The Blog

Follow along as we work towards systems change and help create better outcomes for kids in our community.

North End Wellbeing Measure – Results Survey

May 29, 2019

We recognized early on in the project that there was a lack of community-based evaluation tools to be utilized when researching early childhood development in the North End. We talked a lot about the concept of wellbeing and health, but we wondered what the word wellbeing actually meant and how that definition would differ depending on the community in focus. Would the definition of wellbeing in the North End look the same as the definition of wellbeing in other areas of the city? Or would other communities prioritize different values and markers?

The Winnipeg Boldness Project set out to create a tool to measure child and family wellbeing, not from the perspective of an outside researcher, but from a wholistic community defined definition of wellbeing. In partnership with the First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba, the North End Wellbeing Measure was developed by using community input and existing surveys that have been used with northern reserve communities.

Our first test of this measurement tool was implemented with 191 caregivers and 367 children. We have compiled the data from this first test run, and we’re now seeking input from community residents living in the North End. We’ve been told that too often researchers analyze and make assumptions regarding the data they gather without first allowing community to sit with the data themselves. So, we want to make sure to provide an opportunity for community to take a look at the report and provide their thoughts and input.

We welcome anyone living in the North End of Winnipeg to take a look at the NEWM results document and provide feedback.

You can download the report here.

You can provide feedback on the report here.

Land Acknowledgement

The Winnipeg Boldness Project resides in and works on the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe), Anishinabewaki (Oji-Cree), Dené, Michif Piyii (Métis), Nêhiyawak (Cree), and Očhéthi Sakowin (Dakota). We recognize that we have benefited from and continue to benefit from colonization on the Treaty 1, Treaty 3, and Treaty 5 Territories.

It is important to also acknowledge how we benefit in this territory at the cost to Indigenous Peoples. Winnipeg has been drinking clean water for over a century via an aqueduct from Shoal Lake. In 1917, 3000 acres of Treaty 3 was declared property of the city of Winnipeg to build the aqueduct. This aqueduct was built over ancestral burial ground, to build these structures, the ancestors were disinterred and reburied. Construction of the aqueduct changed the waters significantly, causing the peninsula to become a man-made island. This now isolated Nation faced many challenges as a direct result from this aqueduct; Necessities like water, groceries, schools, and mail were only accessible via the dangerous trek to the mainland. Lives of adults and children were lost crossing to and from the mainland. Freedom Road, an all-weather road access finally opened summer 2019, over a century after displacement. This road, a testament to the success of Indigenous-led solutions, helps bring materials to build schools and a water treatment plant.

“I always think of it, even when I turn on the tap I’m like this comes from our community and this water probably contains our ancestors and the spirits of our ancestor. I think about the hardships of the people from Shoal Lake 40 who have gone through so many things for the benefit of Winnipeg’s drinking water,” says Angelina McLeod.1

Another benefit we reap in Winnipeg at a cost to Indigenous Peoples and land is the Hydro Electricity Development in Treaty 5. To optimize water movement for greatest power production the Province of Manitoba increased waterflow by creating the Churchill River Diversion in 1976. The modification of the waterflow caused flooding, shoreline erosion, and changes to water quality. This destruction of habitat has caused disruption to waterway travel, fishing, and hunting.

  1. https://www.aptnnews.ca/facetoface/spirits-of-our-ancestor-shoal-lake-40-is-rectifying-a-century-of-hardships/