Principles guiding ethical research in a collaboration to strengthen Indigenous primary healthcare in Australia: learning from experience

IntroductionIndigenous communities worldwide are leading calls for all research involving Indigenous people to be underpinned by values and principles articulated by them. Many researchers are explicitly adopting these principles to guide what, where, how and when research is undertaken with Indigenous people. With critical reflection to support the implementation of such principles largely absent from published literature, this paper explores both the implementation of, and the outcomes from a set of guiding principles used in a large-scale Australian research collaboration to improve Indigenous health.MethodsIn this inductive qualitative study, we adopted a principles-focused evaluation approach. Based on interviews with 35 actors in the collaboration and a review of project documents, we generated themes that were then iteratively discussed, refined and categorised into (1) ‘strategies’—activities by which implementation of our guiding principles were recognised; (2) ‘outcomes’—results seen from implementing the principles and (3) ‘conditions’—aspects of the context that facilitated and constrained implementation of the principles.ResultsRespondents found it difficult to articulate how the guiding principles were actually implemented, and frequently referred to them as part of the fabric of the collaboration. They viewed the set of principles as mutually reinforcing, and as providing a rudder for navigating complexity and conflict. Implementation of the principles occurred through five strategies—honouring the principles; being dynamic and adaptable; sharing and dispersing leadership; collaborating purposefully and adopting a culture of mutual learning. Outcomes included increased Indigenous leadership and participation; the ability to attract principled and values-driven researchers and stakeholders, and the development of trusting and respectful relationships. The conditions that facilitated the implementation of the principles were collaborating over time; an increasing number of Indigenous researchers and taking an ‘innovation platform’ approach.ConclusionOur findings show that principles guiding collaborations are valuable in providing a focus, direction and a way of working together when they are collaboratively developed, hold genuine meaning for all members and are implemented within a culture of continuous critical reflection, learning and adaptation, with ongoing reinterpretation of the principles over time.

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Traditional Medicine for Children among Kaluppini Indigenous People in South Sulawesi

ETNOSIA Jurnal Etnografi Indonesia ◽

10.31947/etnosia.v5i2.9905 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 319-331

Author(s):

Nurbaya Nurbaya ◽

Wahyu Chandra ◽

Pramesthi Widya Hapsari

Keyword(s):

Traditional Knowledge ◽

Indigenous People ◽

Indigenous Health ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Indigenous Community ◽

Traditional Birth Attendants ◽

Birth Attendants ◽

South Sulawesi ◽

Traditional Remedies ◽

Sick Children

The traditional knowledge about the use of ancestral medicines to cure children was highly valued by the indigenous community and an essential part of their indigenous health system. This study aimed to provide insight into the traditional medication using plant-based medication to children in an indigenous community in South Sulawesi Province. This study was conducted in Kaluppini Village, Enrekang Regency, South Sulawesi. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted both in Bahasa Indonesia and the local language. Informants were traditional birth attendants and mothers of under-five. This study was carried out from January to June 2018. Data were analyzed using thematic coding. It is found that Kaluppini mothers have traditional knowledge of treatment. They used kinds of plants as traditional remedies to cure their children. This traditional medication named as pembollo’ and pejappi. Pembollo’ are traditional plants intended to cure sick children. Kaluppini people believe that pejappi is a collection of traditional plant that can treat kinds of illnesses among children, including to prevent them from supernatural things. Kaluppini indigenous people practice and believe in their traditional plants to cure their children. Traditional birth attendants play a crucial role in providing these traditional plants. Information provided in this study could be a rational basis for health-related stakeholders to develop programs of health education and promotion for indigenous communities.

