The Canoe Project – Indigenous Harm Reduction

Welcome to the Canoe’s online repository

The Project Lead for the Canoe is Knowledge Translation Lead, Cherese Reemaul and may be reached at creemaul@drpeter.org

 

“Culturally safe social structures
strengthen the resilience of Indigenous people.”

~ Dr. Earl Nowgesic, former Visioning Director
of CAAN Communities, Alliances & Networks

 

The Canoe is an Indigenous Harm Reduction project and aims to bring relevant, non-stigmatizing, context specific harm reduction practices for indigenous communities to the national stage. The Canoe facilitates an Indigenous Harm Reduction National Community of Practice (CoP) for frontline health professionals and organizations offering harm reduction services to Indigenous people.

 

“Recovery is about today and tomorrow, not Yesterday.”

~Elder Betty McKenna, Elder in Residence CAAN Communities, Alliances & Networks

The Canoe invites people who are involved in doing Indigenous Harm Reduction Work to reach out as there are always opportunities to collaborate and work together, and to join an Indigenous Harm Reduction Community of Practice. The Canoe welcomes folks that are interested in learning more about culturally sensitive approaches to harm reduction and to be part of a national movement that is transforming the way we approach addiction and harm reduction in Indigenous communities.

“Once all families come together into an agreement on this topic 
and address all of the harm that is happening, 
that is when all family is united.”

~James Quatell, Elder in Residence CAAN Communities, 
Alliances & Networks

This project is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada and is carried out in a collaboration with CAAN Communities, Alliances & Networks and the Dr. Peter Center. You can read more about the Canoe and CAAN here.

The Canoe is a movement that is transforming the way we approach addiction and harm reduction in Indigenous communities. The Canoe provides Indigenous-led Trauma Informed Harm Reduction trainings that are strengths-based, customized and builds capacity that will helps folks to provide culturally safe and stigma-free harm reduction services to Indigenous people. The Canoe also works with organisations on their goals of implementing a policy or practice change to improve the cultural safety and stigma-free nature of the harm reduction services they offer.

 

“Ninety percent of the Indigenous identity 
is dedicated to the prevention of
illness and misfortune”

~ Roger Roulette 
Ojibwe Language Specialist (1958-2022)

 

The Canoe’s objectives are to:

• Increase capacity of harm reduction service providers to provide culturally safe and stigma-free harm reduction services to Indigenous people.
• Improve the cultural safety and stigma-free nature of the harm reduction services offered.
• Scale up wise practices nationally for culturally relevant, non-stigmatizing initiatives to meet the needs of target populations.
• Increase context-specific resources for harm reduction services that serve target populations in rural and mid-sized communities.
• Increase access to more spaces where Indigenous people are meaningfully engaged in harm reduction services.
• Nationally elevate the voices of Indigenous people and people with lived and living experience (PWLLE)in responses to the overdose crisis; and
• Support Indigenous and non-Indigenous harm reduction organizations to increase their capacity to deliver harm reduction services to their Indigenous clients.

Together, the Canoe has co-created tools for stigma-free, anti-oppressive, and culturally appropriate engagement. The Canoe is committed to a collaborative and culturally respectful approach to harm reduction and aims to make a meaningful impact on the quality and cultural relevance of harm reduction services for Indigenous people in Canada.

The Project Lead for the Canoe is Knowledge Translation Lead, Cherese Reemaul and may be reached at creemaul@drpeter.org

Knowledge Products

Other Tools