NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: social sciences, climate change, food security, community-based research, Indigenous knowledge

Objective(s): To work with the Indigenous partners, the Tli?cho Government, to identify, develop and implement initiatives to enhance capacity to plan for and address food security issues in the face of climate change and other related stressors in the communities of Whatì and Wekweètì.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5410. The overall objective of the project is to work with the Indigenous partners, the Tli?cho Government, to identify, develop and implement initiatives to enhance capacity to plan for and address food security issues in the face of climate change and other related stressors in the communities of Whatì and Wekweètì. The specific objectives for this part of the research is to: 1) work with elders in Whatì and Wekweètì to identify and map place names in relation to discussions around traditional foods; and 2) work with community members in Whatì to identify impacts of the new Tli?cho? highway on food security and other determinants of health and well-being. Participants (4-5 from each community) will take part in semi-structured interviews lasting 1-2 hours to map traditional place names. We will interview Elders, both men and women. Participants (25 from Whatì) will take part in semi-structured interviews lasting 1-2 hours on the impact of the Tli?cho? highway. We will interview Elders, harvesters, and other adult community members, both men and women. Participants will also take part in focus groups (2-3 per community and 3-6 participants each) and workshops (1-2 per community and 20-25 participants each). Focus groups and workshops will include Elders, harvesters, and other adult community members, both men and women. The focus groups and workshops will deal with the same topics covered in both sets of interviews, and will also be used to identify priorities for further research. With participants’ consent, interviews, focus groups, and workshops will be recorded. The recordings will be transcribed. Where necessary, translators will be present in the interviews, focus groups, and workshops to facilitate discussion in the Tli?cho language, and will also assist with transcription into English. The research will also include participant observation data collection by certain researchers (only Sarah Jones and Alex Latta). This will consist of participant observation by the researchers during informal involvement in community-based activities in Whatì, and recording of observations by the researchers to inform results. COVID-19 public health measures can make it complicated to conduct this kind of research, and it is the priority to keep the communities safe from risk of infection. GNWT COVID-19 protocols will be followed. Public health guidance and Tli?cho? Government directives will determine what research activities are possible and what COVID-19 safety measures are necessary. Under strict measures, interviews may happen remotely, but otherwise will happen in person. Workshops and focus groups will only happen when in-person meetings are allowed by public health directives. Tli?cho? Government offices will be the preferred location for interviews and focus groups, though outside locations will also be favoured where appropriate. Individual participant preferences or needs (e.g. mobility) may make it better for some meetings to happen in participants’ homes or similar locations, so this will be accommodated where possible and when any necessary COVID-19 safety measures can be observed in said locations. The main researchers involved in data collection (Alex Latta, Razvan Michael Birlea, and Sarah Jones) attended the Tli?cho Annual Gathering and Assembly in Whatì in July 2022. The research team introduced themselves to the Whatì SAO, and provided information to the Community Government of Whatì during council meetings in August and September 2022. The research team will continue to engage Tli?cho Government and the Community Government of Whatì for further feedback and to provide further information as necessary. It is not possible at this time to provide an exact date for research feedback to participants and sharing of results to the two communities. The team anticipate holding community meetings in 2023 to share the results and to engage the communities in conversations about the next steps in the research. Participants will receive transcripts of their interviews to have for their own records and to review and comment if they wish. Efforts will also be made to reach them with plain-language summaries of any research outputs. In cases where lack of literacy may prevent them reading transcripts and outputs, we will offer to go over materials with them. Meetings in the communities will be important for ensuring that those outputs also reach a wider audience. With Tli?cho Government approval, all research outputs, along with plain-language summaries, will be uploaded to the Mackenzie Datastream. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from January 10, 2023 to November 30, 2023.