Rowan Harris was awarded the 2025 Research Impact Canada Engaged Scholarship Award for her project, Understanding Holistic Indicators of Goose Health around Arviat, Nunavut.
ABOUT PROJECT
This research supports the Aqqiumavvik Society in Arviat, Nunavut, by developing community-led indicators to identify healthy and sick geese. The goal is to encourage more local harvesting and consumption, strengthening Inuit food sovereignty and cultural continuity.
Using a community-based participatory approach, the study brings together Elders, hunters, and community members through focus groups, kitchen table talks, in-person interviews, and on-the-land observations. These methods are designed to reflect cultural protocols of open discussion, knowledge sharing, and consensus-building. In doing so, the project creates space for intergenerational insights and collective decision-making around what makes a goose healthy, how that knowledge is applied during hunting and food preparation, and how it can be shared with future generations.
By documenting this knowledge and working with the community to validate and apply it, the findings aim to directly support Aqqiumavvik’s programming and long-term strategies for promoting goose harvesting as a key part of local food systems.
How Did We Do It?
Guided by the Aajiiqatigiingniq Research Model
We followed the Aajiiqatigiingniq Research Model, a methodology developed by Inuit researchers at the Aqqiumavvik Society that grounds research in four interrelated principles:
Inuuqatigiitsiarniq (Respecting others and relationships): We prioritized relationships through repeated visits, showing up for community events, and spending time on the land and in homes. Building trust and mutual respect was essential.
Unikkaaqatigiinniq (Storytelling): Focus groups and interviews centered around storytelling as a method of knowledge transfer. These narratives revealed detailed, lived knowledge of goose health and harvesting practices.
Pittiarniq (Being kind and good): The research process was guided by humility, care, and reciprocity, with a focus on ensuring the work was beneficial to the community at every stage.
Aajiiqatigiinniq (Consensus decision-making): Community members were involved in shaping the project’s direction, refining findings, and determining how results should be shared. This principle is reflected in the collaborative workshops planned for the final phase of analysis.
Continuing the Conversation
Through return visits to Arviat, I have been able to share and discuss the results of this research directly with the community members who contributed their knowledge and stories. These conversations are an opportunity to revisit what was shared, confirm the accuracy of interpretations, and ensure the findings reflect lived experience.
Ongoing discussions with Elders, hunters, and staff at the Aqqiumavvik Society have helped identify ways the indicators of goose health can be used in practical, culturally meaningful ways. Participants have offered additional context, seasonal insights, and thoughtful reflections that continue to shape how this knowledge will be communicated and applied.
This validation process is not just about confirming findings. It is about continuing to build relationships, deepen understanding, and make sure that the work remains grounded in the needs and priorities of the community.
Collaborative Work
This project is also part of a broader collaboration with other graduate students working alongside Aqqiumavvik to support food sovereignty in Arviat through complementary initiatives. One of these includes the co-creation of a community cookbook that documents traditional recipes, preparation methods, and food stories. Together, these efforts support intergenerational knowledge transmission and create practical tools that reflect the richness and diversity of Inuit food systems.
Next Steps
To ensure the research findings are accessible and useful, I am working with a local Arviat artist to develop a series of infographics that illustrate goose health indicators identified by the community. These visuals will incorporate Inuit knowledge, teachings, and practical lessons shared during the research and are intended to support both learning and application during the spring hunt.
Alongside the infographics, I will examine indicators used in Western scientific monitoring to compare them with those identified through Inuit knowledge. This comparison will help highlight areas of overlap, divergence, and complementarity between the two systems, contributing to more inclusive and locally relevant approaches to monitoring goose health.
None of this would be possible without the people who shared their time, stories, and knowledge so generously. I’m grateful to continue learning alongside them and excited to see how this work can support community programs, guide young hunters, and future conversations about food sovereignty. If you’d like to learn more or connect, you can reach me at harrir44@mcmaster.ca. You can also visit Straight Up North to follow our broader efforts, or learn more about the work of the Aqqiumavvik Society.
ABOUT AWARD RECIPIENT
Rowan Harris is a Master’s student in Geography at McMaster University, where her research focuses on community-led goose health monitoring to support Inuit food sovereignty in Arviat, Nunavut. She works in partnership with the Aqqiumavvik Society and under the supervision of Dr. Gita Ljubicic and Dr. Dominique Henri, as part of a broader effort to support Inuit food systems through community-driven research. She has presented her work at conferences such as ArcticNet and is committed to relationship-based, collaborative research that supports Indigenous-led conservation and long-term land stewardship. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of British Columbia and has a strong interest in grounding environmental research in Indigenous knowledge systems.
Before beginning her master’s, Rowan worked as a research assistant in the communities of Pond Inlet and Arctic Bay, supporting community-led research and preparations for a public hearing on the impacts of shipping on marine mammals from Inuit perspectives. She was a contributing author on several reports generated through the project.
Outside of academia, Rowan is a goalkeeper for Canada’s national field hockey team and leads field hockey programming in northern communities to increase access to sport. She hopes her work can contribute to more ethical, inclusive, and locally meaningful approaches to environmental research across Canada.