About Pewaseskwan
About Pewaseskwan:
Pewaseskwan (the Indigenous Wellness Research Group) is co-led by Dr. Alexandra King (Nipissing First Nation) and Prof. Malcolm King (Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation). They started the research group in 2015 while working at Simon Fraser University (SFU), on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəyə̓m (Musqueam), Sḵwxw̱ ú7mesh (Squamish), and səli̓lwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Research is centred on Indigenous people and their health and wellness needs and is culturally responsive and imbued with Indigenous methodologies and ceremony. On October 16, 2017, Dr. King became the inaugural Cameco Chair in Indigenous Health and Wellness at the University of Saskatchewan (USask). The research group expanded into Treaty 6 territory, where it was gifted the name Pewaseskwan (Cree for “the sky is clearing”).
Some of those early SFU-based projects have evolved into similar projects in Misâskwatômina (Saskatoon) or have follow-up projects in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES). Many more projects are from grants awarded since 2017 for research in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, BC and other regions. They included disease-specific research grants and others more focused on land- and culture-based healing and knowledge. Pewaseskwan has had great success, including securing millions of dollars in research grants and doing innovative research guided by etuaptmumk (Two-eyed Seeing) and Ethical Space, establishing formal ties with Indigenous political organizations and creating partnerships with Indigenous communities and organizations. The team is setting new nationally-recognized standards for how research with Indigenous peoples and communities is done, and increasing Indigenous health research capacity.
Highlights:
2017
October – Alexandra King joined USask as Cameco Chair in Indigenous Health and Wellness
November – Alexandra co-chaired the International Group on Indigenous Health Measurement Conference
2018
January – A pipe ceremony was held to start work in a good way
February – Alexandra co-chaired the Social, Cultural, Environmental and Population Health session at the 7th Canadian Symposium on HCV
September – Alexandra chaired the 7th International Symposium in Hepatitis Care in Substance Users workshop
November – Alexandra was a keynote speaker at Australian National University: Inaugural Indigenous health and medicine Symposium, Canberra, Australia
2019
May – Alexandra co-chaired the Canadian AIDS/HIV Research (CAHR) Conference
June – A pipe ceremony was held to form the Cameco Chair Management Committee
September – Alexandra co-chaired the Scientific Committee at the 2nd World Indigenous Cancer Conference
October – An Île-à-la-Crosse Community Gathering was held with Pewaseskwan in Saskatoon
December – Pewaseskwan held a strategic planning session in Saskatoon
2020
March – The COVID-19 pandemic meant the team began working remotely
April – We launched the Pewaseskwan Journal Club (later renamed Learning Circle)
June – Alexandra was an invited keynote speaker at WHO: Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes, Geneva
November – Alexandra chaired the first World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Viral Hepatitis (WIPCVH) virtual mini conference
2021
April – Waniska Centre pipe ceremonies were held to start work in a good way with community partners
April – We held a virtual strategic planning session
May – Alexandra was the clinical co-chair at the 2021 Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) Conference
May – Alexandra was the keynote presenter on Indigenous ways and methodologies at the 2021 Alaska Indigenous Research Program
June – Alexandra co-presented a keynote talk at the The Neuromuscular Disease Network for Canada webinar
June – We held the Waniska Centre launch on National Indigenous People’s Day
September – We moved into new office space in USask Health Sciences Building, E-Wing
September – Alexandra gave a keynote presentation at New Digital Research Infrastructure Organization (NDRIO) on National Truth and Reconciliation Day
November – Alexandra chaired the second World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Viral Hepatitis virtual mini conference
November – Pewaseskwan signed the Waniska MOU with the FSIN Health Secretariat
November – We held the Sask Stories HIV/HCV Conference at Whitecap Dakota First Nation
2022
March – We held a strategic planning session in Saskatoon
May – Alexandra co-chaired the Population Health Research session at the 11th Canadian Symposium on Hepatitis C Virus
May – Alexandra gave the keynote presentation on etuaptmumk (Two-eyed Seeing) at the 2022 Alaska Indigenous Research Program
June – Alexandra chaired the 2022 World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Viral Hepatitis
June – Pewaseskwan signed an MOU with FSIN’s Saskatchewan First Nations Women’s Commission (SFNWC)
August – Alexandra co-chaired the Indigenous Development Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) Gathering in Vancouver
2023
May – In May 2023, Dr. King and Prof. Malcolm King gave a keynote lecture titled “Indigenous peoples and pandemics: Historical and current perspectives from Turtle Island,” at the Indigenous Peoples and Pandemics Conference and Workshop at the Centre for Advanced Study at The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo, Norway.
May – Dr. King travelled to Los Angeles, CA, as an Invited Session Speaker on Priority Populations for HBV and HCV – Indigenous People at the 2023 AASLD North American Viral Hepatitis Elimination Summit.
