The deputy professor of the Community Health Research and Education Institute (IRERAG Career development program at the start of his career (career) Prize, one of the most prestigious honors in NSF for teachers at the start of their career.
A total of $ 577,000 in funding over five years, the prize will support its research project, “Survivance for Autoges Well-Being: Research and Education”, which seeks to reframe how Aboriginal health is perceived and promoted.
“This is an exciting project,” said Wilbur. “It is incredibly significant to see this work recognized and supported by the NSF, in particular given the rare for research on forces centered on the natives to receive this type of financing.”
Crop indigenous health by “survival”
At the heart of Wilbur’s project is the concept of “survival” – a term invented by the literary scientist Anishinaabe Gerald Vizenor who mixes survival And resistance. Unlike more commonly used “resilience”, which often involves a reaction to adversity, survival emphasizes the active presence, cultural continuity and inherent forces of indigenous communities.
The survival project funded by Wilbur’s career has emerged from its previous work on historical trauma and the long -term effects of American Indians’ internships. Thanks to this work, she recognized that many indigenous communities have demonstrated sustainable forces which were not simply answers to trauma but which were rooted in deep cultural and family traditions.
“People kept saying,” We are tired of being resilient, “she said. “They wanted a term that reflected who they are – not exactly what they have endured.”
The project funded by the NSF will develop a health survival toolbox, including a formal definition, a conceptual framework and a measurement tool. This toolbox will then be controlled in partnership with the United Indians of All Tribes Foundtle of Seattle, applying it to their traditional medicine program to assess how cultural engagement promotes well-being for Aboriginal communities.
Build generational connections: the inspired grant
In addition to the career price, Wilbur is also a recipient of the inspiration of Washington State University! Research seed subsidy program initiated by the community for the “Connection of generations for Aboriginal well-being”. The initiative, a collaboration with the Coast Salish Youth Coalition and William Hartmann, associate professor at the University of Washington, focuses on the sharing of intergenerational knowledge as a means of meeting the challenges of mental health for young people and the elders of the American.
The program associates the elders and young people of the communities of the Salish coast to engage in traditional practices such as narration, basket weaving and subsistence activities. The objective is to promote positive cultural identity, self -esteem and community connection – factors suggesting that research can reduce the abuse of substances and suicidality among young indigenous people.
“Some of the most powerful moments came from conversations with young people,” said Wilbur. “They are impatient to learn, connect and recover traditions that have been disrupted by colonization.”
Wilbur underlines that the two projects are deeply collaborative.
“It’s not just my projects,” she noted. “They are the result of solid partnerships and shared visions. I am just an academic who can help get funding. ”
With these two major subsidies, Wilbur not only advances healthy health research, but also to reshape the frames through which such research is carried out: concentrating voices, values and indigenous visions for the future.
Star
Rachel Wilbur, PHD, MPH
Assistant teacher