This thesis examines Dene engagement with the diamond mining economy in Canada’s Northwest Territories. While historic treaties, policy and regulation create situations of powerlessness, the space for the negotiation of a bilateral relationship between Treaty mining companies and communities exists, formalized as Impact and Benefit Agreements. An initial emphasis on socio-cultural impacts and vulnerability of the communities in relation to the mines illuminated variable outcomes. This led to a central focus on how outcomes are negotiated, with the outcomes strongly related to forms of community and cultural resilience. Surprisingly, the ability to bounce back, or be resilient (not vulnerable), as defined by the Tåîchô and Yellowknives Dene communities is central to community response and well being in this new economy. The possibility of self determination and the potential to be in relationships of reciprocity are found to be fundamental drivers of community health and thus resilience. Study of the Tåîchô Cosmology surfaces the centrality of reciprocity to cultural resilience wherein the quality and nature of the relationships as inscribed in past and present agreements themselves are of defining importance. New relationships with mining companies are entered with the expectation of reciprocity by communities, so that the exchanges are economic, social, cultural, spiritual and symbolic. This thesis outlines this process as it plays out in the mining economy and as it is manifest in spaces of negotiation, each of which invokes social capital and reciprocity. These include negotiations between: diamond mining companies and the communities; government and communities; diamond mining companies and the workers, and miners and their families and communities. Each of these negotiations is vital in creating the possibility of employment and business. However, relationships with the settler government and with Treaty mining companies are constrained. Many of the limitations identified relate to the assumption by settler society of the universality of their particular values, practices and culture. The thesis argues that Treaty mining companies can shift approaches, both in the orientation to relationship and in the implementation of agreements through the lifecycle of the mine. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Mining Engineering, Keevil Institute of / Graduate

In recent years nursing literature has featured a proliferation of discourse pertaining to many aspects of spirituality in nursing. However, there has been a dearth of research related to nurses' personal spirituality and whether or not it helps to shape their nursing practice. This qualitative study explored how spirituality shapes the practice of community health nurses who work in First Nations communities in British Columbia (B.C.). The twelve participants, purposefully sampled, all had at least 2 years experience working in community health in First Nations communities. Using an interpretive descriptive research design, participants were interviewed to explore their lived experiences of spirituality relative to their nursing practice. The analysis of the interview data identified that nurses' spirituality is essential to their practice in terms of "providing care spiritually" versus "providing spiritual care" interventions to their patients as typically depicted in the nursing literature. Moreover, their spirituality is discussed as a pervasive nursing ethic and motivation for patient care that manifests as respect, connectedness, love, acceptance, caring, hope, endurance and compassion towards patients. Furthermore, the findings of this study suggest the integration of community health nurses' spirituality into their nursing practice may contribute to the wider aim of health and healing within First Nations communities. Four major themes are presented as research findings: (a) spirituality influences nurses' ability to remain self aware, open-minded and accepting in relation to others; (b) spirituality as a reflexive approach to grounding one's own nursing practice; (c) spiritual awareness fosters appreciation of the need for community healing, and finally (d) self-reflection and providing care spiritually as a route to reciprocal interaction. Also, it was identified that nurses' spirituality nurtures their reflexivity and helps them to: (a) foster culturally safe relationships with patients, (b) realize how colonial issues influence health status in First Nations patients, (c) recognize that cumulative work stress and burn out can be reduced and prevented through relational spiritual practices, and (d) work through their own values, beliefs and prejudices in order to practice nursing based on a model of reciprocal interaction, and culturally safe approaches. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate

No description available.

This thesis explores a recent innovation in First Nations health, the formation of Canada's First provincial-wide First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). Analyzing this service model against Indigenous assertions of a Treaty Right to Health expressed in the Numbered Treaties, I argue that the realizations of the Treaty Right to Health cannot solely be met under neoliberal models of increased Indigenous capacity in health care service administration. I assert that these models of devolution do not enable Treaty First Nations to achieve Indigenous self-determination in accordance with Treaty rights, relationships and responsibilities. The current discourse on First Nations health care only minimally accounts for the Treaty Right to Health, and where it does, it is devoid of Indigenous understandings of a Treaty Right to Health that encompasses access to healthy lands, waters, and livelihood for an achievement of holistic wellness. Mobilizing an Indigenous auto ethnographic approach which accounts for my own embodied positionally, this thesis problematizes the exclusion of holistic visions of health and well-being against settler governments' orientations toward a neoliberalized health care system. This thesis extends a comparative analytical lens to the political mobilizations of Indigenous advocacy bodies in the province of British Columbia, whose efforts under the New Relationship paradigm in Indigenous-state relations has resulted in an unprecedented practice of health care devolution. / Graduate

