Critical Assessment of Media Portrayals of Dog Problems and Solutions in Indigenous Communities in Canada

BackgroundDrinking water insecurity and related health outcomes often disproportionately impact Indigenous communities internationally. Understanding media coverage of these water-related issues can provide insight into the ways in which public perceptions are shaped, with potential implications for decision-making and action. This study aimed to examine the extent, range, and nature of newspaper coverage of drinking water security in Canadian Indigenous communities.MethodsUsing ProQuest database, we systematically searched for and screened newspaper articles published from 2000 to 2015 from Canadian newspapers: Windspeaker, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and National Post. We conducted descriptive quantitative analysis and thematic qualitative analysis on relevant articles to characterize framing and trends in coverage.ResultsA total of 1382 articles were returned in the search, of which 256 articles were identified as relevant. There was limited coverage of water challenges for Canadian Indigenous communities, especially for Métis (5%) and Inuit (3%) communities. Most stories focused on government responses to water-related issues, and less often covered preventative measures such as source water protection. Overall, Indigenous peoples were quoted the most often. Double-standards of water quality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, along with conflict and cooperation efforts between stakeholders were emphasized in many articles.ConclusionLimited media coverage could undermine public and stakeholder interest in addressing water-related issues faced by many Canadian Indigenous communities.

Background:Kidney transplantation (KT), a treatment option for end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), is associated with longer survival and improved quality of life compared with dialysis. Inequities in access to KT, and specifically, living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT), have been documented in Canada along various demographic dimensions. In this article, we review existing evidence about inequitable access and barriers to KT and LDKT for patients from Indigenous communities in Canada.Objective:To characterize the current state of literature on access to KT and LDKT among Indigenous communities in Canada and to answer the research question, “what factors may influence inequitable access to KT among Indigenous communities in Canada.”Eligibility criteria:Databases and gray literature were searched in June and November 2020 for full-text original research articles or gray literature resources addressing KT access or barriers in Indigenous communities in Canada. A total of 26 articles were analyzed thematically.Sources of evidence:Gray literature and CINAHL, OVID Medline, OVID Embase, and Cochrane databases.Charting methods:Literature characteristics were recorded and findings which described rates of and factors that influence access to KT were summarized in a narrative account. Key themes were subsequently identified and synthesized thematically in the review.Results:Indigenous communities in Canada experience various barriers in accessing culturally safe medical information and care, resulting in inequitable access to KT. Barriers include insufficient incorporation of Indigenous ways of knowing and being in information dissemination and care for ESKD and KT, spiritual concerns, health beliefs, logistical hurdles to accessing care, and systemic mistrust resulting from colonialism and systemic racism.Limitations:This review included studies that used various methodologies and did not assess study quality. Data on Indigenous status were not reported or defined in a standardized manner. Indigenous communities are not homogeneous and views on organ donation and KT vary by individual.Conclusions:Our scoping review has identified potential barriers that Indigenous communities may face in accessing KT and LDKT. Further research is urgently needed to better understand barriers and support needs and to develop strategies to improve equitable access to KT and LDKT for Indigenous populations in Canada.

BackgroundMany Indigenous communities in Canada live with high-risk drinking water systems and drinking water advisories and experience health status and water quality below that of the general population. A scoping review of research examining drinking water quality and its relationship to Indigenous health was conducted.ObjectiveThe study was undertaken to identify the extent of the literature, summarize current reports and identify research needs.DesignA scoping review was designed to identify peer-reviewed literature that examined challenges related to drinking water and health in Indigenous communities in Canada. Key search terms were developed and mapped on five bibliographic databases (MEDLINE/PubMED, Web of Knowledge, SciVerse Scopus, Taylor and Francis online journal and Google Scholar). Online searches for grey literature using relevant government websites were completed.ResultsSixteen articles (of 518; 156 bibliographic search engines, 362 grey literature) met criteria for inclusion (contained keywords; publication year 2000–2015; peer-reviewed and from Canada). Studies were quantitative (8), qualitative (5) or mixed (3) and included case, cohort, cross-sectional and participatory designs. In most articles, no definition of “health” was given (14/16), and the primary health issue described was gastrointestinal illness (12/16). Challenges to the study of health and well-being with respect to drinking water in Indigenous communities included irregular funding, remote locations, ethical approval processes, small sample sizes and missing data.ConclusionsResearch on drinking water and health outcomes in Indigenous communities in Canada is limited and occurs on an opportunistic basis. There is a need for more research funding, and inquiry to inform policy decisions for improvements of water quality and health-related outcomes in Indigenous communities. A coordinated network looking at First Nations water and health outcomes, a database to store and create access to research findings, increased funding and time frames for funding, and more decolonizing and community-based participatory research aimed at understanding the relationship between drinking water quality and health outcomes in First Nations communities in Canada are needed.

