous Health Research Steering Committee (kahwa:tsire) were urgently organized and mobilized to reverse the CIHR decisions that were being made under the guise of so-called ‘consultation.’

2021

Anand, S., Abonyi, S., Arbour, L., Balasubramanian, K., Brook, J., Castleden, H. & Toth, E. (Accpeted Nov 20, 2019). Explaining the variability in cardiovascular risk factors among First Nations communities in Canada: a population-based study. The Lancet-Planetary Health (3): e511–20.

ABSTRACT

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(19)30237-2

Background
Historical, colonial, and racist policies continue to influence the health of Indigenous people, and they continue to have higher rates of chronic diseases and reduced life expectancy compared with non-Indigenous people. We determined factors accounting for variations in cardiovascular risk factors among First Nations communities in Canada.

Methods
Men and women (n=1302) aged 18 years or older from eight First Nations communities participated in a population-based study. Questionnaires, physical measures, blood samples, MRI of preclinical vascular disease, and community audits were collected. In this cross-sectional analysis, the main outcome was the INTERHEART risk score, a measure of cardiovascular risk factor burden. A multivariable model was developed to explain the variations in INTERHEART risk score among communities. The secondary outcome was MRI-detected carotid wall volume, a measure of subclinical atherosclerosis.

Findings
The mean INTERHEART risk score of all communities was 17·2 (SE 0·2), and more than 85% of individuals had a risk score in the moderate to high risk range. Subclinical atherosclerosis increased significantly across risk score categories (p<0·0001). Socioeconomic advantage (–1·4 score, 95% CI −2·5 to −0·3; p=0·01), trust between neighbours (–0·7, −1·2 to −0·3; p=0·003), higher education level (–1·9, −2·9 to −0·8, p<0·001), and higher social support (–1·1, −2·0 to −0·2; p=0·02) were independently associated with a lower INTERHEART risk score; difficulty accessing routine health care (2·2, 0·3 to 4·1, p=0·02), taking prescription medication (3·5, 2·8 to 4·3; p<0·001), and inability to afford prescription medications (1·5, 0·5 to 2·6; p=0·003) were associated with a higher INTERHEART risk score. Collectively, these factors explained 28% variation in the cardiac risk score among communities. Communities with higher socioeconomic advantage and greater trust, and individuals with higher education and social support, had a lower INTERHEART risk score. Communities with difficulty accessing health care, and individuals taking or unable to afford prescription medications, had a higher INTERHEART risk score.

Interpretation Cardiac risk factors are lower in communities with high socioeconomic advantage, greater trust, social support and educational opportunities, and higher where it is difficult to access health care or afford prescription medications. Strategies to optimise the protective factors and reduce barriers to health care in First Nations communities might contribute to improved health and wellbeing.

Castleden, H., Lin, J., & Darrach, M. (2021). Public Health Moves to Innocence and Evasion? Graduate Training Programs’ Engagement in Truth and Reconciliation for Indigenous Health. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 113, 211-221. 

ABSTRACT

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-021-00576-7

Objectives

Indigenous peoples are the first peoples of what is now called Canada. Canadians have benefitted from their largesse and contributions in a myriad of ways that remain unacknowledged. Indeed, ongoing colonization and systemic anti-Indigenous racism in all quarters of our society have had heinous impacts on their health and well-being. Despite this reality and multiple calls for redress, Indigenous health is still missing from the Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada, having obvious implications for public health training programs and subsequent practice. Our objective in this paper is to critically explore the reasons behind institutional apathy for reconciliation in Indigenous health.

Methods

Interviews were conducted with 19 leaders in Canadian Graduate Public Health Programs (CGPHPs) at 15 universities to explore the extent to which CGPHPs engage with Canada’s 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action to address Indigenous health. We used thematic discourse analysis to illuminate the landscape and make recommendations.

Results

Participants agree that Indigenous health is important, but our data reveal an uneven landscape for addressing the Calls to Action. Curriculum was limited though we noted modest positive change. On the whole, the non-Indigenous (white) professoriate still needs to educate themselves while not all see the need to do so. Many deflected responsibility. Yet anecdotally, there is desire among CGPHP students who are already unsettling themselves to see such competency in their training.

Conclusion

It is a settler evasion to claim lack of expertise, to express a desire to limit the burden on Indigenous academics, and to stand on the sidelines of institutional inertia. Our findings are a call to CGPHPs to do better.

Ley, M., Martin, D., Castleden, H. (Accepted May 6, 2021). Student Perspectives on Indigenous Health Content In Pre-Clinical Medical Education. Healthy Populations Journal, Vol. 1(2).

ABSTRACT

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15273/hpj.v1i2.10650

Objectives: To identify the learning needs of pre-clerkship medical students with respect to Indigenous health content and curriculum, and to explore the perspectives of pre-clerkship medical students on existing gaps in the medical curriculum regarding Indigenous health. 

Methods: This study involved semi-structured interviews with 14 first- and second-year (pre-clinical/pre-clerkship) medical students at one medical school. Thematic analysis was performed using NVivo data management software to identify common themes, and then considered within the context of the existing literature. 

Results: Three main themes were identified: (a) Familiarity with Indigenous culture prior to medical school, (b) constructive criticism about Indigenous education in medical school, and (c) pervasive lack of education about Indigenous health issues in the program. 

Discussion: Participants felt they needed more time devoted to learning about Indigenous peoples’ health, as there are many topics to explore. Most participants felt that their understanding of health issues impacting Indigenous peoples has not been sufficient in their primary, secondary, and post-secondary education to date and offered suggestions for improving the Indigenous health content in the medical school curriculum. These suggestions included providing the education earlier in the program, having Indigenous peoples involved in content creation and delivery, and ensuring all learners have sufficient opportunity to learn more about Indigenous peoples and their health. 

Conclusion: Through this research we gain a glimpse of how future medical providers are interpreting Indigenous health curriculum, and whether and how they intend to apply this education to their own future practice. 

Cullen, C., Castleden, H., Wien, F. (2021). The Historical Roots of Social Assistance: An Inadequate Response to the Colonial Destruction of Mi’kmaw Livelihood In Nova Scotia. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 12(3).

ABSTRACT

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18584/iipj.2021.12.3.10202

Social assistance and related programs are an important part of life in the 13 Mi’kmaq communities of Nova Scotia. Given the substantive importance of social assistance and related programs in Mi’kmaq communities, it is surprising how little research has been conducted on the subject. This research aims to understand the origins of economic dependence and the related emergence of social assistance among the Mi’kmaq in Nova Scotia. We identify key historical periods and processes that have shaped the current policy landscape. A defining characteristic of social policy on reserve has been the fact that First Nations themselves have had very little say in how programs such as social assistance are designed and delivered. There is hope that a more self-determined and holistic approach may emerge.


