During my major in First Nations and Indigenous Studies, I participated in the UBC FNIS practicum programme. As part of the practicum programme, I worked as a student researcher for First Peoples’ Cultural Council to compile a literature review and analysis on the intersections between Indigenous health, wellbeing, and language.
First Peoples’ Cultural Council is located on Vancouver Island, BC and provides Indigenous communities with support and resources for cultural heritage programming, often involving language revitalization. To support ongoing advocacy and the development of a new health-related language program, they were interested in exploring the ways language relates to or is an indicator of health and wellbeing.
Through the University of British Columbia First Nations and Indigenous Studies Practicum program, I collected various articles, websites, news clippings, and books to survey the body of knowledge regarding health and language. My undergraduate thesis is a comprehensive review of my findings.
My undergraduate thesis can be found here or here.
My undergraduate thesis has been cited and used in the writing of four major works:
- Revitalizing Language and Cultural Identity to Stimulate Positive Development among Indigenous Communities
- Indigenous Health Care Workers use Language to Build Trust and Break Down Barriers
- For this article, I was interviewed by Jonathan Ventura and Annie Rueter from CBC News as part of an Indigenous language series called ‘More than Words’ produced by the Reporting in Indigenous Communities course at UBC. If you’re interested, you can find the whole series here.
- Exploring the Use of Indigenous Languages in Antenatal Care Sessions Among Mothers in Lagos State in Emerging Trends in Indigenous Language Media, Communication, Gender, and Health
- A Culturally Appropriate School-Based Digital Health Initiative: The SMART Platform Policy Solution for Systems Integration to Address Indigenous Youth Mental Health