Research summary
Residential schools and colonial policies banned the use of Indigenous languages. As a result, many of these are endangered today. As Canada Research Chair in Health, Healing, and Community Revitalization: Indigenous Approaches to Overcoming Intergenerational Trauma and Loss, Dr. Alanaise Ferguson is revitalizing Indigenous language and culture in order to heal intergenerational trauma, grief and loss.
Working collaboratively with Indigenous communities, faculty, graduate students and allied health providers in the British Columbia interior, she and her research team are establishing the Centre for Sharing Community Voices. Through this centre, they will develop language programs as well as partnerships and trust with Nsyilxcen language speakers and relevant faculty members in order to explore, develop and implement language and cultural resurgence projects. The centre will also be a place to train the next generation of Indigenous health researchers and design and implement transformative health research projects.