Rotz, S., Rose, J., Masuda, Lewis, D., Castleden H. (2021). Toward intersectional and culturally relevant sex and gender analysis in health research. Social Science & Medicine, 292.

ABSTRACT

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114459

Current institutional frameworks in sex- and gender-based analysis (SGBA) are promising, but significant gaps remain in their relation to recent developments in research praxis. In this paper we draw from our own experiences with a national health research funding agency, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), to critically examine the uptake and implementation of its current frameworks and practices of sex and gender analysis in health research. We conducted semi-structured interviews with a cohort of 18 health researchers alongside an institutional policy analysis to show how sex and gender have been understood, integrated, and addressed within the agency and initiative.

Our findings reveal that attention to date has focused on representation (human and data) while deeper justice issues that are attentive to intersectionality, positionality and reflexivity—remain ambiguous. Finally, we discuss possible strategies for institutions to improve the uptake of knowledge, training, and policy to better support intersectional and culturally-relevant frameworks across the diverse research community.


Sanchez-Pimienta, C., Masuda, J., Doucette, M., Lewis, D., Rotz, S., the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Tait Neufeld, H., Castleden H. (Accepted November 1, 2021). Implementing Indigenous Gender-Based Analysis in Research: Principles, Practices, and Lessons Learned. Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 11572: 1-17.

ABSTRACT

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111572

Numerous tools for addressing gender inequality in governmental policies, programs, and research have emerged across the globe. Unfortunately, such tools have largely failed to account for the impacts of colonialism on Indigenous Peoples’ lives and lands. In Canada, Indigenous organizations have advanced gender-based analysis frameworks that are culturally-grounded and situate the understanding of gender identities, roles, and responsibilities within and across diverse Indigenous contexts. However, there is limited guidance on how to integrate Indigenous gender-based frameworks in the context of research. The authors of this paper are participants of a multi-site research program investigating intersectoral spaces of Indigenous-led renewable energy development within Canada. Through introspective methods, we reflected on the implementation of gender considerations into our research team’s governance and research activities. We found three critical lessons: (1) embracing Two-Eyed Seeing or Etuaptmumk while making space for Indigenous leadership; (2) trusting the expertise that stems from the lived experiences and relationships of researchers and team members; and (3) shifting the emphasis from ‘gender-based analysis’ to ‘gender-based relationality’ in the implementation of gender-related research considerations. Our research findings provide a novel empirical example of the day-to-day principles and practices that may arise when implementing Indigenous gender-based analysis frameworks in the context of research.

Walker, C., Doucette, M., Rotz, S., Lewis, D., Tait Neufeld, H., Castleden, H. (2021). Non-Indigenous partner perspectives on Indigenous Peoples’ involvement In renewable energy: Exploring reconciliation as relationships of accountability or status quo innocence? Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management (March 2021)..

ABSTRACT

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/qrom-04-2020-1916

Purpose

This research considers the potential for renewable energy partnerships to contribute to Canada’s efforts to overcome its colonial past and present by developing an understanding of how non-Indigenous peoples working in the sector relate to their Indigenous partners.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is part of a larger research program focused on decolonization and reconciliation in the renewable energy sector. This exploratory research is framed by energy justice and decolonial reconciliation literatures relevant to the topic of Indigenous-led renewable energy. The authors used content and discourse analysis to identify themes arising from 10 semi-structured interviews with non-Indigenous corporate and governmental partners.

Findings

Interviewees’ lack of prior exposure to Indigenous histories, cultures and acknowledgement of settler colonialism had a profound impact on their engagement with reconciliation frameworks. Partners’ perspectives on what it means to partner with Indigenous peoples varied; most dismissed the need to further develop understandings of reconciliation and instead focused on increasing community capacity to allow Indigenous groups to participate in the renewable energy transition.

Research limitations/implications

In this study, the authors intentionally spoke with non-Indigenous peoples working in the renewable energy sector. Recruitment was a challenge and the sample is small. The authors encourage researchers to extend their questions to other organizations in the renewable energy sector, across industries and with Indigenous peoples given this is an under-researched field.

Originality/value

This paper is an early look at the way non-Indigenous “partners” working in renewable energy understand and relate to topics of reconciliation, Indigenous rights and self-determination. It highlights potential barriers to reconciliation that are naïvely occurring at organizational and institutional levels, while anchored in colonial power structures.


Yeung, S., Rosenberg, M., Anand, S., Bannach, D., Mayotte, L., Lac La Ronge Indian Band Health Services, Fort McKay First Nation, Castleden, H. (Accepted November 7, 2021). Bonding social capital and health within four First Nations communities in Canada: A cross-sectional study. Social Science and Medicine – Population health.

ABSTRACT

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100962

To date, research on social capital in Indigenous contexts has been scarce. In this quantitative study, our objectives were to (1): Describe bonding social capital within four distinct First Nations communities in Canada, and (2) Explore the associations between bonding social capital and self-rated health in these communities. With community permission, cross-sectional data were drawn from the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds study. Four reserve-based First Nations communities were included in the analysis, totaling 591 participants. Descriptive statistics were computed to examine levels of social capital among communities and logistic regression analyses were performed to identify social capital predictors of good self-rated health. Age, sex, education level, and community were controlled for in all models. Across the four communities in this study, areas of common social capital included frequent socialization among friends and large and interconnected family networks. Positive self-rated health was associated with civic engagement at federal or provincial levels (OR=1.65, p<0.05) and organizational membership (OR=1.60, p<0.05), but overall, sociodemographic variables were more significantly associated with self-rated health than social capital variables. Significant differences in social capital were found across the four communities and community of residence was a significant health outcomes predictor in all logistic regression models. In conclusion, this study represents one of the first efforts to quantitatively study First Nations social capital with respect to health in Canada. The results reflect significant differences in the social capital landscape across different First Nations communities and suggest the need for social capital measurement tools that may be adapted to unique Indigenous contexts. Further, the impact of social capital on health may be better explored and interpreted with more community-specific instruments and with supplementary qualitative inquiry.

2020

Anand, S., Abonyi, S., Arbour, L., Balasubramanian, K., Brook, J., Castleden, H. & Toth, E. (Accpeted Nov 20, 2019). Explaining the variability in cardiovascular risk factors among First Nations communities in Canada: a population-based study. The Lancet-Planetary Health (3): e511–20.