Indigenous communities in Canada are faced with a disproportionate risk of disasters and climate change (CIER, 2008). Indigenous communities in Canada are also at the forefront of climate change adaptation and resilience solutions. One program in Canada that aids in decolonizing curriculum for reclaiming resilience in Indigenous communities is Preparing Our Home (POH). Drawing on three POH case studies, this article seeks to answer the following question: How can community-led decolonial educational processes help reclaim Indigenous youth and community resilience? The three communities that held POH workshops, which this article draws upon, include: The Líľwat Nation, where Canada’s first youth-led community-based POH Home curriculum was developed at the Xet̓ólacw Community School; The Siksika Nation, where the workshop engaged youth with experienced instructors and Elders to enhance culturally informed community preparedness through actionable outcomes by developing a curriculum that focused on hazard identification, First Aid, and traditional food preservation; and Akwesasne Mohawk Nation, where political leaders, community members, and community emergency personnel gathered together to discuss emergency preparedness, hazard awareness and ways to rediscover resilience. The participants shared their lived experiences, stories, and knowledge to explore community strengths and weaknesses and community reaction and resilience. The article concludes with a discussion section, key lessons learned in these communities, and recommendations for developing Indigenous community-led curricula. These recommendations include the importance of Indigenous Knowledge, intergenerational learning, land-based learning, participatory methodologies, and the role of traditional language for community resilience. We contribute to the Indigenous education literature by providing specific examples of community-owned curricula that move beyond decolonial education to Indigenous knowledges and experiences sharing, owned by the people and led by the community.

This qualitative media analysis explores how the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) portrayed 'dog problems' and their solutions in Indigenous communities in Canada from 2008 through 2018. We apply a One Health framework to demonstrate how human, animal, and the socio-environmental health are interconnected, which aligns more explicitly with Indigenous worldviews. Through this analysis, we respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) Calls to Action, specifically Action 19 (health inequity) and Action 84 (media). We found that the CBC portrayed dogs as "strays" and focused mainly on the removal of dogs, whether rehoming by animal rescue groups or through culling, and that rescue groups were portrayed as 'animal lovers'. Meanwhile, journalists sometimes mentioned the lack of policies to support community-driven dog population control and veterinary services, but these policy deficits did not receive emphasis. The CBC coverage did not highlight systemic injustices that can impact dog health and welfare in Indigenous communities. This media analysis outlines ways forward for reconciliation with Indigenous communities when the media reports on dogs; we recommend journalists (i) focus on lack of veterinary services in communities and the impacts rather than the removal of dogs, (ii) discuss broader systemic structures and policies that limit access to veterinary services in Indigenous communities and (iii) how such resource constraints impact human and animal health.

Indigenous peoples in Canada are disproportionately exposed to environmental contaminants and may face elevated health risks related to their unique cultural, spiritual, and economic relationships with the land, including the use of traditional food systems. However, to date, institutionalized approaches to assess risks to human and ecological health from contaminants have not been well developed or implemented with Indigenous community contexts in mind. There is regulatory interest in developing new approach methods for risk assessment, and thus an opportunity to increase their relevance to Indigenous communities in which they will be ultimately applied. Therefore, we conducted an anonymous mixed-methods survey of those involved with risk assessment in Indigenous communities in Canada to: (1) understand risk assessment practice in Indigenous communities, (2) explore challenges with conventional assessment methods and compare these across sectors, and (3) gather perspectives on the development of new approaches. In all, 38 completed survey responses were received (14% response rate). Respondents were from Indigenous community environment and health offices (21% of respondents), Indigenous governments (8%), federal and provincial governments (21%), and academia (45%). Risk communication was seen as the most challenging part of risk assessment (71% responded "difficult"), and nearly all respondents agreed that time (86%), cost (76%), and resource availability (86%) were "moderate" to "serious" problems. Few respondents (16%) had heard of "new approach methods" for risk assessment, and 76% of respondents (and 100% of community-based respondents) agreed on the need to develop improved risk assessment approaches. To modernize risk assessment, respondents recommended advancing cumulative risk assessment methods, improving risk communication, and promoting Indigenous leadership and Traditional Knowledge in assessment activities. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:1677-1692. © 2024 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Background: In this paper, we describe how we developed a conceptual model of the pathway from the cycle of violence to the circle of healing, through our exploration of a community mobilization process in Indigenous communities in Canada. Indigenous communities in Canada have experienced multiple traumas since first contact, with systematic harms across generations. Research has shown that community-based prevention programs for Indigenous populations can be effective in addressing a range of health challenges. Methods: For over 20 years, the Canadian Red Cross has been working with Indigenous communities in violence prevention to address present day challenges. Through a partnership research grant, we have been working to identify, understand document, community processes that address the cycle of violence rooted in colonization and promote healing rooted in Indigenous traditions. Findings: A comprehensive literature review revealed that multiple layers of harm have accumulated and cascaded to explain the deep disruptions in Indigenous community, family, and individual wellbeing. The community stories helped us understand the cycle of violence from colonization that created physical, mental, emotional and spiritual disruption in domains of Indigenous wellbeing. This understanding of disruptions enabled us to consider the pathways that allow wellness to emerge within these four domains. After identifying the pathway to wellness, we realized that a relational lens was essential for the circle of healing. Interpretation: We came to understand that if colonization had disrupted all my relations, then healing and wellness could be understood as a re-integration of all my relations. We believe that our conceptual model can provide guidance to those working with and within diverse Indigenous communities around the world to address the layers of harm from colonization and create culturally relevant pathways to healing and wellness. Funding Statement: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada #895-2011-1013. Declaration of Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. Ethics Approval Statement: This research was approved by the Aboriginal Research Ethics Review Advisory Group of the Human Participants Review Committee, York University.

