Iqaluit Field Report - May 2013 In May 2013, IHACC conducted a Burden of Illness (BOI) Survey, with guidance from representatives from the Government of Nunavut Department of Health and Social Services, Public Health Agency of Canada, the Iqaluit Public Health Department, Nunavut Research Institute, and several local community members. The report was put together by Ellen McDonald based at the University of Guelph
Kaitlyn Finner: Update from the field
Master’s student Kaitlyn Finner has spent the past week in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut meeting with community members to learn about their views of the household food inventories completed throughout summer and fall 2013. During August, September and November, 22 households participated in eight weeks of data collection. During the two, month-long periods, community members were asked to document all market and wild foods that passed through their homes. Kaitlyn and community research assistant Inez Shiwak are now meeting with residents to hear their reflections on the food inventory forms and process.
This research is being conducted in partnership with the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change (IHACC), and Inuit Traditional Knowledge for Adapting to the Health Effects of Climate Change (IK-ADAPT) projects and is run by the Rigolet Inuit Community Government.
IHACC graduates its first PhD
Congratulations to Sherilee Harper on successfully defending her PhD on acute gastrointestinal illness and links to climate change in the Arctic. Sheri's PhD is the first to come out of IHACC, and she will continue working on the project as faculty at the University of Guelph, also joining the project management committee.
IHACC Annual Meeting: Year 3
This year, the annual meeting was held in Buhoma in the Kanungu District of Uganda and took place from the 9th to the 11th of July. Issues having arisen during the second year of the project were discussed, and strategies forward for year three were developed. Team members also had the opportunity to visit one of the project’s partnering research communities, the Mukongoro Batwa settlement, accompanied by the Batwa Development Program’s Sabastian Twesigomwe. The team was greeted with songs and dances, and shared a traditional meal prepared by community members.
Participatory Video Launched: Life in Rigolet
As originally posted here on the IKADAPT website.
In May 2013, youth in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut engaged in a two-week participatory video project to create a film about growing up and living in Rigolet.
Facilitated by Jordan and Curtis Konek (Konek Productions) from Arviat, Nunavut, Marilyn Baikie and Inez Shiwak (‘My Word’: Storytelling & Digital Media Lab) from Rigolet, and Joanna Petrasek MacDonald (McGill graduate student & IK-ADAPT researcher), this workshop provided students from Northern Lights Academy with training in video design, camera techniques, interviewing skills, and editing.
The workshop concluded with the completion of a 17 minute film, edited entirely by the students and a community screening. As Joanna Petrasek MacDonald explained,
The film is about the lives of the youth in Rigolet and full of footage of all kinds of awesome activities that they do in and around town. Not one seat at the screening was empty, there were lots of laughs and smiles, and the young filmmakers were glowing with pride. Since the screening we have received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from the students, parents, teachers, and community members.
For a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the making of the Life in Rigolet participatory video, check out Joanna’s video:
This project would not be possible without the amazing support and guidance of the following organizations, groups, and individuals:
- Charlotte Wolfrey (AngajukKâk) and the Rigolet Inuit Community Government
- Tom Mugford (Principal) and the staff and students of Northern Lights Academy
- ‘My Word’: Storytelling and Digital Media Lab
- Nunatsiavut Department of Health and Social Development
- Climate Change Adaptation Research Group at McGill University
- Inuit Mental Health and Adaptation to Climate Change (IMHACC) project
- Inuit Knowledge for Adapting to the Health Effects of Climate Change (IK-ADAPT) project
- Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change (IHACC) project
- First Air and Air Labrador
Finally, a very special thank you to Jordan and Curtis Konek, from Konek Productions, for lending their video expertise and making this all possible!