# "ahbahjipdooneh woolibahmowsoowahkn": reclaiming indigenous health through water and food sovereignty

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL · 2024 · $172,229

## Abstract

The project describes a community based participatory research (CBPR) approach to engaging
the Maine tribes in managing risks associated with environmental contamination. Each
community has expressed concerns about the health of their waters and quality of their
subsistence foods with particular concerns around Food Sovereignty, defined as “the right of
peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and
sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.” Our
central hypothesize is that integrating CBPR and participatory science can be used to equip
tribal communities with the tools to manage and balance their risks associated with
contamination of water and subsistence foods. We aim to, 1. Build capacity for participatory
science amongst tribal youth by providing them the tools for sample collection and basic
contaminant monitoring, with more advanced analyses conducted in the University labs; 2.
Through collaborations between the Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness (WPHW), Tribal
Elders and other Indigenous Knowledge Keepers; traditional ecological knowledge (TEK)
around subsistence food consumption patterns and use of waterways for fishing and other
activities will be documented through recordings and other media; 3. TEK will be incorporated
into health risk assessments in order to support culturally appropriate risk communication and
risk management strategies for affected communities. WPHW will serve as a central repository
for this information, in order to ensure that it is readily accessible to all of Maine’s Tribes. The
ultimate goal of this project is to provide the capacity and training within tribal communities to
make informed decisions on the health of their traditional foods and waterways. This in turn will
provide the foundations for a larger program that will serve the environmental health needs of
Maine’s Tribal communities, while at the same time respecting and supporting food sovereignty
that can be sustainable over the longer term and in the face of a rapidly changing environment.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10935942
- **Project number:** 5R21MD018128-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS LOWELL
- **Principal Investigator:** Timothy Edgcumbe Ford
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $172,229
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-25 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10935942

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10935942, "ahbahjipdooneh woolibahmowsoowahkn": reclaiming indigenous health through water and food sovereignty (5R21MD018128-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10935942. Licensed CC0.

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