Covid-19 pandemic significantly impacted people globally including northern, rural, and remote communities. This research project, funded through the Canadian Institute of Health Research, is a partnership developed between the Vuntut Gwitchin Government (VGG) in Old Crow and Yukon University/YSPOR to collect stories about the community’s lived experiences during Covid-19 pandemic. The project was made possible with the support of Dr. Liris Smith, the Principal Investigator and YukonU’s Research Chair in Health, and the assistance of Sherrie Frost, Research Assistant, and a community member based in Old Crow. Through Sherrie’s work, the VGFN community members were mobilized to attend semi-structured interviews.
This is a community-based project that is dependent on building working relationships and collaboration of the community members by sharing their stories via semi-structure interviews. To improve outcomes and quality of data, and to ensure relevance and cultural safety, the elders, knowledge keepers, VGG administration and the community at large, provide direction for the project. In addition, the data collected adheres to the principles of data sovereignty (as per OCAP), with VGG using the results of this study to assist in making decisions, based on evidence, to support the health and wellness of their citizens.
The Old Crow community, similar to other remote communities of Indigenous Peoples, face inequitable access to healthcare, and therefore were disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite these challenges, the history of community resilience and strength is evident in the experiences shared by participants. The conversational data collected from the lived experiences of Vuntut Gwitchin citizens during the pandemic, and the impacts on their health and wellness, may provide a better understanding of how to respond to future pandemics in this community and beyond.
W. Wilberforce Obwona Ogaba
Wilberforce has been a research professional with Yukon Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (YSPOR) SUPPORT Unit at the YukonU Research Centre since September 2022. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Zoology from Makerere University, and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Public Health and Safety from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). He spent over ten years working in pharmaceutical industries as a quality control Chemist, and from 2011 to date as Environmental Public Health Professional – Public Health Inspector in Ontario and now with Yukon Government. In 2021 he completed a Master of Science degree in Global Health Policy from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, UK.
His research interest and activities are in equitable access to primary health care by the marginalized, particularly Indigenous peoples globally. He is currently working on a research project in partnership with Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation in Old Crow on their experience of Covid pandemic. He was a member of another research project on maternal health, through the University of Calgary, Patient and Community Engagement Research (PaCER) program that ended in the Fall of 2023. He also conducted a research project on Biosensor technology, Analytical Chemistry Department, University of Toronto as part of his graduate studies. He is a motivational speaker on equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Sherrie Lynne Frost
Sherrie Lynne Frost worked to support a project funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Indigenous Institute). The YSPOR (Yukon Strategy of Patient Oriented Research) and the Vuntut Gwichin First Nation partnered to examine citizens experiences with COVID-19. A Crow Clan citizen of the Vuntut Gwich’in First Nation with strong values in the Gwich’in Culture, Sherrie worked as health research assistant based out of the YukonU Alice Frost Campus in Old Crow which is named after her great grandmother – a strong Gwich’in women who was a fierce advocate for education. Sherrie’s familiarity with the community and knowledge throughout this project was vital for its success.