Alternative Narrative Forms, Exposure, and the Limits of Formalized Truth-Telling: Giving Accounts Though New Methods in Indigenous Art

This paper examines how individual truths concerning the atrocities and ruptures in Indigenous history, and ongoing cultural continuity in Indigenous society (despite these occurrences) can be located in current movements in Indigenous artwork. It draws upon both Judith Butler’s work on giving an account of oneself and Foucault’s notion of parrhesia to provide a frame for this engagement, and to argue for innovations in Indigenous art as indicative of methods of giving personal accounts and truth-telling that exceed the containable narratives of formal documentation. Through examining new interventions by Indigenous artists—the performance art work of Anishinaabe Canadian artist Rebecca Belmore, and the multimedia work of Kevin Lee Burton, who is Swampy-Cree—it identifies their works as exemplary of how Indigenous artistic interventions continue to formulate new methods of speaking truth to power grounded in cultural-specific forms of narrating personal truths by incorporating a variety of media and emphasize interactivity in their work. This paper ultimately argues that in the creation of art that shares personal truths and give these accounts while also acknowledging narrative absences and gaps, these artists convey the possibility of Indigenous art to share truths that might not otherwise be acknowledged by official historical record.

Adapting and enhancing PAX Good Behavior Game for First Nations communities: a mixed-methods study protocol developed with Swampy Cree Tribal Council communities in Manitoba

IntroductionHigh rates of mental health problems, such as suicidal behaviours, among First Nations youth in Canada are a major public health concern. The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a school-based intervention that provides a nurturing environment for children and has been shown to promote positive outcomes. PAX Good Behavior Game (PAX GBG) is an adaptation and enhancement of the GBG. While PAX GBG has been implemented in Indigenous communities, little research exists examining the cultural and contextual appropriateness and effectiveness of the intervention in First Nations communities.Methods and analysisThe present paper describes a protocol of the mixed-methods approach guided by an Indigenous ethical engagement model adopted to implement, adapt and evaluate PAX GBG in First Nations communities in Manitoba, Canada. First, implementation outcomes (eg, acceptability, adoption) of PAX GBG will be evaluated using qualitative interviews with teachers, principals and community members from Swampy Cree Tribal Council (SCTC) communities. Second, by linking administrative databases to programme data from schools in 38 First Nations communities, we will compare PAX GBG and control groups to evaluate whether PAX GBG is associated with improved mental health and academic outcomes. Third, the qualitative results will help inform a cultural and contextual adaptation of PAX GBG called First Nations PAX (FN PAX). Fourth, FN PAX will be implemented in a few SCTC communities and evaluated using surveys and qualitative interviews followed by the remaining communities the subsequent year.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was obtained from the University of Manitoba Health Research Ethics Board and will be obtained from the Health Information Privacy Committee and respective data providers for the administrative database linkages. Dissemination and knowledge translation will include community and stakeholder engagement throughout the research process, reports and presentations for policymakers and community members, presentations at scientific conferences and journal publications.