Tekaria’karéhton (it’s been thought out)

Centering Kanien’kehá:ka concepts in Health Promotion Evaluation

Abstract

Evaluation frameworks grounded in Western constructs such as reach, fidelity, and dose delivered/received, do not translate well to the implementation of community-based health promotion in Indigenous settings. There is a pressing need for culturally grounded evaluation approaches that reflect Indigenous values and knowledge systems, and that promote self-determination. This study aimed to identify best practices for health promotion evaluation from the lived experience of one Kanien’kehá:ka community, in order to inform the development of a culturally grounded evaluation framework.

We conducted a community-engaged qualitative research study grounded in Indigenous methodology with the Kanien’kehá:ka community of Akwesasne. Twenty-seven Kitchen Table Talks were held with knowledge carriers, health program staff, and Indigenous scholars. All participants received a tobacco tie and provided informed, verbal consent. Transcripts were analyzed using a thematic approach with participant-identified in vivo Kanien’kéha codes, developed into a codebook applied across all transcripts. Two member-checking Talking Circle sessions were held with interview participants confirming that findings represented the knowledges of individual participants and the wider community.

Participants identified four Kanien’kehá:ka concepts as central to understanding successful health promotion implementation: Skén:nen (Peace), Ka’nikonhrí:io (A Good Mind), Ka’shatsténhsera (Strength/Empowerment), and Konnoronhkwàtshera (Love & Care). These concepts, rooted in the Kaienere’kó:wa (The Great Law of Peace) are also rendered in the form of beadwork by Akwesasró:non artist Niiostosera’ah Thompson.

Collectively, these concepts form the Tekaria’karéhton (it’s been thought out) Framework, which we present as a novel, culturally grounded process evaluation methodology. This framework offers program evaluators a culturally specific alternative to Western notions of program success, advancing evaluation practice for Indigenous and community-engaged health promotion. The Tekaria’karéhton (it’s been thought out) Framework contributes to a growing body of nation-specific Indigenous evaluation methodologies that center community values and self-determined criteria of success.