June – The 2023 Waniska Gathering was held June 6-7 at Wanuskewin Heritage Park, Saskatoon. Participants included members from the community, people with lived and living experience, Elders, Knowledge Holders, practitioners, frontline workers and researchers.
July – Dr. King was a keynote speaker at the International HIV Coinfection and Viral Hepatitis Elimination Conference, Innovation informing implementation, hosted by the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine in July 2023 in Brisbane, Australia.
July – Dr. King and Prof. Malcolm King presented on the topic “Issues of health equity as it relates to HIV and Hepatitis among First Nations Peoples in Canada” and Indigenous Peoples Conference – HIV and Hepatitis Health Equity in Brisbane, Australia.
August – Dr. King and Prof. Malcolm King gave a presentation titled “Indigenous Peoples in Canada: Their Health and Wellness,” at the BHI Summer School in Ottawa, Canada.
October – Dr. King was promoted to Associate Professor on Oct.12, 2023
December – The Butterfly Project closing gala was held on Dec. 15, 2022. It included a feast, a data validation process, a sharing circle and a gifting ceremony.
December – The Butterfly Project closing gala was held on Dec. 15, 2022. It included a feast, a data validation process, a sharing circle and a gifting ceremony.
2024
April – Mitewekan members attended the Kahkiyaw wahkomâkanitik (All my relations) Igniting IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility & Social Justice) within the BHI initiative.
April – Dr. King presented HPV/cervical cancer among Indigenous people in Saskatchewan: The need for self-testing (aka self-sampling), at Saskatchewan Obstetrics & Gynecology Grand Rounds, for the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
May – Dr. King was an invited virtual presenter at the Stanford Medical Grand Rounds, hosted by Stanford Medicine’s Department of Medicine.
June – King was honoured at the Annual Excellence in Research Award Event held on June 13, 2024 at the USask College of Medicine
June – The Pewaseskwan team gathered at Wanuskewin Heritage Park for a two-day retreat.
June – Mitewekan hosted their first Annual Gathering with community and funding partners from BHI, CANet and the CHFA in Ottawa.
June – Mitewekan members and Dr. King attended the State of the Science Summit – a bi-annual gathering held by the BHI group.
September – Dr. King was announced as a Fellow of CAHS on Sept. 10, 2024.
November – Kiskemisowin funded two community partners, Damien Georges from Pinehouse and Lily Naytowhow from Sturgeon Lake, to attend the IIRC in Auckland, New Zealand.
December – Waniska completed and launched the Journeys to Wellness: CanHepC Prairie Hepatitis C Roadmap, an ambitious and collaborative effort to address hepatitis C in the three Prairie provinces.
December – Dr. King and Pewaseskwan member Sadeem published a series of three articles at in CATIE’s Prevention in Focus (PIF) publication. A special PIF issue was created to host the articles.
December – Sadeem delivered an oral presentation at the 33rd Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research (CAHR 2024). The presentation title was: Reclaiming the Promise of Peer Navigation. Introducing Healthcare CARES, a Relational Model for Historic Trauma Safe Care
December – Waniska has joined Ka-wâpamitin ôtê nîkân to assist in the project’s community engagement, with Waniska’s focusing on Indigenous communities across the province.
December – On November 15, 2023, Dr. King and Prof. King attended a virtual education session for women who are carriers of spinobulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA).
Our Logo:
Pewaseskwan – Cree, meaning the sky is starting to clear, it is clearing up. This could be metaphoric.
“We Indigenous people are moving towards clearing up our own understandings, standing on those foundations that were almost completely destroyed by the colonizers … and then starting to use Indigenous knowledges to improve our own quality of life as well as for others” (Stan Wilson, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Professor, University College of the North, Manitoba).
The logo reflects Saskatchewan landscapes, including northern water and trees, and fields of green and gold below. The colours also tie in with the official University of Saskatchewan colours. The logo was designed by Megan Currie of X-ing Design, an Indigenous design company in Regina.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Most of our team lives and works on Treaty 6 territory and the Homeland of the Métis. The original peoples of these lands are the Cree, Saulteaux, Dene, Dakota, Lakota, Nakota, and Métis. Others are based in Vancouver, on the unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. We encourage everyone, wherever they are, to learn about the Indigenous people of the lands on which they live and work. We seek to become engaged allies together. In the spirit of truth and reconciliation, we respect the self-determination of First Nations, Métis and Inuit – in their cultures, languages and their pursuit of wellness.
© 2023 Pewaseskwan (the Indigenous Wellness Research Group) | Office of the Cameco Chair in Indigenous Health and Wellness, University of Saskatchewan.