One of the most pressing and polarizing issues in Western Canada today, and for many First Nations groups in particular, is the oil sands of Alberta. My thesis is entitled Energy Uncertainty: The Effects of Oil on the Woodland Cree First Nation. My research is focused on understanding how long-term energy extraction affects the past, present, and futures of the members the Woodland Cree First Nation (WCFN) who are demanding an active role in the planning and consultation processes that affect their lives and their traditional lands. I have found that the energy consultation process is not working for the interests of the WCFN and the effects of oil extraction in this community are examples of how and why it is not working. During the summer of 2013 I spent nine weeks in the WCFN community and used three methods of research: participant observation, interviews, and literature analysis. I completed 22 interviews during my field work research, and made use of nine transcribed interviews with WCFN elders collected in 1995 by Rhonda Laboucan. I used a grounded approach to the content and thematic analysis of my interview and field note data. My thesis is guided by a political ecological approach because this framework challenged me to look at this subject from many angles and perspectives. This approach has kept my research from being narrowly focused on abstracted or stereotypical aspects of the energy extraction process which I cannot understand without attention to its social, political, environmental, and spatial aspects. The body of my thesis includes three chapters which explore: • The practical realities of energy consultation and its relation to Treaty Eight and Traditional Knowledge. • The complex relationship between temporality, fatalism, and the effects of the oil industry on the people, land, and animals of the WCFN. • A detailed ethnographic description of the events and processes that followed a contaminated water spill on the WCFN traditional land. My key findings include: consultation is not working for the interests of the WCFN; oil is impacting the animals, environment, and WCFN community; oil-related spills are affecting (but not being dealt with in a way that respects) WCFN people or land; and there are problems with collection, interpretation, dissemination, and even access to energy extraction and consultation information. My research helps to fill the gaps in our understanding of the complex effects of long-term energy extraction on small communities, in particular the impacts of oil and oil sands development in a small First Nations community context.

In Canada, accessible and culturally relevant population health data for urban First Nations, Métis and Inuit people are almost non-existent. There is a need for Aboriginal community centric research and data systems, specifically in the area of mental health and substance misuse. The goal of this research was to address these knowledge gaps. The three linked studies being presented were nested in the Our Health Counts (OHC) project, a multi-partnership study aimed at developing a baseline population health database for urban Aboriginal people living in Ontario. In the first study, concept mapping was used to engage urban Aboriginal stakeholders from three culturally diverse communities in identifying health priorities. After completing brainstorming, sorting and rating, and map interpretation sessions, three unique community specific maps emerged. Map clusters and their ratings reflected First Nations, Inuit, and Métis understandings of health. Concept mapping encouraged community participation and informed the development of three health assessment surveys. The second study generated a representative sample of First Nations adults and children living in Hamilton, Ontario by utilizing Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS), a modified chain-referral sampling approach. Population estimates were generated for household and personal income, mobility, over-crowding and food availability. Results revealed striking disparities in social determinants of health between First Nations and the general population. The third study used the RDS generated sample to examine mental health and substance misuse among First Nations adults living in Hamilton. Prevalence estimates were generated for diagnosis and treatment of a mental illness, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suicide, alcohol and substance misuse, and access to emotional supports. Findings indicated that First Nations adults living in Hamilton experience a disproportionate burden of mental health and substance misuse challenges. The three linked studies make innovative contributions to Aboriginal health research. Results clearly exemplify the effective application of community-based research methods that are grounded in local knowledge and built on existing community strengths and capacities. Representative population health data for urban First Nations will contribute to current deficiencies in health information; will shape policy and programming priorities as well as future research directions, particularly with respect to health and social disparities among this population.