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Traditional Indigenous Approaches to Healing and the modern welfare of Traditional Knowledge, Spirituality and Lands: A critical reflection on practices and policies taken from the Canadian Indigenous Example

International Indigenous Policy Journal ◽

10.18584/iipj.2011.2.4.2 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Julian A Robbins ◽

Jonathan Dewar

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Knowledge ◽

Traditional Knowledge ◽

Policy Development ◽

Large Scale ◽

Critical Reflection ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Traditional Healing ◽

Knowledge Systems ◽

Indigenous Knowledge Systems ◽

Spiritual Revitalization

Traditional Indigenous Approaches to Healing and the modern welfare of Traditional Knowledge, Spirituality and Lands: A critical reflection on practices and policies taken from the Canadian Indigenous Example In order for traditional knowledge to be maintained and to develop, it has to be practiced. Traditional healing provides a vehicle for this to occur. In Canada, the spiritual revitalization of Indigenous communities and individuals often involves the use numerous components of traditional healing. These elements are reflected most clearly at the grassroots level, however, current Indigenous programs delivered by Indigenous and governmental agencies have made some accommodating efforts as well. Perhaps most importantly, traditional knowledge and Indigenous spirituality hinges on the maintenance and renewal of relationships to the land. Indigenous land bases and the environment as a whole remain vitally important to the practice of traditional healing. A focus on Indigenous healing, when discussing Indigenous knowledge systems and spirituality, is paramount today due to the large scale suppression of Indigenous cultural expressions during the process of colonization. With respect to policy, there appears to be a historical progression of perception or attitude towards Indigenous traditional healing in Canada from one of disfavour to one favour. There are nevertheless continuing challenges for traditional healing. Mainstream perceptions and subsequent policy implementations sometimes still reflect attitudes that were formulated during the decline of traditional healing practice during colonization processes. As a consequence the ability for particular communities to maintain and use their specific understandings of Indigenous knowledge continues encounter obstacles. Indigenous Knowledge systems are living entities and not relics of the past. Today, these knowledge systems are still greatly being applied to help Indigenous communities and Indigenous people recover from intergenerational pain and suffering endured during the colonization process. Future policy development and implementation should aim to support Indigenous peoples and communities when they decide to learn about, maintain and build upon the knowledge amassed by their ancestors.

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Contested mobilities in the maritory: Implications of boundary formation in a nomadic space

Environment and Planning C Politics and Space ◽

10.1177/23996544211016866 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 239965442110168

Author(s):

José Barrena ◽

Alberto Harambour ◽

Machiel Lamers ◽

Simon R Bush

Keyword(s):

Public Policy ◽

Indigenous People ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

The State ◽

Partial Control ◽

Boundary Formation ◽

Indigenous Groups ◽

Nomadic People ◽

Over Time

The mobility of nomadic Indigenous people has been systematically constrained over time by states seeking control over peripheral spaces and people. This is evident in the case of the Kawésqar nomadic ‘people of the sea’ who have been subject to a century of attempts by the Chilean state to spatially fix their movements over both their terrestrial territories and marine ‘maritories’. In this paper, we show how Indigenous groups like the Kawésqar can challenge and even regain partial control over their maritory by using spatial instruments of the state. We argue that by using these instruments to remobilise, the Kawésqar have been empowered to demobilise other groups and marine related sectors, such as aquaculture. These findings can reorient public policy to be more sensitive to Indigenous space and mobility. Instead of focusing exclusively on the establishment of spatial boundaries to exclude Indigenous communities, they can be used as a means of empowering these communities to exert control over actors and sectors seeking to limit their mobility.

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Identity, Care and Rights: the Experience of Talking Circles about the Health of Indigenous People

Revista Brasileira de Educação Médica ◽

10.1590/1981-5271v44.2-20190309.ing ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 44 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Willian Fernandes Luna ◽

Cecília Malvezzi ◽

Karla Caroline Teixeira ◽

Dayane Teixeira Almeida ◽

Vandicley Pereira Bezerra

Keyword(s):

Indigenous People ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Indigenous Health ◽

