An educator, researcher, and administrator descended from Huron-Wendat, French-Canadian, and Scottish-Canadian grandparents, Dr. Dewar brings a rich and dynamic set of skills to his new position at FNIGC.

With a PhD from the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies at Carleton University, he has published widely and spoken extensively on healing, truth and reconciliation, and Indigenous health and well-being, with a specialization in the role that the arts play in healing and reconciliation.

In professional and scholarly settings, Dr. Dewar has worked closely with local, regional, and national networks of Residential School Survivors and their families, communities, and allies, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association, and national Indigenous organizations, in addition to a number of educational and cultural institutions.

“With a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience dealing with—and thinking about—the issues that face First Nations people, Jonathan is a perfect fit to take on this important leadership role” said Bonnie Healy, Chair of FNIGC’s Board of Directors. “He brings to the table a long track record of building and honouring relationships, a conscientious nature, and a commitment to collaborating with FNIGC’s Regional Partners that will only help to further FNIGC’s success in the years ahead.”

Dr. Dewar has held a number of key roles over the years with over a decade of senior leadership experience in qualitative and quantitative research, program evaluation, policy analysis, strategic planning, governance, and communications.

During his career he has served as the Director of Research at the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, the Director of the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre and Special Advisor to the President at Algoma University, and a Director at the National Aboriginal Health Organization. Most recently, he was a Senior Advisor with the Reconciliation Secretariat at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.

“I am deeply honoured to have been chosen for this position and I look forward to working with and learning from First Nations across Canada,” Dr. Dewar said.

“There is such incredible knowledge and expertise among FNIGC’s Regional Partners and the more than 600 First Nations communities across the country – and so many positive stories to tell about our past, present, and futures. I know that the FNIGC team can continue to make a profound and positive contribution to these efforts, and I look forward to being a part of it.”

Founded in 2010, FNIGC is the premier source of information about First Nations people living on reserve and in northern communities across Canada. An incorporated non-profit operating with a special mandate from the Assembly of First Nations’ Chiefs in Assembly (Resolution #48, December 2009), FNIGC is committed to improving the health and well-being of First Nations people living in our 634 communities across the country.

To read Jonathan Dewar’s full bio, click here. 

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Starting in Ottawa, we visited a Mi’kmaq community in Nova Scotia, a Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in community in Yukon, a Mohawk community in Quebec, and a Carrier community in the BC interior, learning along the way about the subtle and substantial power that quality data has had over the years.

The latest in FNIGC’s series of community articles is a particularly powerful one, as it examines the role that data played in changing the fortunes of an entire community.

In order to tell the transformative story of Bigstone Cree Nation, we spent two days in the sprawling Northern Alberta First Nations community where we talked with the Chief, the Directors of Health and Education, residents and an Elder. The story we came away with was about how this defiant Cree community tackled its reputation as “the sickest First Nation in Alberta” and over the course of two decades transformed itself into one of the healthiest in the province.

According to Bigstone’s Chief, the key to this significant change was simple: determination and good data.

“You have to be tough, smart, and plan for everything.” Chief Gordon Auger told us. “That’s how you move forward. It’s about hard-core politics and smart planning. I’ll tell you nobody will give you anything without information.”

The sixth in an ongoing series of articles, the latest Power of Data story unpacks the impact of quality data on life in First Nations communities across Canada, while highlighting the positive real-world impact that data from FNIGC’s surveys has had in First Nations communities over the past two decades.

The series was launched in spring 2015, and since then we’ve published six stories exploring the importance of data in First Nations communities.

You can download the latest article on our site (in English and French) here:

Power of Data Bigstone (English)

Power of Data Bigstone (French)

Do you have a Power of Data story in your community that you think we should focus on in a future story? Drop us a line at info@fnigc.ca and tell us about it.

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After more than year spent developing, translating and testing the course site, FNIGC is pleased to introduce Fondamentaux des Principes de PCAP^®, the French-language version of its successful OCAP^® course.