ABSTRACT

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(19)30237-2

Background
Historical, colonial, and racist policies continue to influence the health of Indigenous people, and they continue to have higher rates of chronic diseases and reduced life expectancy compared with non-Indigenous people. We determined factors accounting for variations in cardiovascular risk factors among First Nations communities in Canada.

Methods
Men and women (n=1302) aged 18 years or older from eight First Nations communities participated in a population-based study. Questionnaires, physical measures, blood samples, MRI of preclinical vascular disease, and community audits were collected. In this cross-sectional analysis, the main outcome was the INTERHEART risk score, a measure of cardiovascular risk factor burden. A multivariable model was developed to explain the variations in INTERHEART risk score among communities. The secondary outcome was MRI-detected carotid wall volume, a measure of subclinical atherosclerosis.

Findings
The mean INTERHEART risk score of all communities was 17·2 (SE 0·2), and more than 85% of individuals had a risk score in the moderate to high risk range. Subclinical atherosclerosis increased significantly across risk score categories (p<0·0001). Socioeconomic advantage (–1·4 score, 95% CI −2·5 to −0·3; p=0·01), trust between neighbours (–0·7, −1·2 to −0·3; p=0·003), higher education level (–1·9, −2·9 to −0·8, p<0·001), and higher social support (–1·1, −2·0 to −0·2; p=0·02) were independently associated with a lower INTERHEART risk score; difficulty accessing routine health care (2·2, 0·3 to 4·1, p=0·02), taking prescription medication (3·5, 2·8 to 4·3; p<0·001), and inability to afford prescription medications (1·5, 0·5 to 2·6; p=0·003) were associated with a higher INTERHEART risk score. Collectively, these factors explained 28% variation in the cardiac risk score among communities. Communities with higher socioeconomic advantage and greater trust, and individuals with higher education and social support, had a lower INTERHEART risk score. Communities with difficulty accessing health care, and individuals taking or unable to afford prescription medications, had a higher INTERHEART risk score.

Interpretation Cardiac risk factors are lower in communities with high socioeconomic advantage, greater trust, social support and educational opportunities, and higher where it is difficult to access health care or afford prescription medications. Strategies to optimise the protective factors and reduce barriers to health care in First Nations communities might contribute to improved health and wellbeing.

Bozkhov, E., Walker, C., McCourt, V., & Castleden, H. Are the natural sciences ready for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada? Exploring ‘Settler Readiness’ at a world-class freshwater research station. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. (Accepted March 17, 2020).

ABSTRACT

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-020-00601-0

The Experimental Lakes Area in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, is a globally prominent freshwater research facility, conducting impactful whole-of-lake experiments on so-called ‘pristine’ lakes and watersheds. These lakes are located in traditional Anishinaabe (Indigenous) territory and the home of 28 Treaty #3 Nations, something rarely acknowledged until now. Indeed, Indigenous peoples in the area have historically been excluded from the research facility’s governance and research. Shortly after it changed hands in 2014—from the federal government to the not-for-profit International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD)—the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada released its Calls to Action to all Canadians. The newly named International Institute of Sustainable Development-Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA) began to respond with a number of initiatives aimed to develop relationships with local Indigenous peoples and communities. In this paper, from the perspectives of IISD-ELA staff members, we share findings from an exploratory study into the relationships beginning to develop between IISD-ELA and Treaty #3 Nations. We used semi-structured interviews (n = 10) to identify how staff perceived their initial efforts and contextualize those with the current literature on meaningfully engagement in reconciliation. Our analysis highlights perceived barriers, including time, resources, and funding constraints, as well as an acknowledged lack of cultural awareness and sensitivity training. Participants also recognized the need to engage Indigenous knowledge holders and embrace their ways of knowing at the research station. While the study is small in scale, as an international leader in freshwater science, transparency in the IISD-ELA’s journey in reconciliation has the potential to inform, influence, and ‘unsettle’ settler-colonial scientists, field stations, and institutions across the country and beyond.

Castleden, H., Darrach, M., Lin, J. (2020). The public health emergency of climate change: How/are Canadian postsecondary public health sciences programs responding? Canadian Journal of Public Health Special Issue: Moving on IPCC 1.5 °C: Exploring promising public health research, policy, and practice responses to environmental crisis in a warming world, 111(6), pp. 836-844

ABSTRACT

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-020-00386-3

Objective: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently issued a statement that the fate of human society and human health is at serious risk of catastrophic impacts unless we take bold action to keep global warming under 1.5 °C. In 2015, the Canadian Public Health Association noted emerging efforts to embrace intersectoral approaches to global change in public health research and practice. In this study, we question the extent to which Canadian Graduate Public Health Sciences Programs have kept pace with these efforts to see climate change surface as a new frontier for training the next generation of researchers and practitioners.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews (19) were conducted with Department Heads (or equivalents) of graduate-level Public Health Sciences Programs at 15 Canadian universities concerning the place of climate change in their respective curricula. Interviews were designed to elicit participants’ institutional perspectives on the importance of climate change in the Public Health Sciences and identify perceived challenges and opportunities.

Results: Despite wide recognition among participants that climate change is a public health “crisis”, very few reported having substantive curricular engagement on the topic. Key challenges identified were lack of resources, organizational issues, and political barriers. Key opportunities to adapt curricula to address this new frontier in Public Health were faculty interest and expertise, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and pressure from the institution.

Conclusion: Our findings provide evidence for post-secondary Public Health Sciences Programs to understand the need to address their own sluggishness when what is needed are bold, even radical, shifts to existing curricula.

Hoicka, C., MacArthur, J., Castleden, H., Das. R., Lieu, J. (Accepted Jan 15, 2020). Forging Canada’s Green New Deal: The social foundations of climate resilient infrastructure. Energy and Social Science Research.