Disease Process ◽

Indigenous Rights ◽

Cultural Issues ◽

Indigenous Leadership ◽

Talking Circles ◽

Teaching Learning ◽

The University

Abstract: Introduction: There is a historical fragility regarding the training of health care professionals working with the Indigenous Health System in Brazil and the awakening of the growing sensitivity for the promotion of intercultural dialogue is recognized as essential in this context. Thus, the project “Talking Circles about the Indigenous People’s Health” in the university emerged in 2016, developed in a partnership between medical school professors and indigenous students from the Indigenous Tutorial Education Program - PET Indígena - Health Actions, UFSCar. Method: This report is based on the qualitative documental analyses, aiming to present and discuss the experiences, perspectives and dialogues carried out during those meetings, the construction of diversity, the description of the activities performed and the exposure of their potentialities and limits. Results: Based on both Paulo Freire’s Culture Circles and active teaching-learning methodology tools, those meetings dealt with topics related to Indigenous People’s Health, the results of which were here grouped into three categories: Identity; Care; and Indigenous Rights. The Talking Circles format fostered the construction of new knowledge in indigenous health’s field related to different cultures, specific health policies, concepts of health-disease process, providing an initial approach on the indigenous health context in Brazil. Additionally, they provided a space with indigenous leadership that dared to indicate innovative perspectives on identity issues and health understandings, disease and healing processes, as well as raising the epistemology inherent to these populations. Conclusions: Based on the dialogue between different actors, it was possible to arouse interest of the health professionals regarding ethnic and cultural issues and give visibility to the indigenous people at the University. Moreover, it can be a first step towards the construction of optional interdisciplinary disciplines and the insertion of the topic in undergraduate school curricula in the health area.

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Preventing the Tragedy of Suicide Among Indigenous People in Canada: Physician Advocacy Through the Training Pipeline and Beyond

University of Ottawa Journal of Medicine ◽

10.18192/uojm.v6i2.1554 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 17-20

Author(s):

Max Deschner ◽

Emilie Glanz

Keyword(s):

Indigenous People ◽

Medical Training ◽

Indigenous Health ◽

Healthcare Access ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Indigenous Populations ◽

Health Determinants ◽

Accès Aux Soins ◽

Santé Autochtone ◽

Déterminants De La Santé

ABSTRACTFor decades, Canada’s Indigenous populations have experienced high rates of suicide relative to the general population. This commentary suggests that suicide among Indigenous people cannot be explained solely through the causal effects of downstream determinants of health; upstream health determinants such as Canada’s colonial past and cultural continuity are equally, if not more, instructive in understanding the tragedy that is taking place in many Indigenous communities across Canada. Medical trainees and physicians can contribute to improvements in Indigenous health by advocating for culturally safe healthcare access and research, as well as Indigenous-oriented medical training. RÉSUMÉPendant des décennies, les populations autochtones au Canada ont connu des taux élevés de suicide comparativement à la population générale. Ce commentaire suggère que le suicide chez les personnes autochtones ne peut être expliqué uniquement par les effets causaux des déterminants de la santé « en aval » ; les déterminants de la santé « en amont », tels le passé colonial du Canada et la continuité culturelle, sont tout aussi, sinon plus importants pour comprendre la tragédie se déroulant dans plusieurs communautés autochtones à travers le Canada. Les médecins et étudiants en médecine peuvent contribuer à l’amélioration de la santé autochtone en plaidant pour de la recherche et un accès aux soins de santé qui sont culturellement sécuritaires, et pour des formations médicales axées sur la santé autochtone.

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Support for Indigenous wildlife management in Australia to enable sustainable use

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr09130 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 37 (3) ◽

pp. 255 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

George R. Wilson ◽

Melanie J. Edwards ◽

Jennifer K. Smits

Keyword(s):

Indigenous People ◽

Wildlife Management ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Management Practices ◽

Indigenous Health ◽

Minor Component ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Customary Law ◽