Developed in collaboration with Algonquin College, Fondamentaux des Principes de PCAP^® will allow French-speaking users to take advantage of the OCAP^® course materials, which offers unprecedented access to FNIGC’s 20 years of expertise about the First Nations principles of OCAP^® all in a user-friendly platform.

OCAP^® (which stands for ownership, control, access, and possession) are a set of standards founded in 1998 that establish how First Nations data can be collected, protected, used and shared. Over the years OCAP^® has grown to become the recognized “gold standard” for research and data collection conducted within First Nations communities.

Fondamentaux des Principes de PCAP^® offers a comprehensive overview of OCAP^® and is organized in seven modules, such as: “What is OCAP^®?”, “Implementing OCAP® at the Community Level”, and “The Future of OCAP^®”.

Though designed with the training needs of First Nations people in mind, the course is available to anyone and will prove useful to researchers or government employees looking to understand the information governance concerns and requirements of First Nations communities.

Now available in French, course registration is only $249 (plus GST/HST) and can be completed online at http://fnigc.ca/fr/training/fondements-pcap.html.

The course is designed to be completed in six hours. Once you are registered and have started the course, you will have three months to complete it.

About the First Nations principles of OCAP^®

The First Nations principles of OCAP^® are a set of standards that establish ground rules for how First Nations data can be collected, protected, used or shared. OCAP^® reflects First Nation commitments to use and share information in a way that brings benefit to the community, while minimizing any possible harm. The rights of First Nations communities to Own, Control, Access, and Possess information about their peoples is fundamentally tied to self-determination and to the preservation and development of their culture.

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To Stanley Thomas, Chief of Saik’uz, oral storytelling traditions are an important means of transmitting cultural information within a family and the community as a whole.

“Data, to me, we’ve had it all our lives – but it isn’t always written down” he said. “Our data is here, in our own way, it’s in our heads.”

This article is the latest in an ongoing Power of Data series that explores the impact of quality data on life in First Nations communities across Canada, while highlighting the positive real-world impact that data from FNIGC’s First Nations Regional Health Survey (FNRHS, or RHS) has had in First Nations communities over the past two decades.

The series was launched in spring 2015, and since then FNIGC has published five stories that explore and examine the importance of quality data in First Nations communities.

You can read our latest article here The Power of Data: Saik’uz First Nation.

Do you have a Power of Data story in your community that you think we should focus on in a future story? Drop us a line at info@fnigc.ca and tell us about it.

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After nearly seven years in key leadership roles at the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC), Gail Mc Donald will be retiring as Executive Director of the organization effective today.

FNIGC’s Senior Managers Addie Pryce and Jerry Lanouette will share Acting Executive Director responsibilities until an executive search process can identify a new permanent Director.

Ms. Mc Donald has had a celebrated, decades-long career in various First Nations issues and has earned a reputation as an outspoken advocate for First Nations data governance issues. She was instrumental in the growth of FNIGC as it transitioned out of an internal committee at the Assembly of First Nations into a stand-alone incorporated non-profit in 2010.

In the years since, Gail helped grow FNIGC into a position of authority and respect within First Nations communities, academia and government (federal, provincial, and regional), and was pivotal in forging its standing as the premier source of information about First Nations people living in 634 reserve and Northern communities.

On behalf of its Board of Directors, Regional Partners and all FNIGC staff, FNIGC would like to thank Ms. Mc Donald for her significant contributions in making FNIGC into what it is today. We could not have gotten here without you, and we wish you well in your next chapter as you return to your home community of Akwesasne to devote more time with friends and family.

For the next few months, Ms. Pryce will oversee all Program and Project Management responsibilities, while Mr. Lanouette will oversee Operational and Financial duties. An executive search is underway, and any interested parties can apply through Higgins Executive Search.

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Click here to download the conference agenda: Tools for Empowerment conference agenda

Thank you for your interest in FNIGC’s First Nations Data Governance conference. Registration is now closed for this event.