ABSTRACT

A global movement is underway to harness the power of coordinated state policy to address the significant and interrelated challenges of environmental degradation, climate change, poverty, and energy insecurity. In May 2019 a grassroots coalition comprising a range of civil society groups—scientists, labour unions, Indigenous peoples, and youth—launched the Pact for a Green New Deal (PGND) in Canada, with more than 150 town hall meetings across the country. Participants called for 100% renewable energy, phase out of the oil sands, a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030, and the creation of 1 million new green jobs and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. A significant reorientation to the scale and direction of government expenditure, as happened in the American New Deal of the 1930s, can spur technical innovation but can also exacerbate inequalities. A Canadian green transition is significant globally given its high energy production, exports, and internal use. In this perspective piece we examine the transformative potential of a Canadian PGND by focusing on the social and political characteristics of energy infrastructure: the potential for 100% renewable energy, transitions for oil sands, energy democracy, Indigenous energy leadership, gender equity, and energy poverty. The actor coalitions emerging from these then forge specific energy transition pathways, whether just and inclusive, or not. The Canadian case highlights the complexities and opportunities that accompany countries with large geographies, fraught geo-political histories, strong federalism, inequalities of access to clean affordable energy, and an abundance of renewable energy.

2019

Canadian Alliance of Healthy Hearts and Minds First Nations Cohort Research Team (Accepted Oct 29, 2019). “All About Us”: Indigenous Data Analysis Workshop – Capacity Building in the Canadian Alliance of Healthy Hearts and Minds First Nations Cohort. CJC Open

ABSTRACT

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589790X19300605

Research collaborations between non-Indigenous and Indigenous researchers primarily have been led by non-Indigenous researchers with privileged locations in university settings. Recognition of the importance of data sovereignty and control to enable Indigenous self-determination requires building data management and analysis capacities among Indigenous research partners. The Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds First Nations (CAHHM-FN) cohort study, a collaboration of 8 First Nations and researchers at 8 universities, convened a 3-day data management and analysis workshop.

Derek Kornelsen, Priscilla Apronti, Ken Paul, Jeff Masuda, Hannah Tait Neufeld, Heather Castleden. Yellowhead Institute Policy Brief, Issue 39, September 26, 2019
**Huu-ay-aht First Nations, Sloan Morgan, V., Calabretta, M., Nookemis, B., Aarssen, J. & Castleden, H. (2019). Implementing a modern treaty in British Columbia: Lived experiences from Huu-ay-aht First Nations—Maa-nulth Treaty signatories. Special Issue on Modern Treaty Implementation Research, Northern Public Affairs (November), 41-46.
Pugh, A., Castleden, H., Giesbrecht, M., Crooks, V. (2019) Awareness as a dimension of health care access: Exploring the case of rural palliative care provision in Canada. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy.

ABSTRACT

In Canada, the rural elderly population is increasing in size, as is their need for palliative care services in these settings. This analysis aims to identify awareness-associated barriers to delivering rural palliative care services, along with suggestions for improving service delivery from the perspective of local health care providers. A total of 40 semi-structured interviews with various formal and informal health care providers were conducted in four rural and/or remote Canadian communities with limited palliative care resources. Interview data were thematically coded using Penchansky and Thomas’ five dimensions of access (i.e. availability, (geographic) accessibility, accommodation, acceptability and affordability). Saurman’s recently added sixth dimension of access – awareness – was also identified while coding and subsequently became the primary focus of this analysis. Identified barriers to palliative care awareness and suggestions on how to enhance this awareness, and ultimately palliative care delivery, corresponded with three key themes arising from the data: limited palliative care knowledge/education, communication and coordination. Participants recognized the need for more palliative care education, open lines of communication and better coordination of palliative care initiatives and local resources in their communities. These findings suggest that identifying the barriers to palliative care awareness in rural communities may be foundational to addressing barriers to the other five dimensions of access. A thorough understanding of these three areas of awareness knowledge, communication and coordination, as well as the connections between them, may help enhance how rural palliative care is delivered in the future.

Ratima, M., Martin, D., Castleden, H., & Delormier, T. (2019). Indigenous voices and knowledge systems–promoting planetary health, health equity, and sustainable development now and for future generations.Global Health Promotion, 26(3, suppl): 3-5.
Sloan Morgan, V., Castleden, H., Huu-ay-aht First Nations. ‘Our Journey, Our Choice, Our Future’: Self-Government enacted through the Maa-nulth Treaty with British Columbia and Canada. (2019). Antipode.

ABSTRACT

In 2011, Huu‐ay‐aht First Nations became one of five Nuu‐chah‐nulth Nations on the west coast of Vancouver Island in Canada to implement the Maa‐nulth Treaty with the Province of British Columbia and Canada. Modern treaties are dense and lengthy legal documents that exhaustively set out the obligations of each signatory party. They are heavily criticised for being unjust extensions of colonialism that limit Indigenous self‐determination and transform homelands under settler colonial property regimes. Yet, some First Nations accept these agreements as their chosen path for self‐government in state structures. We document Huu‐ay‐aht First Nations’ decision‐making that resulted when the Maa‐nulth Treaty was implemented and replaced the Indian Act by analysing the Maa‐nulth Treaty and interviews conducted with Huu‐ay‐aht First Nations leadership. We demonstrate how ʔiisaak (respect) and ʔuuʔałuk (taking care of) guided Huu‐ay‐aht First Nations’ self‐government, while nesting this discussion in the complexities and critiques of modern treaties.

Walker, C., Alexander, A., Doucette MB., Lewis, D., Tait Neufeld, H., Martin, D., Masuda, J., Stefanelli, R., Castleden, H. (August 2019). Are the pens working for justice? News media coverage of renewable energy involving Indigenous peoples in Canada. Energy Research and Social Science, 57 (2019): 1-14.

ABSTRACT

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101230

Some are suggesting that renewable energy by, for, and in Indigenous communities can provide a vehicle for both Indigenous-settler reconciliation, and climate change mitigation in Canada. Yet very little empirical research aimed at understanding this kind of energy transition has been published to date. In this paper, we present findings from an analysis of five large, mainstream (CBC, Globe and Mail, National Post, Vancouver Sun, Toronto Star) and Indigenous (APTN) Canadian media outlets from 2008 to 2017 (n = 153). Using Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing) and energy justice frameworks, we are interested in the ways Indigenous Peoples are being written about and perceived among the Canadian public. We use content analysis to understand more about the types of issues being brought forth into the public eye, and critical discourse analysis to assess each outlet’s telling and framing of these stories. Findings indicate that stories of Indigenous opposition to large scale hydro development dominate our sample – articles of protest, lawsuits, and threats to nation-to-nation-building that are more commonly seen in extractive industries. Stories covering other technologies (e.g. solar, wind) showcase excitement, positive socio-economic benefit, and opportunities for reconciliation. Second, and against the backdrop of historical misrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples, we find what some may deem exemplars of fair coverage of Indigenous Peoples and renewable energy. Despite the absence of overt racist phrases — as seen in the recent past — authors rarely attend to the colonial history that has created structural issues prevalent in communities today. In the face of long-standing (energy) injustices, we question how far the coverage goes towards raising alternative and Indigenous perspectives. We close the paper with what we see as potential for future research trajectories to critically consider the role of the news media in addressing nation-to-nation relationships in Canada and other colonized territories.

