Dartmouth Events

COVID-19 in The Arctic: An Indigenous Perspective

Arctic communities are implementing complex public health measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, and including Indigenous knowledge in the process.

Thursday, March 2, 2023
4:30pm – 6:00pm
Haldeman Hall 41 (Kreindler Conference Hall)
Intended Audience(s): Public
Categories: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Lectures & Seminars

Live stream is available here

To fully understand the implications of COVID-19 in the Arctic Indigenous knowledge and local knowledge was required to supplement data collected using western scientific methods. Identifying community-driven models and evidence-based promising practices and recommendations are key to informing pan-Arctic collaboration and decision-making in public health during times of global emergencies. 

A Circumpolar team has explored a number of questions, including:

  • Are public health measures implemented to address the COVID -19 pandemic the same or different in Arctic communities? 
  • How have Indigenous and local knowledge been integrated with recommended/mandated public health measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic? 
  • What coping strategies did Arctic communities engage in to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic? 
  • What can we learn from community case studies to inform policy and program implementation now and in the future?

In connection with a workshop for an Arctic Council expert research team, Dr. Gwen Healy Akearok, Resident Fulbright Canada Research Chair, will convene a panel on "Arctic COVID-19 Study on Impacts in Indigenous Communities" with Dr. Arja Rautio, Dr Làra Jóhansdóttir, Dr. Katie Cueva, and Dr. Christina V.L. Larsen. 

Dr. Gwen Healey Akearok was born and raised in Iqaluit, Nunavut where she continues to work and raise her family. Dr. Healey Akearok is the Executive and Scientific Director of the Qaujigiartiit Health Research Centre (AHRN-NU) in Iqaluit, Nunavut. She is also an Assistant Professor at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. She is currently a Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Arctic Studies at Dartmouth College.

Dr. Arja Rautio is the Vice-President of Research at the University of the Arctic, and Professor of Arctic Research in Thule Institute, University of Oulu, has been working in the field of circumpolar health and well-being, marginalization, research ethics and human-environment relationships since 2006. 

Dr Làra Jóhansdóttir is a professor in the Faculty of Business Administration at theUniversity of Iceland.  She is also a member of the faculty in the Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) Graduate Programme, an interdisciplinary program under the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences. 

Dr. Katie Cueva was born and raised in Alaska and works in partnership with Alaska Native and American Indian communities through participatory action research. She studies social determinants of health in the Circumpolar north, culturally appropriate health promotion, and advancing health equity. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Health at the Institute of Social and Economic Research, a CDC/CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellow in the Alaska Section of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, and Associate Faculty at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health.

Dr. Christina V.L. Larsen is a sociologist by training and completed her PhD in Public Health. She is the research director of the Centre for Public Health in Greenland (based in Copenhagen) and responsible for the research-based consultancy for the Greenland Ministry of Health (Government of Greenland). She is the PI for the Greenland Health Survey conducted for the Ministry of Health every four-six years. Dr. Larsen was a Fulbright Scholar and part of the second Fulbright Arctic Initiative cohort (2018-19). 

For more information, contact:
Varvara Korkina Williams

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.