Atlantic Indigenous health research network receives $4M from Ottawa

The lead of an organization that works with Indigenous people in Atlantic Canada says renewed federal funding will help give communities more agency over health research.

The Wabanaki-Labrador Indigenous Health Research Network is receiving $4 million from the federal government over five years, said Debbie Martin.

"As we move forward, we're going to start to dive into more of what we're hearing from communities about what their needs are," said Martin, who is also the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples Health and Well-Being at Dalhousie University. 

Formed in 2019, the Wabanaki-Labrador network is composed of Indigenous community members and organizations, as well as researchers in the Atlantic region. The network provides grants for things like workshops that help improve knowledge about health research in community groups, with an aim to build capacity for more Indigenous health research.

It also funds the Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network, which has seen applications for financial support double. 

Martin said some of the new federal money will go directly to Indigenous communities to fund research projects they identify a need for. 

When communities are "able to hold the purse strings for funding, then oftentimes they're able to advance the work that they know needs to be done, in the ways that they want to see it done."

The approach of giving research dollars to community groups helps ensure research is in-line with local priorities, said Jamie Snook, an adjunct professor at the Labrador campus of Memorial University.

"A lot of research has happened in Indigenous communities for a very long time that local people were not involved in, didn't have a say in, certainly would not have approved of."

Snook is part of a research project in the Nunatsiavut region of Labrador. The project is funded by the Wabanaki-Labrador network and is looking at the health and well-being impacts of Inuit youth having access to traditional activities like hunting and mentorship from elders.

The research proposal for the project was submitted by the Torngat Wildlife and Plants Co-Management Board, an organization that came out of the Labrador Inuit land claim agreement, Snook said.

"When money flows to the community-based organizations … it does build capacity at the community level and a different sense of ownership over the research." 

Funding for the Wabanaki-Labrador network is part of a $37.6 million October announcement from Ottawa for the continuation of Indigenous health research networks across Canada. The organization previously received $3.5 million in federal funding, which was spread over the last five years.

That was part of Ottawa's initial investment of $100.8 million across the country. There are nine established networks, and the program is expanding to the Yukon.