Sylvestre, P., Castleden, H., Denis, J., Martin, D., Bombay, A. The tools at their fingertips: How settler colonial geographies shape medical educators’ strategies for grappling with Anti-Indigenous racism (Accepted June 10, 2019). Social Science & Medicine.

ABSTRACT

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112363

Settler colonialism implicates settler and Indigenous populations differently within ongoing projects of settlement and nation building. The uneven distribution of benefits and harms is a primary consequence of settler colonialism. Indeed, it is a central organizing feature of the settler state’s governance of Indigenous societies and is animated, in part, through pervasive settler ignorance and anti-Indigenous racism, which has manifested in persistent health disparities amongst Indigenous peoples. This broader socio-political context surrounding medical schools, which are seeking to develop teaching and learning about Indigenous health presents a significant challenge. Understanding the cognitive and affective tools that settler educators use when grappling with questions of race, racialization, and Indigenous difference is an important step in addressing anti-Indigenous racism in health care provision. This paper reports on findings from in-depth semi-structured interviews with educators at one Canadian medical school. Our intent was to elicit respondents’ understandings, experiences, and attitudes regarding Indigenous-settler relations, Indigenous health and healthcare, and the inclusion of Indigenous health in the curriculum as a means of identifying facilitators and barriers to improving Indigenous health and health care experiences. Respondents were generally sympathetic and evinced an earnest desire to include more Indigenous-related content in the curriculum. What became clear over the course of the data collection and analysis, however, was that most respondents lacked the tools to engage critically with questions of race and racialization and how these are manifested in the context of asymmetrical settler colonial power. We argue that this inability, at best, limits the effectiveness of much needed efforts to incorporate more content relating to Indigenous health, but worse yet, risks re-entrenching anti-Indigenous racism and settler dominance.

2018

Anand, S. Abony, S., Arbour, L., Brook, J., Bruce, S., Castleden, H., Desai, D., de Souza, J., Harris, S., Irvine, J., MD, L., Lewis, D., Oster, D., Poirier, P., Toth, E., Bannon, K. Chrisjohn, V., Davis, D., L’Hommecourt, J., Littlechild, R., McMullin, K., McIntosh, S., Morrison, J., Picard, M., Pictou Landing First Nation (Paul, A.), Roulette, J., Tuevljak, J., Friedrich, M., Tu, J. (2018). Rationale, Design and Methods for the Canadian Alliance of Healthy Hearts and Minds Cohort Study (CAHHM) – First Nations Cohort Study. BMC Public Health, 16(1).

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:
This is the first national indigenous cohort study in which a common, in-depth protocol with a common set of objectives has been adopted by several indigenous communities across Canada.

OBJECTIVES:
The overarching objective of the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) cohort is to investigate how the community-level environment is associated with individual health behaviors and the presence and progression of chronic disease risk factors and chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer.

METHODS:
CAHHM aims to recruit approximately 2,000 First Nations indigenous individuals from up to nine communities across Canada and have participants complete questionnaires, blood collection, physical measurements, cognitive assessments, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

RESULTS:
Through individual- and community-level data collection, we will develop an understanding of the specific role of the socioenvironmental, biological, and contextual factors have on the development of chronic disease risk factors and chronic diseases.

CONCLUSIONS:
Information collected in the indigenous cohort will be used to assist communities to develop local management strategies for chronic disease, and can be used collectively to understand the contextual, environmental, socioeconomic, and biological determinants of differences in health status in harmony with First Nations beliefs and reality.

Martin, D., McNally, M., & Castleden, H. Worden-Driscoll, I., Clark, M., Wall, D., Ley, M. (2018) Linking Inuit knowledge and public health for improved child and youth oral health in NunatuKavut. JDR Clinical & Translational Research 3(3): 256-263. CA

ABSTRACT

The oral health of Inuit children in Canada has been identified as a public health crisis. Although efforts are being made to identify and address ways to deal with this crisis, current policy and program approaches are largely entrenched within the prevailing paradigm of dental science to the exclusion of Indigenous people’s understandings of health. This article reports qualitative findings of a larger study aimed at identifying, understanding, and addressing rates of oral disease among children living in NunatuKavut, a cluster of small, coastal Inuit communities located in southern Labrador, Canada. Through 18 focus groups with youth (n = 86), caregivers (n = 22), and interviews with key informant (n = 13), this study begins to elucidate southern Inuit understandings of oral health. Theorized using Two-Eyed Seeing, an Indigenous approach to balancing both Indigenous and non-Indigenous understandings of the world, the findings reported here reveal 3 themes, each of which is crosscut by historical and contemporary dimensions: 1) (w)holistic conceptualizations of health are essential to good oral health, 2) achieving optimal oral health is prohibitive for Inuit communities, and 3) community-engaged oral health service delivery is needed. Our recommendations have implications for improved oral public health service delivery for Inuit communities, in that the inclusion of Inuit perspectives on oral health should form an instrumental element of oral public health service delivery.

Pugh, A., Castleden, H., Giesbrecht, M., Crooks, V. (Accepted December 17, 2018) Awareness as a dimension of health care access: Exploring the case of rural palliative care provision in Canada. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy.
Sloan Morgan, V., Castleden, H., Huu-ay-aht First Nations. (Accepted, November 12, 2018). “This is Going to Affect Our Lives”: Exploring Huu-ay-aht First Nations, the Government of Canada and British Columbia’s New Relationship Through the Implementation of the Maa-nulth Treaty. Canadian Journal of Law & Society, 33(3): 309-334. SA

ABSTRACT

Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary since Confederation in 2017. At the same time, Canada is also entering an era of reconciliation that emphasizes mutually respectful and just relationships between Indigenous Peoples and the Crown. British Columbia (BC) is uniquely situated socially, politically, and economically as compared to other Canadian provinces, with few historic treaties signed. As a result, provincial, federal, and Indigenous governments are attempting to define ‘new relationships’ through modern treaties. What new relationships look like under treaties remains unclear though. Drawing from a comprehensive case study, we explore Huu-ay-aht First Nations—a signatory of the Maa-nulth Treaty, implemented in 2011—BC and Canada’s new relationship by analysing 26 interviews with treaty negotiators and Indigenous leaders. A disconnect between obligations outlined in the treaty and how Indigenous signatories experience changing relations is revealed, pointing to an asymmetrical dynamic remaining in the first years of implementation despite new relationships of modern treaty.