The barrage of negative media reports coupled with reactionary federal legislation have led many Canadians to believe that most First Nation governments are corrupt. Although systematic evidence of widespread corruption has yet to materialize, governance problems in some First Nations communities do exist. With the majority of First Nations operating under the band governance system imposed by the Indian Act, political troubles are often attributed to this law. Despite the fact the Indian Act creates conditions for governance problems to occur, other First Nations have resisted its enticement and operate sound administrations. Nations like these influenced this study. To understand and explain how First Nations achieve and maintain effective governance, conversations took place with First Nations leaders, administrators, Elders and community members in Alberta and BC. The study was conducted using an Indigenous-Qualitative approach where the qualitative aspect involved a grounded theory methodology. Findings show that effective First Nations governance involves an inter-related journey consisting of four phases: motivators of change, visions of effective governance, actions to support effective governance and the maintenance of governance improvements. Every phase in the journey is profoundly shaped by the legacy of colonization. Political problems caused by the legacy motivate change, the journey is guided by visions to recover from the legacy and actions are taken to improve legacy-related governance problems. The power of colonization is particularly evident at the maintenance stage of the journey where legacy-related influences stifle political change and help keep the status quo in place. This observation led to the following hypothesis: First Nations that wish to achieve and maintain effective governance must navigate the legacy of colonization. Colonization creates obstacles that must be carefully navigated if effective First Nations governance is to be achieved. It is amazing that many First Nations leaders have been able to stickhandle their way through these obstacles and achieve some measure of effective governance. These leaders are to be commended for their skills, strength and determination. However, in the absence of decolonization, strong economies, self-government and the restoration of certain traditions, the efforts of these leaders will be lost. / Graduate / terryfox@uvic.ca

At least 60% of First Nation communities in Manitoba, including the Lake Manitoba First Nation, are in wetland areas.47% of First Nations communities in Manitoba served by facultative lagoons failed to achieve the total phosphorus (TP) concentration of 1 mg/L in proposed regulations for effluent discharge into the environment. The Lake Manitoba First Nation community facultative lagoon system treats domestic wastewater and seasonally discharges effluent into a wetland that connects to Lake Manitoba. This research was performed to estimate phosphorus removal efficiency through the natural wetland during the vegetation growing season.The average TP concentration reduction utilizing the natural treatment area of 1.3 ha was more than 70%, achieving the desired total phosphorus below 1 mg/L.These short-term study results indicate the potential of natural wetland treatment applications under cold continental climate conditions, as an effluent polishing step to satisfy regulatory requirements for phosphorus reduction in smaller First Nations communities. / February 2017

This thesis, or storytelling journey, examines the stories of four First Nations adults who survived cross-cultural adoption into non-First Nations families and reunification with their birth families and/or communities. The methodology utilized for this research is Storytelling. The purpose and passion for storytelling in First Nations traditions are acknowledged and explained, helping to outline why storytelling methodology is a logical choice to honour and respect the storytellers’ messages included in this thesis. An overview of the traditional First Nations family system and the impacts of genocidal government policies on such traditional family systems are explicated, specifically in relation to First Nations children adopted out of community in a cross cultural manner. -Tákem nsnek’wnúk’w7a (All my relations) / Graduate