Indigenous Australians ◽

Wildlife Harvesting

Wildlife managers could play a greater role in ensuring that Indigenous wildlife harvesting is sustainable and helping to address community health and employment challenges facing Indigenous Australians in remote and rural areas. Wildlife managers need to listen more to what Indigenous people say they want from their country and for their people, such as increased game to supplement their diet and security for totemic species, to maintain culture. In pre-colonial Australia, adherence to customary law maintained wildlife species Indigenous Australians wanted. Today the long-term sustainability of Indigenous wildlife harvesting is threatened. Where Indigenous communities lack leadership and other social problems exist, their capacity to apply customary land-and sea-management practices and to operate cultural constraints on wildlife use is reduced. The Indigenous right to hunt should coexist with responsible management. Improved wildlife management that combines science and traditional knowledge has implications for Indigenous people worldwide. Western science can support Indigenous passion for caring for the land. It can draw on traditional Indigenous practice and, through reciprocal learning, help reinstate Indigenous law and culture in communities. In Australia, wildlife managers could be more engaged in supporting Indigenous Australians in activities such as surveying populations and estimating sustainable yields, identifying refuge areas, maximising habitat diversity, controlling weeds and feral animals, and exchanging information across regions. Although support for Indigenous land and wildlife management has risen in recent years, it remains a minor component of current Australian Government resource allocation for addressing Indigenous need. Wildlife management could be a stronger focus in education, training and employment programs. Proactive wildlife management conforms to both the western concept of conserving biodiversity and Indigenous wildlife management; it can support sustainable harvesting, provide employment and income, create learning and training opportunities and improve Indigenous health. If greater expenditure were directed to Indigenous wildlife management, wildlife managers, especially Indigenous wildlife managers, could become more engaged in cultural initiatives across traditional and scientific practices and so contribute to programs that address the health and motivational challenges facing Indigenous communities.

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A roadmap for the generation of benchmarking resources for antimicrobial resistance detection using next generation sequencing

F1000Research ◽

10.12688/f1000research.39214.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

pp. 80

Author(s):

Mauro Petrillo ◽

Marco Fabbri ◽

Dafni Maria Kagkli ◽

Maddalena Querci ◽

Guy Van den Eede ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Next Generation Sequencing ◽

Antimicrobial Resistance ◽

Large Scale ◽

Performance Metrics ◽

Evaluation Criteria ◽

Performance Standards ◽

Next Generation ◽

Evaluation Approach ◽

Generation Sequencing ◽

Over Time

Next Generation Sequencing technologies significantly impact the field of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) detection and monitoring, with immediate uses in diagnosis and risk assessment. For this application and in general, considerable challenges remain in demonstrating sufficient trust to act upon the meaningful information produced from raw data, partly because of the reliance on bioinformatics pipelines, which can produce different results and therefore lead to different interpretations. With the constant evolution of the field, it is difficult to identify, harmonise and recommend specific methods for large-scale implementations over time. In this article, we propose to address this challenge through establishing a transparent, performance-based, evaluation approach to provide flexibility in the bioinformatics tools of choice, while demonstrating proficiency in meeting common performance standards. The approach is two-fold: first, a community-driven effort to establish and maintain “live” (dynamic) benchmarking platforms to provide relevant performance metrics, based on different use-cases, that would evolve together with the AMR field; second, agreed and defined datasets to allow the pipelines’ implementation, validation, and quality-control over time. Following previous discussions on the main challenges linked to this approach, we provide concrete recommendations and future steps, related to different aspects of the design of benchmarks, such as the selection and the characteristics of the datasets (quality, choice of pathogens and resistances, etc.), the evaluation criteria of the pipelines, and the way these resources should be deployed in the community.

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From controlling to connecting: M’Wikwedong as a place of urban Indigenous health promotion in Canada

Health Promotion International ◽

10.1093/heapro/daaa066 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Carlos E Sanchez-Pimienta ◽

Jeff Masuda

Keyword(s):

Health Promotion ◽

Digital Storytelling ◽

Indigenous Health ◽

Sense Of Self ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Indigenous Leadership ◽