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The new FNIGC Data Online, which launches today at www.FNIGC.ca/dataonline, represents months of rethinking about the functionality of the existing tool and how information is currently being accessed, used, and shared in today’s online environment. The result represents a reimagining of the original Data Online tool, which was launched in December 2013 as an easy, no-cost way for researchers, academics, policy-makers and students to access FNIGC’s significant data resources about First Nations reserve communities.

In the years since, FNIGC Data Online has grown to become the cornerstone of FNIGC’s knowledge translation efforts.

Since it was unveiled more than three years ago, the data tool has been one of FNIGC’s most popular online products, consistently placing in the Top 5 most visited pages on FNIGC.ca with annual user visits more than tripling.

The new FNIGC Data Online offers these users a fresh new experience that better reflects how we use the web today. These new features include:

• a mobile responsive interface that performs seamlessly on smartphones and mobile devices,
• customizable charts and graphs that can be modified according to the user’s needs,
• a more dynamic user experience that is easier to navigate, more intuitive to use, and makes interpreting data much more straightforward, and
• enhanced social media features, including the ability to share our data on Facebook or Twitter with the click of a button.

In addition, FNIGC is pleased to report that FNIGC Data Online is now also home to all published data from the First Nations Regional Health Survey Phase 2 and The First Nations Early Childhood, Education and Employment Survey, FNIGC’s landmark First Nations survey processes. This amounts to nearly 400 charts, graphs and tables—twice as much as was previously available.

In the months ahead, FNIGC Data Online will continue to grow with the addition of all phases of the First Nations Regional Health Survey including Phase One and the soon to be released Phase 3. (Note that all previously published survey reports will continue to be available on FNIGC.ca.)

The premier source of information about First Nations reserve and northern communities in Canada, FNIGC is a First Nations-run non-profit organization mandated by the Assembly of First Nations to serve the information, research and training needs of First Nations people and communities. As such, FNIGC is committed to improving the health and well-being of people living in our 634 First Nations communities across the country.

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The recipients of this year’s bursary are Mr. Kody Doxtator of Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario and Kathrina Chief Moon Riley, of the Blood Tribe (Kainai) Reserve in Alberta.

Mr. Doxtator is a Masters of Public Health student at the University of Victoria, specializing in Indigenous Health. His current research is concerned with investigating the cultural understandings of tobacco established by Indigenous nations across North America, and examining their ability to establish and maintain a healthy relationship with tobacco.

He intends to examine this complex relationship by using an Indigenous theoretical approach called revillagization (an Indigenous response to colonization) and hopes that his research will eventually inform the creation of new, culturally relevant resources that can help address the high rates of commercial tobacco use in Indigenous populations across Canada.

Ms. Chief Moon Riley is a Masters of Health Science student at the University of Lethbridge, and will be attending the School of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan in 2018. Her current thesis research is committed to exploring the biological impacts of the Indian Residential School system on the development of intergenerational trauma among Indigenous Canadians.

She hopes that her research can contribute to the better understanding of the origins of health disparities observed in Indigenous people, and help inform the current body of research looking into the health and well-being of Indigenous people.

As the recipients of the 2016 FNIGC National Student Bursary, Ms. Chief Moon Riley and Mr. Doxtator will each receive a $2,500 bursary to help support their studies, as well as free registration for FNIGC’s Fundamentals of OCAP® online course.

The FNIGC National Student Bursary is awarded annually to qualifying First Nation college or university students pursuing degrees in the field of epidemiology, population health, biostatistics, or information management technology.

FNIGC is a First Nations non-profit operating with a mandate from the Assembly of First Nations. As the premier source of information about First Nations people living on reserve and in northern communities, FNIGC is committed to improving the health and well-being of people living in our 634 First Nations communities across the country. FNIGC recognizes that real change can come through sound policy-making, but only if it’s supported by quality information — information that is collected by First Nations people for First Nations people.

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