“It is important that our parents have access to materials that are culturally relevant in addition to contemporary resources. It is also key that recognition is afforded to First Nations people related to the important ways that families are raised.”

Those words are from Elder Margaret Eli, member of Westbank First Nation in south central British Columbia and one of eight Syilx Okanagan Nation communities. Elder Eli is part of an interdisciplinary research team at UBC which developed a culturally safe and respectful offline app for Syilx parents that supports early childhood development. 

Funded in part by UBC Health’s Health Innovation Funding Investment Awards, the project—Indigenous Elder-led app to support parents’ Two-Eyed Seeing for parenting—was designed to help break down the barriers that Indigenous parents face in accessing culturally safe parenting programs.

It is rare that the Indigenous perspective is included in any ‘mainstream’ venture. We saw it as an opportunity to both share the knowledge and support an important initiative. 

Dr. Wendy Hall, Professor Emeritus in the School of Nursing in the Faculty of Applied Science and principal investigator of the project says it was linked to SmartParent. SmartParent is a successful text messaging system to support parents and their families in making evidence-informed decisions to improve health outcomes. Dr. Hall and Dr. Patti Janssen, Professor in School of Population and Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine, were co-principal investigators of SmartParent. 

“With SmartParent, the First Nations Health Authority incorporated some information about traditional practices, which highlighted the need for First Nations communities to have opportunities to develop content with traditional teachings and values for First Nations parents,” says Dr. Hall. “We also recognized the need for an app to be offline because many First Nations parents don’t have reliable internet access due to remote locations.” 

Dr. Janssen is also co-investigator of the new Indigenous parenting app. Drs. Hall and Janssen began discussions with the Suxkenxitelx kl cecamala Central Okanagan Aboriginal Early Years Table, a community coalition working together on early childhood development with an emphasis on promoting traditional parenting.

“We were approached by the team to collaborate on the project with UBC and to include an Indigenous perspective in the parenting app that was being created,” says Elder Eli. “It is rare that the Indigenous perspective is included in any ‘mainstream’ venture. We saw it as an opportunity to both share the knowledge and support an important initiative.”  

The partnership began with Elder Jessie Nyberg from the Canoe Creek Band of the Secwepmc (Shuswap) Nation and Elders Pamela and Wilfred ‘Grouse’ Barnes from the Westbank First Nation. Elder Eli became involved when Elder Nyberg had to withdraw from the project due to health problems. Gloria Mellesmoen, PhD student in the Department of Linguistics in the Faculty of Arts, was familiar with Coast Salish languages and rounded out the project team to support the Elders to incorporate the Syilx language, Nsyilxcən, into the app. 

Part of the Truth and Reconciliation report speaks about the return of culture and language to families, and this app is one step towards supporting First Nations people in Canada.

The Elders reviewed, curated, and tailored existing evidence-based material and text messages from SmartParent to incorporate Syilx values, histories, and traditions related to parenting and childcare, such as stories and lullabies. The new app has a mix of Nsyilxcən and English and promotes healthy childhood development as well as parental health and wellbeing through Two-Eyed Seeing, which is a blend of Indigenous and Western knowledge and principles. 

“The Elders really engaged us throughout the app development. They are outstanding leaders who have extensive knowledge about their communities and their traditional values and knowledge,” says Dr. Hall.

“Language and culture are currently being revitalized in the Okanagan territory by the Syilx people, and this is a great way to be inclusive,” says Elder Eli. “Traditional parenting practices are very important to the people here as are many of the contemporary practices. First Nations knowledge and teaching enables both Indigenous and non-Indigenous parents the opportunity to grow and to gain culture.”

“Part of the Truth and Reconciliation report speaks about the return of culture and language to families, and this app is one step towards supporting First Nations people in Canada,” continues Elder Eli. “It shows the importance of the reintroduction of key parenting methods, and including this information in a mainstream app also provides an educational learning experience for non-Indigenous people in Canada. This is going to be a valuable tool to heal the Nations.”

The app is expected to launch in the spring of 2022. 

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Sadly, Elder Nyberg passed away this fall. UBC Health sends our condolences to Elder Nyberg’s family, friends, and community. 

Posted December 13, 2021