Indigenous Women and 2SLGBTQIA+ Perspectives on Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Governance: #cwdbeadsproject and Indigenous STS Interventions

Awareness of chronic wasting disease (CWD)--a fatal neurodegenerative disease primarily affecting cervids (deer, moose, elk, and caribou)--and communication of important information regarding spread, transmission, and risk associated with the disease are the responsibility of provincial and territorial governments. Provincial messaging available to the public regarding CWD focuses on recreational hunter populations in Alberta, whereas Indigenous harvesters remain increasingly uninformed. The purpose of this research was to explore the perspectives of Indigenous beaders--a group that interacts with cervids as part of the resurgent practice of harvest, hide tanning, and beadwork, but that remains consistently not consulted on matters of wildlife management and health. The objectives of this research were to provide current and concise information on CWD to the beadwork community, to engage Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQIA+ people on CWD, and to include the perspectives of Indigenous beaders (Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQIA+ people) and their other-than-human counterparts into research on CWD management. The following three research questions guided the investigation of this project: 1) What concerns do Indigenous beaders offer regarding CWD? 2) How does Indigenous beadwork function as a co-constitutive process between human and other-than-human relations? And 3) How do Indigenous beaders imagine Indigenous communities being involved in research and management of CWD? To answer these questions, this research used a qualitative approach that takes direction from critical Indigenous methodologies and arts-based research creation. Data was gathered using beadwork elicitation via the #cwdbeadsproject, and conversational interviews. In total, 17 Indigenous beaders participated in this research, and a total of 21 combined interviews and submissions collected. This research finds that Indigenous beaders are engaging in harvest related practices in ways that are not visible to provincial governments currently managing CWD. Subsequently, the lack of engagement with beaders results in knowledge gaps where beaders are less aware of and do not have access to information or safe handling or processing protocols that can greatly assist them in reducing the possibility of disease transmission and spread. Further, this research sought to better understand the co-constitutive relationships between Indigenous beaders and their other-than-human counterparts. In this regard, beaders communicated a level of respect akin to care that is in alignment with a respect for animals and their sacrifice in the hunt. This care was expressed through the idea of using the animal's body to its fullest capacity. The final results chapter presents Indigenous beaders perspectives on Indigenous-led initiatives and community involvement in CWD, insight into the creative potential of Indigenous science, and a series of future research objectives for critical Indigenous scholars looking to engage in Indigenous scientific projects regarding wildlife disease. In summary, this research provides theoretical contributions to the emerging field of Indigenous Science, Technology, and Society (STS) by incorporating critical perspectives on the technologization of wildlife disease management and the exclusion of Indigenous expertise on wildlife health. Further, this research contributes to Indigenous methodological approaches through the development of Indigenous multispecies autoethnography and arts-based research creation.

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