Stefanelli, S., Walker, C., Kornelsen, K., Lewis, D., Martin, D., Masuda, J., Richmond, C., Root, E., Tait Neufeld, H., Castleden, H. (Accepted July 25, 2018). Renewable Energy and Energy Autonomy: How Indigenous Peoples in Canada are Shaping an Energy Future. Environmental Reviews. 1-11. CA/SA

ABSTRACT

In 2015, the Liberal Party of Canada formed a majority federal government on a platform that included prioritizing Nation-to-Nation relationships with Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) peoples in the country and re-asserting global leadership in climate change action by moving away from fossil-fuel based extraction and toward renewable energy initiatives. It may be argued that addressing both of these issues, advancing Indigenous–Settler reconciliation, and mitigating climate change, can be done in the same space. Indeed, though Indigenous peoples in Canada and elsewhere have recently moved forward with renewable energy initiatives within their Territories, there has been very little critical analysis on just how such projects have been operationalized and whether renewable energy can or even should be considered a vehicle for reconciliation efforts. In this paper, we present a systematic review of Canadian literature (spanning from 1980 to 2017) concerning Indigenous peoples’ involvement in renewable energy to better understand the stated motivations and desires of Indigenous peoples in Canada taking leadership, partnering in, and (or) participating in the renewable energy sector. Using a series of keyword search strings across three academic databases, two theses databases, and a grey literature search, we retrieved literature (n = 980) that was subjected to four exclusionary forms and then thematically analyzed the included literature (n = 26). Our findings suggest Indigenous peoples’ experiences and motivations are varied, yet many are developing renewable energy in their Territories to: break free of colonial ties, move towards energy autonomy, establish more reliable energy systems, and reap the long-term financial benefits that clean energy can provide. Despite the apparent advantages seen throughout most of the literature reviewed here, we suggest further research in this area is necessary before this kind of positive rhetoric of renewable energy in Indigenous communities builds enough momentum that proponents become blind to possible shortcomings. We conclude with a broader discussion of the interactions between Indigenous–Settler reconciliation in the context of renewable energy projects as well as offering indicators for future research to fill current knowledge gaps.

Sylvestre, P., Castleden, H., Martin, D., & McNally, M. (2018).”Thank you very much… You can leave our community now!”: Geographies of responsibilities, relational ethics, acts of refusal, and the conflicting requirements of academics localities in Indigenous research. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies 17(3): 750-779. MA/SA

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on the findings from a series of twenty in-depth, semi-structured interviews that explored how a group of leading Canadian health researchers who are recognized for their excellence in community-engaged Indigenous health research envision enacting an anti-colonial research agenda and the inherent tensions of doing so in institutional settings. Interview transcripts were thematically analyzed in order to explore how the different places that shape community-engaged scholarship (Community spaces, Offices of Research Ethics, and Office of Finance and Administration) 1) produce different, often conflicting understandings of responsibility; 2) how different spaces constrain and shape agency in terms of enacting forms of responsibility in research, and; 3) the role that settler subjectivities have in shaping acts of interpretation that are productive of institutionally mediated forms of responsibility. We organize themes of responsibility, relational ethics, and acts of refusal around the locales through which they are produced and mediated in order to display narratives relating to each site. Specifically, we highlight how relationally negotiated formulations of ethical responsibility, which occur between Indigenous community partners and researchers, can be circumscribed or marginalized by existing institutional structures. By making visible the ways in which conflicting responsibilities emerge and must be negotiated in working toward anti-colonial research relationships, our findings contribute to ongoing conversations regarding Indigenous-settler alliances in health research.

Yeung, S., Bombay, A., Walker, C., Denis, J., Martin, D., Sylvestre, P., & Castleden, H. (December 18, 2018). Predictors of medical student interest in Indigenous health learning and clinical practice: a Canadian case study. BMC Medical Education, 18(1), 307.

ABSTRACT

Including content on Indigenous health in medical school curricula has become a widely-acknowledged prerequisite to reducing the health disparities experienced by Indigenous peoples in Canada. However, little is known about what levels of awareness and interest medical students have about Indigenous peoples when they enter medical school. Additionally, it is unclear whether current Indigenous health curricula ultimately improve students’ beliefs and behaviours. A total of 129 students completed a 43-item questionnaire that was sent to three cohorts of first-year medical students (in 2013, 2014, 2015) at one undergraduate medical school in Canada. This survey included items to evaluate students’ sociopolitical attitudes towards Indigenous people, knowledge of colonization and its links to Indigenous health inequities, knowledge of Indigenous health inequities, and self-rated educational preparedness to work with Indigenous patients. The survey also assessed students’ perceived importance of learning about Indigenous peoples in medical school, and their interest in working in an Indigenous community, which were examined as outcomes. Using principal component analysis, survey items were grouped into five independent factors and outcomes were modelled using staged multivariate regression analyses. Generally, students reported strong interest in Indigenous health but did not believe themselves adequately educated or prepared to work in an Indigenous community. When controlling for age and gender, the strongest predictors of perceived importance of learning about Indigenous health were positive sociopolitical attitudes about Indigenous peoples and knowledge about colonization and its links to Indigenous health inequities. Significant predictors for interest in working in an Indigenous community were positive sociopolitical attitudes about Indigenous peoples. Knowledge about Indigenous health inequities was negatively associated with interest in working in an Indigenous community. Students’ positive sociopolitical attitudes about Indigenous peoples is the strongest predictor of both perceived importance of learning about Indigenous health and interest in working in Indigenous communities. In addition to teaching students about the links between colonization, health inequities and other knowledge-based concepts, medical educators must consider the importance of attitude change in designing Indigenous health curricula and include opportunities for experiential learning to shape students’ future behaviours and ultimately improve physician relationships with Indigenous patients.

2017

Anand, S. Abony, S., Arbour, L., Brook, J., Bruce, S., Castleden, H., Desai, D., de Souza, J., Harris, S., Irvine, J., MD, L., Lewis, D., Oster, D., Poirier, P., Toth, E., Bannon, K. Chrisjohn, V., Davis, D., L’Hommecourt, J., Littlechild, R., McMullin, K., McIntosh, S., Morrison, J., Picard, M., Pictou Landing First Nation (Paul, A.), Roulette, J., Tuevljak, J., Friedrich, M., Tu, J. (Accepted May 15, 2017). Rationale, Design and Methods for the Canadian Alliance of Healthy Hearts and Minds Cohort Study (CAHHM) – First Nations Cohort Study. BMC Public Health, 16(1).
Castleden, H., Bennett, E., Pictou Landing Native Women’s Group, Lewis, D., Martin, D. (2017). “Put it near the Indians”: Indigenous perspectives on pulp mill contaminants in their traditional territories (Pictou Landing, Canada). Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 11(1): 25-33.