In this paper, we explore the sponsorship of sport for development (SFD) programs in Indigenous communities in Canada by oil, gas, and mining companies (the ‘extractives industry’). While SFD programming has recently proliferated, the majority of these initiatives have been located in ‘developing’ countries of the global South. It is only more recently that SFD programs have gained traction in Canada, particularly in Indigenous communities. In undertaking an analysis of corporate social responsibility reports, we explore the tensions in having private companies — particularly those with poor environmental and social records — fund SFD programs in Indigenous communities. In the vein of ‘green-washing’, we argue that extractives companies are funding SFD programs in Indigenous communities as a form of ‘redwashing’ to portray themselves as good corporate citizens and as members of the communities in which they operate, while obfuscating the harmful impacts of extractive practices and histories of colonialism.

This study is one of very few studies of water insecurity in northern Indigenous communities in Canada. In this first phase, we aimed to understand the multiple dimensions and effects of long-term water insecurity in remote Indigenous communities in Canada and to identify coping strategies. This paper presents exploratory findings on water quality, access, use, impacts, and coping mechanisms in the Southern Inuit community of Black Tickle-Domino, Labrador. We used qualitative and quantitative methods and our research built on the participant observation of two research-team members. We also tested water samples and trained residents to do so. Chronic water insecurity is associated with poor community health, especially food security.

This case study explores non-Indigenous youths’ experiences of cultural immersion in Indigenous communities in Canada. This research acknowledges and situates itself in the socio-political context of Aboriginal-Settler relations, drawing upon historical and recent impediments to these relations, with an emphasis on continued colonial injustices to Indigenous communities. As such, a critical post-colonial emancipatory paradigm is adopted in understanding the theoretical framework of the contact hypothesis. In this study, two groups of youth composed of undergraduate university students participated in a series of focus groups and interviews, while keeping journals about their experiences in an Indigenous community-immersion program. Participants’ experiences of immersion benefitted their relationship to Indigenous community through the personal connections they formed with the community and the heightened awareness they developed related to diversity among Indigenous communities and the challenges facing their hosts. Findings suggest potential areas of social intervention that could ameliorate relations and foster intercultural understanding, while also highlighting critical considerations for intercontact theory. Furthermore, it is proposed that the contact hypothesis can, ironically enough, be used to decolonize Canadian youth.

Many Indigenous communities in Canada lack access to veterinary services due to geography, affordability, and acceptability. These barriers negatively affect the health of animals, communities, and human-animal relationships. Canadian veterinary colleges offer veterinary services to Indigenous communities through fourth-year veterinary student rotations. Ensuring that the students and other volunteer veterinary service providers (VSP) are adequately prepared to provide contextually and culturally appropriate care when working with Indigenous peoples has not been explicitly addressed in the literature. We explored the experiences of VSP delivering services in unfamiliar cultural and geographic settings and identified: what pre-clinic training was most helpful, common challenges experienced, and personal and professional impacts on participants. Fifty-two VSP (veterinarians, animal health technicians and veterinary students) who participated in clinical rotations offered by five Canadian veterinary colleges between 2014 and 2022 completed online surveys. Respondents shared their pre-clinic expectations, sense of preparedness to practice in a remote Indigenous community, their clinical and community experiences, and any personal and professional impacts from the experience. Data were analyzed using a directed content analysis approach. Respondents highlighted which pre-clinic training was most valuable and what they felt unprepared for. Community infrastructure and resources were concerns and many felt unprepared for the relational and communication barriers that arose. VSP were uncomfortable practicing along a spectrum of care with limited clinical resources. Many VSP identified positive personal and professional impacts. Our findings suggest that pre-clinic orientations focused on contextual care in limited resource settings could better prepare VSP to serve underserved Indigenous communities.

