Ontario Network for Environment in Indigenous Health Annual Report

54 Conference recordings The Symposium was recorded and archived on the ON-NEIHR website, as well as the WBIIH YouTube channel. All archived videos were shared with panelists and attendees a week after the Symposium via e-mail. The YouTube links were also shared through ON-NEIHR Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter posts. As of March 8, 2021, the recording for day one of the Symposium has 1 like and 68 views, while day two’s recording has 3 likes and 41 views.

Summary and Next Steps The ON-NEIHR and IMN-ON’s Indigenizing Health Symposium 2020 saw the first virtual hosting in the continuation of the annual Symposium series. While previous years have invited Indigenous scholars, students, and community members to the city of Toronto to meet, share, and learn in the spirit of adaptation during the COVID-19 pandemic, this Symposium was hosted online through Zoom. This two-day knowledge-sharing event was recorded in its entirety and made immediately available for online viewing through the ON-NEIHR website.

The adaptation of this gathering into a virtual format encouraged accessibility of attendance and sets a new precedent for Indigenous academic development, scholarly collaboration, and knowledge sharing. This Symposium brought ON-NEIHR members from across Turtle Island, Hawai’i, and Australia, and included Traditional Knowledge Keepers/Elders, students, researchers, clinicians, scholars, policymakers, community members, and executive directors of Indigenous community organizations. While previous Indigenous gatherings can be typically hosted in on location in communities, posing travel and financial barriers for students, this virtual event offered no geographic or financial limitations; instead, online delivery and available recording promotes a beautiful step toward a future where Indigenous clinicians, members, researchers, and knowledge seekers are connected through spirit across distances.

One of the main goals of this virtual knowledge exchange was to broaden areas of health and healing in Indigenous communities. The topics and themes in this knowledge exchange explored broad topics of mental health in clinical practices (i.e., health models, interventions, assessment tools and frameworks); healing trauma and substance use; and eliminating suicide and strategies to enhance wellbeing. Alongside mental health and clinical approaches, broader topics of Indigenous research (i.e., ethics, community participatory approaches); planetary health solutions; and Indigenous traditional knowledge and policy integration were included. The diverse array of topics offered valuable insights for researchers, clinicians, and students while emphasizing critical Indigenous-based understandings of what impacts health, including environmental engagement, land-based teachings and structures, and broader domains of planetary wellness.

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a substantial impact on the service delivery in Indigenous communities, limited traditional engagement, and personal taxation on wellness. With strict requirements for physical disconnection, this virtual knowledge exchange has focused on how to stay safe in the present, promoted global connection of traditional knowledge, and invested into the future of Indigenous scholars.