1. Overview and Context
Medical and health journals are increasingly releasing public apologies for their roles in producing and perpetuating racism. Our presentation describes our collaboration with a medical journal to identify instances of anti-Indigenous racism within its publications. This work forms part of their broader truth and reconciliation initiative, which includes publishing our findings to show how colonialism shaped publication practices related to Indigenous health. By helping develop search parameters to collate instances of anti-Indigenous racism, librarians play a vital role in current apology work.
Collaborations with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis leaders are essential to this redress work. However, requests for Indigenous leaders’ assistance are often: 1) framed by longstanding rejections of Indigenous submissions to these journals; 2) anchored in fundamental misunderstandings about reconciliation and partnering with Indigenous experts; and 3) undertaken within parameters misaligned with realities of Indigenous communities. Our paper proposes strategies to overcome these barriers.
2. Methods and Methodologies
This review project centres voices and reflections of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis leaders to establish anti-colonial theoretical frameworks that drive storytelling methods to understand how medical and health journals can work with First Nations, Inuit, and Metis experts. The outcomes are short vignettes about Indigenous lived experiences working with medical and health journals to combat anti-Indigenous racism.
3. Results Discussion
Actively following the directions of Indigenous leaders is crucial in producing journal content aimed at ameliorating health inequities stemming from colonial supremacy and anti-Indigenous racism. This paper offers a rare opportunity to listen closely to Indigenous voice and vision about ways to support apology work.