Title
Environmental Health Clearinghouse Project
Fiscal Year
2001-2002
Community/Region
Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, Quebec
Principal Investigator
Bonnie J. Montour, Kahnawake
Community Project Lead
N/A
Project Members
N/A

Project Summary
The Kahnawake Environmental Office coordinated the research and development of a database of studies pertaining to Indigenous environmental health. While undertaking this research, the project team identified barriers to information and gaps in communication within and between the government departments working with indigenous communities. There were also some communications issues with departments communicating with indigenous communities. The objective of this project was to organize and summarize contacts made between First Nations and government departments.
The project team made telephone calls to First Nations communities across Canada concerning contacts made with their designated Environmental Health Officers and other complaints. Once a connection was established with a community, a follow-up letter was sent, which included a project summary along with an expression of gratitude for their contributions, and a request for more information if possible. A total of 192 connections were established with community members, and information from these communications were compiled into a database.
The study confirmed and documented gaps in communication and information barriers within and between the government departments working with Indigenous communities. There was also a general lack of knowledge among community members about existing studies related to Indigenous environmental health, and appropriate people to contact to help address environmental health problems in their communities.