Over the past two decades, significant policy shifts within Canada have urged corporations from all sectors, including the extractives industry, to fund and support sport for development (SFD) programming in Indigenous communities, often through corporate social responsibility strategies. The idea that sport is an appropriate tool of development for Indigenous communities in Canada and that the extractives industry is a suitable partner to implement development programs highlight profound tensions regarding ongoing histories of resource extraction and settler colonialism. To explore these tensions, in this paper, the authors drew on interviews conducted with extractives industry representatives of four companies that fund and implement such SFD programs. From these interviews, three overarching discourses emerged in relation to the extractives industry’s role in promoting development through sport: SFD is a catalyst to positive relationships between industry and community, SFD is a contributor to “social good” in Indigenous communities, and extractives industry funding of SFD is “socially responsible.”

Despite increased risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2infections and higher rates of COVID-19-related complications, racialized and Indigenous communities in Canada have lower immunization uptake compared to White individuals. However, there is woeful lack of data on predictors of COVID-19 vaccine mistrust (VM) that accounts for diverse social and cultural contexts within specific racialized and Indigenous communities. Therefore, we sought to characterize COVID-19 VM among Arab, Asian, Black, and Indigenous communities in Canada. An online survey was administered to a nationally representative, ethnically diverse panel of participants in October 2023. Arabic, Asian, Indigenous, and Black respondents were enriched in the sampling panel. Data were collected on demographics, COVID-19 VM, experience of racial discrimination, health literacy, and conspiracy beliefs. We used descriptive and regression analyses to determine the extent and predictors of COVID-19 VM among racialized and Indigenous individuals. All racialized respondents had higher VM score compared to White participants. Among 4220 respondents, we observed highest VM among Black individuals (12.18; ±4.24), followed by Arabic (12.12; ±4.60), Indigenous (11.84; ±5.18), Asian (10.61; ±4.28), and White (9.58; ±5.00) participants. In the hierarchical linear regression analyses, Black participants, women, everyday racial discrimination, and major experience of discrimination were positively associated with COVID-19 VM. Effects of racial discrimination were mediated by addition of conspiracy beliefs to the model. Racialized and Indigenous communities experience varying levels of COVID-19 VM and carry specific predictors and mediators to development of VM. This underscores the intricate interaction between race, gender, discrimination, and VM that need to be considered in future vaccination campaigns.

Remote and Indigenous communities in Canada have a unique opportunity to mobilize the vast amount of wood-based biomass to meet their energy needs, while supporting a local economy, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study realized in collaboration with five remote and Indigenous communities across Canada investigates the main barriers and potential solutions to developing stable and sustainable wood-based bioenergy systems. Our results highlight that despite the differences in available biomass and geographical context, these communities face common policy, economic, operational, cultural, social, and environmental risks and barriers to developing bioenergy. The communities identified and ranked the biggest barriers as follows; the high initial investment of bioenergy projects, the logistical and operational challenges of developing a sustainable wood supply chain in remote locations, and the limited opportunities for community leadership of bioenergy projects. Environmental risks have been ranked as the least important by all the communities, except for the communities in Manitoba, which ranked it as the second most important risk. However, all the communities agreed that climate change is the main environmental driver disturbing the wood-based bioenergy supply chain. To de-risk the wood-based bioenergy system, we suggest that stable and sustainable supply chains can be implemented by restoring community-based resources management supported by local knowledge and workforce. Using local knowledge can also help reduce the impacts caused by biomass harvesting on the ecosystem and avoid competition with traditional land uses. Including positive externalities to cost benefit analysis, when comparing bioenergy systems to existing energy installation, will likely make bioenergy projects more attractive for the community financially. Alternatively, supporting co-learning between partners and among communities can improve knowledge and innovation sharing.

Food sovereignty is a relatively new concept in the literature that has evolved as a way to address widespread food-related issues for many Indigenous communities around the world. One of the many crucial lessons we have learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is the importance of this concept in ensuring food sufficiency in Indigenous communities in Canada. In this article, we provide a commentary on food insecurity in Indigenous communities in Canada and how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated it. We also highlight the government's response to mitigating hunger and spotlight how Indigenous peoples are navigating the pandemic's impact through food sovereignty.