ABSTRACT

Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN), a small Mi’kmaw community on the Canadian east coast, has had a relationship with a tidal estuary known as A’se’k for millennia. In the 1960s, it became the site of effluent disposal from a nearby pulp mill. Almost immediately, health concerns regularly and consistently reverberated throughout the community. The Pictou Landing Native Women’s Group (PLNWG) formed a community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership with an academic team to conceptualize community well-being in the context of environment and human health connections. This paper documents Mi’kmaw Elders’ stories of A’se’k before it became contaminated. Using narrative inquiry vis-à-vis oral histories, we carried out conversational interviews with 10 Elders from PLFN. These interviews were thematically analyzed and ‘re-storied’ through a process of (w)holistic content analysis. Our findings present four broad story layers, recounting the themes that emerged through analysis and presenting a broad Mi’kmaw narrative of A’se’k. These story layers share: what A’se’k originally provided, the historical/cultural context of PLFN, changes to land and health after the mill was put in, and reflections on the past and future of A’se’k. Our research offers a novel contribution to the literature by showing how Mi’kmaw perspectives on the pollution at A’se’k reveal the close connection between Mi’kmaw livelihood, local ecologies, and health and well-being. Our research also provides insights into the way the research relationship developed between the PLNWG and the academic team, providing a pathway for others seeking to decolonize the research landscape.

Castleden, H., Hart, C., Harper, S., Martin, D., Cunsolo, A., Stefanelli, R., Day, D., & Lauridsen, K. (2017). Implementing Indigenous and Western knowledge systems in water research and management (Part 1): A systematic realist review to inform water policy in Canada. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 8(4).

ABSTRACT

Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis/Metis) peoples in Canada experience persistent and disproportionate water-related challenges compared to non-Indigenous Canadians. These circumstances are largely attributable to enduring colonial policies and practices. Attempts for redress have been unsuccessful, and Western science and technology have been largely unsuccessful in remedying Canada’s water-related challenges. A systematic review of the academic and grey literature on integrative Indigenous and Western approaches to water research and management identified 279 items of which 63 were relevant inclusions; these were then analyzed using a realist review tool. We found an emerging trend of literature in this area, much of which called for the rejection of tokenism and the development of respectful nation-to-nation relationships in water research, management, and policy.

Castleden, H., Hart, C., Martin, D., Cunsolo, A., Harper, S., Sylvestre, P., Stefanelli, R., Day, D., & Lauridsen, K. (2017). Implementing Indigenous and Western knowledge systems in water research and management (Part 2): Interviews with collaborative teams to overcome the limitations of literature reviews to inform water policy in Canada. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 8(4).

ABSTRACT

Despite innovative technological “solutions” to address ongoing water crises in Indigenous communities, significant disparities persist in Canada. Financial investment in infrastructure is necessary, but it is hardly sufficient to address the real problem: entrenched colonialism. One of the greatest challenges in decolonizing research is to prevent that research from reproducing the very categories it is seeking to critique and dismantle. We share findings from thematically-analyzed interviews with academic and community-based researchers who conducted water research with a stated intent to implement Western and Indigenous knowledge systems. Findings revealed that while there is co-learning, ontological and epistemological assumptions carried into these relationships often impede truly integrative practice. Respondents shared how they worked through these persistent barriers of a colonial system.

Daley, K., Truelstrup Hansen, L., Jamieson, R., Hayward, J., Piorkowski, G., KrKosek, W., Gagnon, G., Castleden, H., MacNeil, K., Poltarowicz, J., Corriveau, E., Jackson, A., Lywood, J., Huang, Y. (Accepted May 30, 2017). Chemical and microbial characteristics of municipal drinking water supply systems in the Canadian Arctic. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 25(33).

ABSTRACT

Drinking water in the vast Arctic Canadian territory of Nunavut is sourced from surface water lakes or rivers and transferred to man-made or natural reservoirs. The raw water is at a minimum treated by chlorination and distributed to customers either by trucks delivering to a water storage tank inside buildings or through a piped distribution system. The objective of this study was to characterize the chemical and microbial drinking water quality from source to tap in three hamlets (Coral Harbour, Pond Inlet and Pangnirtung—each has a population of <2000) on trucked service, and in Iqaluit (population ~6700), which uses a combination of trucked and piped water conveyance. Generally, the source and drinking water was of satisfactory microbial quality, containing Escherichia coli levels of <1 MPN/100 mL with a few exceptions, and selected pathogenic bacteria and parasites were below detection limits using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods. Tap water in households receiving trucked water contained less than the recommended 0.2 mg/L of free chlorine, while piped drinking water in Iqaluit complied with Health Canada guidelines for residual chlorine (i.e. >0.2 mg/L free chlorine). Some buildings in the four communities contained manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and/or lead (Pb) concentrations above Health Canada guideline values for the aesthetic (Mn, Cu and Fe) and health (Pb) objectives. Corrosion of components of the drinking water distribution system (household storage tanks, premise plumbing) could be contributing to Pb, Cu and Fe levels, as the source water in three of the four communities had low alkalinity. The results point to the need for robust disinfection, which may include secondary disinfection or point-of-use disinfection, to prevent microbial risks in drinking water tanks in buildings and ultimately at the tap.

Day, L., Cunsolo A., Castleden, H., Martin, D., Hart, C., Anaviapik-Soucie, T., Russell, G., Paul, C., Dewey, C., and Harper, S. (Accepted June 10 2017). The Expanding Digital Media Landscape of Qualitative and Decolonizing Research: Examining Collaborative Podcasting as a Research Method. MediaTropes, 7(1): 203-228. MA

ABSTRACT

Technology of the twenty-first century has transformed our ability to create, modify, store, and share digital media and, in so doing, has presented new possibilities for how social science research can be conducted and mobilized. This paper introduces the use of collaborative podcasting as a research method of critical inquiry and knowledge mobilization. Using a case study, we describe the methodological process that our transdisciplinary team engaged in to create the Water Dialogues podcast, a collaborative initiative stemming from a larger research project examining approaches to implementing Indigenous and Western knowledge in water research and management. We situate collaborative podcasting within an expanding field of collaborative and participatory media practice in social research, and consider how the method may align with and support research within a decolonizing agenda.

