Just days before the winter solstice, on the second last day of fall, the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), the Indigenous Research Support Initiative (IRSI), and the Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health (CEIH) hosted a second Roots Circle. UBC staff, faculty, students, and other researchers came with open hearts and minds to share and learn from one another. We were joined by two wonderful groups of speakers and three Elders, who guided us throughout our opening and closing circles and two presentation and discussion sessions.
In the late morning, we heard from Dr. Kimberly Huyser and Nicole Dawydiuk, who spoke of the CoVaRR-Net’s Indigenous Engagement, Development, and Research Pillar 7, known as CIEDAR. They shared their knowledge of pandemic preparedness, community-based research, and digital storytelling and (re)connection, offering insight into unique methods for thoughtful engagement with Indigenous communities.
During the afternoon, we learned of the Quw’utsun (Cowichan) Preterm Birth Study from the research team, Elder Doreen Peter, Melainee Sampson, Jennifer Murray, and Brenda Yuen. Led by their Elder, the team shared stories of their remarkable work guided by Elders and community members and grounded in Cowichan culture.
The Roots team would like to extend our thanks to the speakers, Elders, and guests who joined us in Circle. We would also like to say a big thank you to IRSI, who generously funded our fall gathering, and have been instrumental in launching this initiative.
To honour the contributions of those in our Circle, we have created a visual to summarize our day together. The poster above highlights key themes brought forward by Roots Circle attendees through their written answers to the question, “What is an insight from today that you are taking with you?” The themes of Relationality, Reciprocity, Community, and Safety are the core of our work, and are depicted at the center of a cross-section of a cedar tree trunk. Everything we do stems from these values, and branches out to other themes, Hope, Creativity, Meaning, Reimagining, Storytelling, and Sharing, which are depicted on the outer rings of the trunk. Surrounding the tree, in each corner, are cedar branches – traditional medicine found throughout unceded Musqueam territory, on which our gathering took place.
*This work by Sophie Carriere is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Written by Sophie Carriere
Sophie Carriere is the research coordinator for a partnered project between HELP and the Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health (CEIH). The project, entitled Creating Structures for Meaningful Indigenous Community & UBC Health Partnerships aims to explore and create structures that will support relational, reciprocal, and meaningful partnerships between Indigenous communities and UBC. If you have questions about this project, please contact Sophie.
Project Leads — Creating Structures for Meaningful Indigenous Community & UBC Health Partnerships
Martin Guhn, Associate Professor, UBC & Human Early Learning Partnership
Drew St. Laurent, Director of Operations, UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health
Top banner image: L-R: Tsleil-Waututh Elder Auntie Rosie and Cowichan Elder Doreen