NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: social sciences, economics, culture, ethnography, resilience

Objective(s): To return the results from the last research visit to see how people feel with what was discussed and said in individual interviews and focus groups; and to make the results more meaningful to Aklavik and allow community members to contribute to the ideas presented from the research.

Project Description: The overall objective of the project is to understand how different generations are strong and work together through changes. The specific objectives of this particular trip to Aklavik, is to return the results from the last visit to see how people feel with what was discussed and said in individual interviews and focus groups. The objective of this stage of the research is to make it more meaningful to Aklavik and allow community members to contribute to the ideas presented from the research. While Rawluk was in Aklavik in 2009, she and her research team carried out interviews and focus groups to collect qualitative and quantitative data with youth, adults and elders. For her next time spent in Aklavik, Rawluk will be carrying out focus groups for discussion purposes and will meet with people that participated in the project in 2009 to clarify information discussed in the previous interviews and add any new thoughts, ideas, and information to the project. She will also be discussing with community members some themes and ideas that came from the research in 2009 to receive feedback and input in how the results are presented from the project. This research is the second stage of a project that was conducted from August to November 2009, where Rawluk stayed in Aklavik and worked with a local research team to build the project from the needs and perspectives of community members. This process ensured that the research is meaningful to community members in Aklavik across different generations. The social and cultural benefits are that different generations are able to come together to discuss things that are important to them and working together. Individuals are able to express their hopes, needs and concerns, together and individually. Specific to the research process, the project provides capacity building for youth in working with a researcher as a team gaining experience and exposure to the university and gaining knowledge on how to carry out research in their own community. Furthermore, the economic benefit of this project will be the employment of a youth research assistant. The research will also provide Information for local decision making, planning, and resilience. One of the purposes of this trip is to communicate preliminary results of the study with community members in Aklavik, and most importantly, to receive feedback on them. The research team will hold a small community feast to present and discuss these preliminary results with research participants. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from March 9, 2011 to March 21, 2011.