Aanii, Greetings. It is an honour to write this brief editorial for the Special Issue on Aging in Indigenous Populations. I have served Indigenous communities in community-led, participatory research for almost twenty years and I am witnessing a transformation. To see eight abstracts submitted in Indigenous languages and several submissions focused on Aging among First Nations, Metis and Inuit Peoples represents an incredible confirmation of the capacity that our communities have to address our health and aging priorities through research partnerships and leadership.
As you may know, the strategic plan for Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health
(IIPH) highlights the fundamental importance of Indigenous community-led research that is focused on strengths, assets and resilience and supports further investments to strengthen community leadership in research. Through community-led research, we can witness communities using their knowledge to support community-led innovations in partnership. In addition, IIPH-CIHR is working to reduce barriers that hinder the transformation taking place and the partnerships that are being developed:
• Indigenous communities & Individuals are able to hold grants
• New free flowing CV to be launched
• Iterative peer review
• Indirect grants specifically for
Indigenous health research funding (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC are working together on this)
We are hopeful that in removing these and other barriers as identified by Indigenous communities and academic partners we will see a new generation of research that is no longer for Indigenous Peoples but by and at the direction of Indigenous Peoples and this will translate into improved health outcomes.
Chi-miigwetch, thank you very much!