Digital Stories ◽

Field Notes ◽

Primary Basis ◽

The City

Abstract In recent years, health promotion has come under critique for being framed according to the contexts and priorities of Western communities, with the notion of ‘control’ underpinning much of its theoretical and practical development. Ceding space to Indigenous voices and knowledge is one way forward to overcoming this limitation and decolonizing the field. This paper reports on insights gained from a participatory digital storytelling project focused on Indigenous health promotion that took place at M’Wikwedong Indigenous Friendship Centre in the city of Owen Sound, Canada. The research team was formed by M’Wikwedong’s Executive Director, five Indigenous youth and two university researchers. We co-created data through an 8-month digital storytelling process that involved 13 weekly research meetings, the creation of 4 digital stories and video screenings. We analysed data from seven group interview transcriptions, field notes and video transcripts through qualitative coding and theme building. The four themes we identified speak to the ways M’Wikwedong reinforced connections to youth, their sense of self, place in the city and Indigenous cultures. From our findings, we theorize that egalitarianism of knowledge, restoring balance in relationships and Indigenous leadership are core components of an ‘ethos of connection’ that underlies Indigenous health promotion. The ‘ethos of connection’ challenges Western notions of ‘control’ and brings attention to the unique expertise and practices of urban Indigenous communities and organizations as a primary basis for health promotion.

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“Indians on White Lines”: Bureaucracy, Race, and Power on Northern British Columbian Traplines, 1925–1950

Journal of the Canadian Historical Association ◽

10.7202/1037201ar ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 163-190

Author(s):

David Vogt

Keyword(s):

British Columbia ◽

Law Enforcement ◽

Indigenous People ◽

Large Scale ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Primary Result ◽

Economic Prosperity ◽

Indian Affairs ◽

Game Wardens

After British Columbia imposed universal mandatory trapline registration in 1925, game wardens, Department of Indian Affairs officials, and Indigenous people in the provincial north quickly came into conflict over the place of Indigenous trappers, Indigenous claims to trapping territory, and the applicability of colonial game regulations to Indigenous communities. Although some scholars have suggested that the primary result was the large-scale dispossession of Indigenous communities, roughly half of the province’s registered traplines remained officially in “Indian” hands, raising questions about how bureaucrats recognized, classified, and sought to administer such lines. In practice, game law enforcement was often uncertain, arbitrary, and frequently governed by informal arrangements that existed alongside the official regulations. By the 1930s, trappers with Indian status had gained some measure of protection and exemption from the game laws, in part due to an energetic campaign by the federal Indian Department. To bureaucrats, however, the never-completed quest to define and solidify a racialized boundary between “Indian” and “white” trappers, trapping, and traplines often became as important as — or even more important than — the ostensible provincial goal of game conservation and the federal goal of Indigenous economic prosperity.

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Dawnland Voices 2.0: Sovereignty and Sustainability Online

PMLA ◽

10.1632/pmla.2016.131.2.392 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 131 (2) ◽

pp. 392-400

Author(s):

Siobhan Senier

Keyword(s):

Open Access ◽

Indigenous People ◽

Digital Humanities ◽

Large Scale ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

Electronic Media ◽

Oral Traditions ◽

Indigenous Activism ◽

Definition Of ◽

Nonhuman Agency

Indigenous communities are marrying ecological humanities and digital humanities in ways that productively expand the definition of both terms. On the ecological side, indigenous activism argues for the sustainability and interdependence of the natural and the human. In this, it challenges many of the same things that ecocriticism challenges—the supremacy or distinctiveness of the human, anthropocentric notions of time—though such activism predates ecocriticism quite a bit. Many traditional indigenous narratives assert close affinity, even identity, between a people and their river, for instance, or a people and their animals, or people and trees; they were figuring nonhuman agency long before Bruno Latour. On the DH side, indigenous people are engaging electronic media outside major DH structures and funding. These insurgent engagements challenge the very definition of DH as a field (with its predilection for large-scale archives, metadata, and open access) while also raising questions about the sustainability of the digital itself. Despite the implicit teleologies still assumed by many people—from oral to written to digital—indigenous ecological digital humanities (EcoDH) never present themselves as the end point or answer. Rather, they are part of a vast and diverse communicative ecosystem that includes petroglyphs, living oral traditions, newsletters, wampum, sci-fi novels, baskets, and language apps.

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