Garda, C., Castleden, H., & Conrad ,C. (2017). Monitoring, restoration, and source water protection: Canadian community-based environmental organizations’ efforts towards improving aquatic ecosystem health. Water, 9(3), 212.

ABSTRACT

In Canada, environmental monitoring has been the responsibility of government for decades; however, funding cutbacks have left many agencies unable to provide comprehensive coverage. This has stimulated a rise in community-based water monitoring (CBWM) organizations. These organizations, operating at multiple scales, have tasked themselves with monitoring aquatic ecosystems. Additionally, they often engage in restoration projects stemming from their monitoring work. Despite the growing abundance of CBWM organizations, there is uncertainty as to whether their activities lead to aquatic ecosystem benefits. A thematic analysis of photographic and qualitative interview data was employed to examine restoration projects conducted by five CBWM organizations, and the projects’ potential impact on source waters. Findings show that while they are conducting activities that show physical change, which is indicative of ecosystem improvement, examples of measurable responses within aquatic ecosystems remain rare. Monitoring, restoration, and source water protection processes are challenged by a lack of funding, capacity, and monitoring procedures. Funding, particularly, restricted the extent to which monitoring could be conducted and influenced project scope and scale. This leads to a lack of capacity to conduct large-scale restoration and rigorous scientific monitoring. Consequently, our findings highlight the issues with detecting effects of small-scale projects at the watershed scale.

Moore, C., Castleden, H., Martin, D., & Tirone, S. (Accepted Dec 16, 2016) Implementing the Tri-Council Policy on ethical research involving Indigenous peoples in Canada: So, how’s that going in Mi’kma’ki? International Indigenous Policy Journal.

ABSTRACT

The 2010 edition of the Tri-Council Policy Statement on Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans introduced a new chapter, titled “Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples of Canada.” The goal of our study was to explore how this chapter is being implemented in research involving Mi’kmaw communities in Nova Scotia. Qualitative data from four groups—health researchers, research ethics board representatives, financial services administrators, and Mi’kmaw community health directors—revealed that while the chapter is useful in navigating this ethical space, there is room for improvement. The challenges they encountered were not insurmountable; with political will from the academy and with guidance from Indigenous community health and research leaders solutions to these barriers can be achieved.

Moore, M., Shaw, K., & Castleden, H. “We Need More Data!” The Politics of Scientific Information for Water Governance in the Context of Hydraulic Fracturing (Accepted January 17 2017). Water Alternatives, 11(1): 142-162.

ABSTRACT

Proposed and actual developments of hydraulic fracturing, as a high-volume water user, have proven contentious in recent years. However, one point of agreement has emerged amongst all actors with regards to water use and hydraulic fracturing: we need more data. This consensus fits with a longstanding reification of the role of data in water governance, and yet we argue it hides a politically contested terrain. Based on a literature review, an empirical Delphi study and a workshop with a diverse array of participants from across Canada, we explore the data needs related to water governance and hydraulic fracturing. We then investigate three areas of deficiency that point to a lack of trust and oversight as well as the exclusion of community and Indigenous knowledge. We argue that in an era of neoliberal approaches to water governance, issues of trust, accountability and transparency all link back to a diminished role for data management within existing water governance arrangements. The challenge is that simply collecting more data will not help decision-makers navigate the complexity of water governance. Our findings suggest a growing call by participants for greater engagement by governments in data collection and knowledge management, new funding mechanisms for data collection and re- thinking how and what to monitor if including multiple ways of knowing and values.

Stefanelli, R., Castleden, H., Harper, S.L., Martin, D., Cunsolo, A., and Hart, C. (Accepted April 7, 2017). Canadian and Australian researchers’ reflections on implementing Indigenous and Western knowledge systems in water research and management. Water Policy.

ABSTRACT

National and international policies have called for the inclusion of Indigenous peoples and the uptake of Indigenous knowledge alongside Western knowledge in natural resource management. Such policy decisions have led to a recent proliferation of research projects seeking to apply both Indigenous and Western knowledge in water research and management. While these policies require people with knowledge from both Western and Indigenous perspectives to collaborate and share knowledge, how best to create and foster these partnerships is less understood. To elicit this understanding, 17 semi-structured interviews were completed with academic researchers from Canada and Australia who conduct integrative water research. Participants, most of whom were non-Indigenous, were asked to expand on their experiences in conducting integrative water research projects, and findings were thematically analyzed. Our findings suggest that Indigenous and Western knowledge systems influence how one relates to water, and that partnerships require a recognition and acceptance of these differences. We learned that community-based participatory research approaches, and the associated tenets of fostering mutual trust and community ownership for such an approach, are integral to the meaningful engagement that is essential for developing collaborative partnerships to implement both Indigenous and Western knowledge systems and better care for water.

Stefanelli, R., Castleden, H., Harper, S.L., Martin, D., Cunsolo, A., and Hart, C. (2017). Experiences with integrative Indigenous and Western knowledge implementation in water research and management: A systematic realist review of literature from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Environmental Reviews, 25: 323-333.

ABSTRACT

The implementation of Indigenous and Western knowledge systems in integrative water research and management is gaining prominence in the realm of academia, particularly in four countries with a shared, albeit different, history of British colonialism: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. While integrative water research in particular is gaining popularity, currently there is a gap in our understanding regarding where, when, why, how, and for whom this type of research has been successful. A systematic review method was used to identify peer-reviewed literature from each of the four countries and to understand where and when integrative water research projects were taking place. Then, we used a realist review method to synthesize and analyze the included peer-reviewed literature to determine why, how, and for whom this type of research has been successful, or not. Our systematic literature search provided 669 peer-reviewed articles from across the four countries, of which 97 met our inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Our findings indicate that the total number of integrative water research projects has been increasing since 2009, though these projects are largely concentrated within the realm of social science and conducted by non-Indigenous authors. Recognition of the value of Indigenous knowledge systems, coupled with an understanding that the use of Western knowledge systems alone has not remedied the disparity in access to safe water sources in Indigenous communities, has led researchers to recommend collaborative partnerships and governance structures as a potential pathway to effective integrative water research. Our research was conducted to enhance contemporary understanding of the strengths of implementing Indigenous and Western knowledge systems and to encourage readers to continue working towards a common goal of reconciliation and equality in all partnerships.