In 2019, Dr. Linda Larcombe from the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Manitoba teamed up with the Sayisi Dene First Nation to develop a land-based learning program in the northern community. The project was designed to focus on sharing knowledge with youth, Elders and academics about culturally significant, recent, historic local land and resource use and archaeology. The goals were achieved through outreach activities. The youth heard about and learned to document land and resource use information from Elders, local expert land and resource users, and from archaeologists. Discussions, presentations and hands-on activities designed to practice traditional knowledge sharing (story-telling, oral narratives), western research methods (mapping, archaeology, ethnography and geographic information systems) were used to mobilize First Nations knowledge.
The impact of living in houses that are
not suited for the environment, the culture and
the economic conditions of the Dene First Nation
in Manitoba is impossible to quantify and there is
the temptation to take a reductionist approach to
the issues and focus on the causes and effects
between health and housing conditions. It is
inappropriate to continue to investigate housing
conditions and health without explicitly linking
it to research action. To envision, create and
design healthy housing we explicitly modelled
the consultation, relationship and the knowledge
sharing processes that will be key for building
culturally appropriate, healthy housing for
remote First Nation communities.
Dr. Larcombe is accepting inquiries from graduate students to work on “Mapping the journey of people living with HIV in northern Manitoba”. The project will focus on the experiences of people living with HIV in northern Manitoba to understand how their journey in northern Manitoba might be different from people living with HIV in Winnipeg to identify potential changes in health care systems, policies or services.
Research Interests:
My research is focused on the study of genetic, socio-cultural and environmental factors contributing to infectious disease susceptibility and resistance in Canadian Aboriginal populations. Trained in anthropology, my approach to infectious disease research is multidisciplinary and draws from medical anthropology, immunogenetics, immunology, ancient DNA , geographic information systems, land use studies, history and archaeology to gain new perspectives regarding disease susceptibility and resistance.
Elizabeth Hydesmith Ph. D. candidate. Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba. “Using two-eyed seeing to support Northern Manitoba First Nations individuals to live well with HIV”
Committee Member for:
Christian Barritt-Cleary Ph.D. candidate. Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba “Aging and Bone Loss in Two Medieval Danish Populations”
Kathleen McMullin – Ph.D. candidate. University of Saskatchewan “Cree Tipi Teachings: An Intervention Approach to Addressing Housing and Lung Health in Two First Nations Communities”
Completed Graduate Students:
Advisor for:
Catlin Semple (2016) – MSc Candidate, Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Manitoba. “Gene Variants and the Innate Immune Pathways in Canadian First Nations Populations.”
Decter, Kate (2013) An anthropological approach to immunogenetic variation in Manitoba First Nation populations: implications for tuberculosis M.A. Thesis Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba.
Boutilier, David (2013) Housing as a social determinant of health in northern Manitoban First Nation Reserves M.A. Thesis Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba.
Committee Member for:
Kaela Parker Ph.D. Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba “Health and Aging in Medieval and Post-medieval Denmark” (2019)
Darrien Morton M.Sc. Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba “AYO!MovementTM: An ethnographic exploration of agency-focused social determinants of health with/in/on an urban indigenous youth movement” (2018)
Amy Scott – Ph.D. Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba “Putting stress to the test: a critical evaluation of the biological response and physical manifestation of stress in the human skeleton” (2015)
Nichol, Katherine M.A .Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba “Investigation of Unmarked Burials at the Indian Residential School Cemeteries in Brandon, Manitoba M.A. Thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba.” (2015)
Teichroeb, Kali M.Sc. Department of Medical Microbiology University of Manitoba. “Association of killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes with tuberculosis disease in two Canadian cohorts” (2013)
