Workshop: Indigenous Gender and Wellness Team Grant

Event Date: 
Tuesday, January 12, 2021 - 1:00pm to 2:30pm EST
Event Location: 
online
Event Fee: 
no fee
Event Contact Name: 
Canadian Institutes of Health Research

CIHR will be hosting a webinar to support participants with the requirements of this funding opportunity and to answer questions. Applicants are strongly encouraged to attend the webinar. To find out more information and to register, visit the Webinars page.

Sponsored by: CIHR’s Institute of Gender and Health (IGH), Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health (IIPH), Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH) and the CIHR – HIV/AIDS Research Initiative

Gender plays an important, but often overlooked role in Indigenous wellness. In the case of Indigenous Peoples in Canada (i.e., First Nations, Inuit and Métis, including urban Indigenous communities), Indigenous concepts of gender have been negatively affected by colonization and the effects of gender on wellness have often been overlooked by research.

Gender can be defined as the socially constructed roles, behaviours, expressions and identities of women, men, girls, boys and gender-diverse people. Gender is culturally based and can change over time, both at the societal and individual levels. The term gender often has different meanings for different people. For instance, in this funding opportunity, we use the term gender broadly to include Indigenous concepts of Two-Spirit, which can cover Indigenous concepts of both gender and sexuality. We want to know: What if we paid closer attention to gender in all its forms? Could we improve wellness among Indigenous Peoples?

This funding opportunity is the third phase of a larger initiative on the topic of Indigenous Gender and Wellness. The first phase supported individuals to attend an Idea Fair and Learning Circle event in June of 2019 through a travel award. At the Idea Fair, Indigenous individuals and allies shared ideas on Indigenous gender and wellness with supporters to work together to develop these ideas into potential projects.

The second phase supported those who attended the Idea Fair to continue working on their ideas and to cultivate relationships with community members and partners through a one-year development grant.

This third and final phase will provide funding for Indigenous-led teams to implement their ideas through research and action-oriented, community-based participatory projects that will improve wellness for Indigenous Peoples from a gendered perspective. Some possible examples of community-based participatory projects might include but are not limited to: projects with a focus on the arts as a means to improving wellness from a gendered lens (e.g., visual, music, dance, theatre, literary or media, including contemporary practice of traditionally-based forms); or participatory programs that focus on and strengthen the relationship between gender, wellness and cultural traditions and activities (e.g., ceremony, land-based activities).

This funding opportunity will focus on addressing themes related to Indigenous gender and wellness. In this context, wellness should be broadly defined to encompass an Indigenous, holistic view of health. Projects can tie wellness to ceremony, language, culture, behaviours, land-based projects and more. Projects on topics important to Indigenous youth and young adults are especially encouraged.

Visit Research Net for further details