NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: North Slave Region

Tags: social sciences, mining impacts, women, resource extraction, indigenous youth, gender

Objective(s): To generate and share knowledge horizontally across mining-affected communities and through community/university partnerships; to document women's and youths’ experiences in mine activity and mine closure; and, to reveal alternative community development strategies grounded in the experiences and aspirations of women and youth in mining-affected regions in Canada and South Africa.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5517. Grounded in community experience with and responses to extraction in northern Canada and coal mining communities in South Africa, our transnational approach is guided by following objectives: 1) to generate and share knowledge horizontally across mining-affected communities and through community/university partnerships; 2) to document women’s and youths’ experiences in mine activity and mine closure; and, 3) to reveal alternative community development strategies grounded in the experiences and aspirations of women and youth in mining-affected regions in Canada and South Africa. The research team will interview community members in mining-affected towns in Northern Canada and South Africa, with a focus on women and youth (age 16+). The team will also interview community workers, leaders, and knowledge holders. The target interview number across these groups is 100 over the five-year project (50 in South Africa, 50 in Canada). The team plan to conduct these interviews in-person; however, should the COVID-19 pandemic necessitate, the team will conduct interviews over zoom through the secure Queen’s zoom service. Interviews will be semi-structured, based on the attached interview schedule. An audio recording will be taken of each interview, which will later be transcribed. Participants will be made aware of the recording, both in writing, and verbally.? Audio/video recordings: Community youth and women in Canada and South Africa will be engaged through Whatsapp to build our networks and to share stories across research sites. The team will also use video recording in the arts-based workshops.?? Virtual teleconferencing: As noted above, virtual teleconferencing will be used to replace in-person interviews, if necessary due to COVID. Otherwise, virtual teleconferencing will be used to facilitate iterative research practices and horizontal learning and capacity building across learning sites. Aside from two in-person team workshops, the team will hold annual Team Workshops virtually that bring together researchers from Queen’s University, the University of Witwatersrand, the Tlicho Research Team and Hotii Ts’eeda.? Sharing circles/talking circles: We aim to conduct 16 talking circles (8/Canada, 8/South Africa) with community members in mining-affected towns in Northern Canada and South Africa. Talking circles will be co-facilitated by university and community researchers. In Canada, an elder or traditional knowledge holder will open the meeting. Because talking circles will be community events, research participants will be advised that confidentiality cannot be maintained. All talking circle participants will be given the opportunity to participate in an interview in addition to or instead of the talking circle.? Story-based research/learning from elders: Within our community-based interviews and talking circles, elders will be invited. While all participants will have the option of translation, the team will be prepared to use translation as the de facto method for elders in Canada. In keeping with Tlicho protocol, elders will be the first invited to speak in our talking circles.?One of our team researchers is a Tlicho and English speaker, and so is well-positioned to lead translation. Art-based data collection: the research team will conduct eight youth arts-based workshops (four/Canada, four/South Africa) on resistance to extraction and post-mining transitions, which will be documented by photo voice and in partnership with local graphic recorders, trained by Hotiì ts'eeda. Hotiì ts'eeda has found that Indigenous graphic recorders, who use drawing to illustrate meeting or research proceedings, have the capacity to transcend limits of the English language in conveying Indigenous concepts.?? Community stakeholders have been involved in the research design via the Tlicho research network. They will continue to be kept apprised via this network, as well as through ongoing research meetings. Findings will be discussed and co-analyzed in an ongoing way. These more informal sites of knowledge mobilization will be complemented by the dissemination of formal community outputs, including presentations (translated in local languages), presentations of co-created media that will enable communities from Canada and South Africa to connect and learn from one another, and reports that will be validated by local research partners and disseminated to Indigenous governments and community organizations. Community partners in both Canada and South Africa have expressed enthusiasm for a final multi-media exhibit to share findings with community, and with one another. This will be an opportunity for participants in our arts workshops to share their work (should they desire) and to learn across communities. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from May 29, 2023 to December 31, 2023.