IV. Recommended Readings
This section includes toolkits and publications to support implementing Culturally Relevant Gender-Based Analysis (CRGBA) in the classroom. Click on the title to access the article.
NWAC. (2020). A Culturally Relevant Gender-Based Analysis (CRGBA) Starter Kit: Introduction, Incorporation, and Illustration of Use. Native Women’s Association of Canada. https://www.nwac.ca/assets-knowledge-centre/A-Culturally-Relevant-Gender-Based-Analysis.pdf
This starter kit is an introduction on how to think about designing policies and processes that consider the whole person and their lived experiences. The authors emphasize that the inclusion of the voices of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis women, girls, Two-Spirit, and gender-diverse people is essential when developing any CRGBA, noting that as the experts of their own lives, Indigenous Peoples can provide invaluable insight and knowledge that a Western framework cannot begin to capture.
NWAC. (2022). The Native Women’s Association of Canada Research Toolkit. Native Women’s Association of Canada. https://www.nwac.ca/assets-knowledge-centre/SPARK-NWAC-CRGBA-TOOLKIT-2022-EN1-3-Feb-15-2022.pdf
This comprehensive toolkit offers guiding information on where to start and what to expect when facilitating, or coordinating, community-based research. Included are critical roadmaps, support with common challenges, templates, frameworks, and definitions. This toolkit provides guidance for leading more intentional, comprehensive, intersectional, and culturally-grounded research to advance health priorities of Indigenous women, two-spirit, and gender-diverse people. This toolkit includes resources for the whole life cycle of the research project—from planning and funding, to making and maintaining partnerships, as well as evaluation, and knowledge sharing. The toolkit includes information handouts, templates, activities and worksheets and checklists for preparing project components at different stages.
NWAC. (2023). A Warrior’s Briefcase: Tools for Engaging in Federal-Level Advocacy. Native Women’s Association of Canada. https://nwac.ca/assets-knowledge-centre/CRGBA_NWAC_Warrior_Briefcase.pdf
This guide is for individuals involved in federal-level advocacy and/or grassroots activism within the Canadian context, with a specific emphasis placed on the perspectives of Indigenous and/or other voices who experience compounded intersections of marginalization or oppression. The purpose of the guide is to build community and individual capacity to engage with federal actors and mobilize grassroots voices in state processes by arming communities with relevant knowledge, skills, and tools. Included is guidance on how to engage in advocacy, how to present a bill, how to seek equitable compensation and understanding government project funding and administrative burden.
NWAC. (2023). Culturally Relevant Gender-Based Analysis (CRGBA): A Roadmap for Policy Development.Native Women’s Association of Canada.https://nwac.ca/assets-knowledge-centre/CRGBA_Framework_Roadmap_May11_2022-1_2023-02-21-141640_tiaz.pdf
This guide provides tools for integrating CRGBA into policy development. It provides a background and history of colonialism and policy development and outlines the key concepts that make up the CRGBA Framework. This roadmap includes a step-by-step outline for policy analysis rooted through the lens of CRGBA concepts. It includes activities and tables to support the application of culturally relevant gender-based analysis (CRGBA) in policy work. The tables in the roadmap can be used to identify how a proposed policy intervention or program demonstrates the five CRGBA concepts, and guides readers in writing down clear indicators of how their policy or program meets (or does not meet) the identified objectives.
Duhamel, K., Trudell, A., & Blouin, C. (2021). Evaluating GBA+ and CRGBA: A Literature Review. The Native Women’s Association of Canada. https://nwac.ca/assets-knowledge-centre/30NOV_AppendixC-Evaluating_GBAand_CRGBA_A_Literature_Review.pdf
This document describes and contextualizes Culturally Relevant Gender-Based Analysis (CRGBA)’s history, applications and research. The literature review provides a wide breadth of knowledge that informs CRGBA analysis and includes sources that demonstrate the use of CRGBA in policy-making and analysis in the fields of history, intersectionality and Indigenous feminisms. The document includes literature on CRGBA epistemologies, CRGBA practical applications, case studies and implications.
NWAC. (2023). Culturally Relevant Gender-Based Analysis (CRGBA) Sharing Circle Fact Sheet. The Native Women’s Association of Canada. https://nwac.ca/assets-knowledge-centre/CRGBA_FACTSHEET_AUG2022-copy.pdf
This fact sheet describes key findings and participant observations from three Culturally Relevant Gender-Based Analysis (CRGBA) online sharing circle activities. The sharing circles consisted of grassroots, policymaker and researcher audiences. The engagement sessions first introduced participants to the current NWAC CRGBA framework, briefly discussing the history behind it, its rationale, current applications, and delineating specific concepts the framework is built upon. Lively discussions ensued around the framework, and participants broadly agreed that it is a useful analytical tool fostering inclusivity and gender equality.
NWAC. (2021). Distinctions-Based Approaches Literature Review. The Native Women’s Association of Canada. https://nwac.ca/assets-knowledge-centre/30NOV_AppendixD-Distinctions-Based_Approaches_Literature_Review.pdf
This document describes the concept of distinctions-based approaches and reflects on their importance and application for increasing government responsiveness and helping to ensure the experiences and rights of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples are recognized and respected. The review also notes that this concept presents considerable limitations has produced numerous negative implications for some Indigenous peoples who have been excluded, and further marginalized, through colonial appropriation and application of distinctions-based approaches. The authors note that, while the concept is important, advocates should proceed cautiously to ensure this principle is not being exploited by government to advance, divide, and rule policies.
Sanchez-Pimienta, C. E., Masuda, J. R., Doucette, M. B., Lewis, D., Rotz, S., on behalf of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Neufeld-Tait, H., & Castleden, H. (2021). Implementing Indigenous gender-based analysis in research: Principles, practices, and lessons learned. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18(21), 11572. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111572
In this article, the authors, who are participants of a multi-site research program investigating intersectoral spaces of Indigenous-led renewable energy development within Canada, reflect on the implementation of gender considerations into their research team’s governance and research activities. They found three critical lessons: (1) embracing Two-Eyed Seeing or Etuaptmumk while making space for Indigenous leadership; (2) trusting the expertise that stems from the lived experiences and relationships of researchers and team members; and (3) shifting the emphasis from ‘gender-based analysis’ to ‘gender-based relationality’ in the implementation of gender-related research considerations. These research findings provide a novel empirical example of the day-to-day principles and practices that may arise when implementing Indigenous gender-based analysis frameworks in the context of research.