Background: Food insecurity has been described as an urgent and pervasive public health issue for Aboriginal people (First Nations [FN], Métis, and Inuit) in Canada. However, national health surveys have generally excluded a large portion of the Aboriginal population (FN living on-reserve and Inuit), resulting in limited data on food insecurity in these individuals and communities. In addition, scales for measuring food insecurity have not been validated in Canadian Aboriginal populations. Food security challenges faced by Aboriginal people living in remote communities are unique and few studies have examined the perceptions of and coping strategies for food insecurity in this population. Objectives: The overall objective of this research was to explore various aspects of food insecurity (prevalence, perceptions, and coping strategies) in the remote, on-reserve First Nations community of Fort Albany, Ontario. This thesis consisted of five studies conducted in Fort Albany. The objectives for Study I were to quantitatively measure the prevalence of food insecurity using the Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) and to use two qualitative interview questions to evaluate the relevance of the HFSSM. Study II used qualitative interview questions to examine the perceptions of and coping strategies for food insecurity. Studies III and IV investigated two programs in Fort Albany that had the potential to affect food security: the school snack program and a greenhouse project. Study III assessed the impact of the school snack program on student food intake. Study IV was a descriptive case study of the context and implementation of a community greenhouse project. Study V involved the development and formative evaluation of supplemental questions for the HFSSM intended to be relevant for measuring food security in First Nations households. Methods: One adult from each household in the community was invited to complete the 18-item HFSSM, demographic questions, and an interview with questions on the relevance of the HFSSM for First Nations food security and strategies used to cope with food insecurity. To evaluate the snack program, 24 hour diet recall data were collected using the Waterloo Web-based Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (WEB-Q) in November 2004 and December 2007 with grade six to 10 students attending Peetabeck Academy in Fort Albany. Food group consumption and nutrient intake of students participating in the school snack program were compared with students who chose not to participate. Five additional questions asked students about their participation, preferences, and impressions of the snack program. Data sources for the greenhouse project included semi-directed interviews with a purposive and snowball sample of community key informants, direct observations, written documentation, and photo-documentation. The case study was carried out over a period of 33 months; from early 2009 until October of 2011. The supplemental questions for the HFSSM were drafted based on themes that had emerged from the evaluation of the relevance of the HFSSM and relevant literature. Feedback on the importance, clarity, and cultural appropriateness of each proposed question was gathered from key informants (n=12) working on food security issues with Aboriginal groups, using an online survey. Results: For the HFSSM study, of 64 households (87% response), 70% were food insecure, 17% severely and 53% moderately. The prevalence of food insecurity in households with children was 76%. Among respondents from homes rated as having severe food insecurity, all (100%) reported worrying that food would run out; times when food didn’t last and there wasn’t money to buy more; and times when they couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals. When asked about the relevance of the HFSSM, the majority of respondents felt the HFSSM did not fully capture an accurate picture of food security for their situation. Aspects missing from the HFSSM included the high cost of market food and the incorporation of traditional food practices. For the coping strategies study, a thematic analysis of interviews (n=51) revealed that food sharing, especially with family, was regarded as one of the most significant ways to adapt to food shortages. The majority of participants reported consuming traditional food (wild meats) and suggested that hunting, preserving and storing traditional food has remained very important. However, numerous barriers to traditional food acquisition were mentioned. Other coping strategies included dietary change, rationing and changing food purchasing patterns. In order to improve access to healthy foods, improving income and food affordability, building community capacity and engagement, and community-level initiatives were suggested. Findings from the school snack program study showed that students participating in the snack program had significantly higher intakes from specific food groups and related nutrients compared to those who did not participate. With the exception of Meat and Alternatives in 2004, there was a trend for a higher percentage of students to meet dietary recommendations if they participated in the snack program. Students indicated that the three things they liked most about the school snack program were the juice, that the program kept them from feeling hungry at school, and that they got a snack at school every day. Students indicated that the snack program helped them to eat healthier by motivating them, eating more fruit, and making better dietary choices. Qualitative analysis of the greenhouse case study data generated gardening related themes: seasons, fertile ground, sustainability, gardeners, ownership, participant growth, and sunshine. Amongst the gardeners, local champions were critical to project success. Positive outcomes included the involvement of many community members, a host of related activities being carried out, and that the greenhouse had introduced an opportunity to gain knowledge about growing plants in a northern greenhouse setting. For the study on measuring food security in FN households, valuable feedback was provided by key informants (n=12) on clarifying the wording of the questions as well as providing perspectives on how the questions may or may not be applicable to different Aboriginal populations. A revised list of questions was created that incorporated the feedback from key informants. Conclusions: A very high prevalence of household food insecurity was reported in this community with the prevalence especially high in households with children. On-reserve remote FN communities may be more susceptible to food insecurity than off-reserve Aboriginal populations. Findings point to the continued importance of traditional food acquisition and food sharing, as well as community solutions for food systems change. These data highlight that traditional and store-bought food are both part of the strategies and solutions participants suggested for coping with food insecurity. Given the positive impact of the school snack program on the food and nutrient intake of student participants, it is clear that school snack programs can be an important venue to address the nutritional vulnerability of FN youth living in remote communities. Community and school greenhouse projects require local champions to be successful and foster community participation and ownership. Implementing a greenhouse project can engage community members, including children, and provide a great learning opportunity for gardeners in a remote, northern community. Finally, input from community participants and experts suggest additional questions that may add relevance to food security questionnaires for FN populations. Data highlight the urgency for public health policies and initiatives that promote food security for vulnerable FN populations. Findings can be used to inform assessment and program planning activities and to advocate for policies at the local, provincial and federal levels to strengthen community food security.