Grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing and doing, this project seeks to centre Indigenous women in responding to the outbreaks of infectious and congenital syphilis, which disproportionately impact Indigenous communities. Using community-based research methodology, incorporating land and arts-based methods, Indigenous women will be engaged in the creation of a national action-oriented early intervention and prevention campaign for infectious and congenital syphilis.

To begin, a series of land-based workshops will be held in Nipissing, Ontario, and Prince George, British Columbia, bringing together young Indigenous women of childbearing age, alongside Knowledge Keepers, Elders, and experts in the field. They will explore what early intervention and prevention for infectious and congenital syphilis could look like, using culturally relevant, participatory arts-based methods. These workshops will inform a national, multi-pronged, multimedia, action-oriented early intervention and prevention syphilis campaign, using the artwork and messaging from the land-based workshops. This campaign has the potential to reach Indigenous communities across the country via social media, as well as through posters and infographics distributed through CAAN and the research teams’ Indigenous and STBBI-focused networks.

By going beyond conventional responses to health outbreaks, this project will contribute to the body of Indigenous health scholarship by documenting how [w]holistic and culturally grounded responses can improve Indigenous health outcomes.