Nuu-chah-nulth health and data sovereignty in the time of COVID-19

This research paper explores Indigenous health and wellbeing, the importance of Indigenous health sovereignty, and the impact of historical pandemics and the COVID-19 pandemic on Indigenous peoples on the Northwest Coast. This has been done through a comprehensive literature review, a critical discourse analysis of public notices, and a series of semi-structured qualitative interviews with health governance experts from the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples. The data collected through the critical discourse analysis and interviews were used to understand health governance measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic and offer recommendations to improve future emergency management. Key emerging themes include recognizing Indigenous conceptions of health and wellbeing, the role of sovereignty and self-determination in creating effective governance, and the importance of partnerships. The findings encourage meaningful policy changes at the regional, provincial, and federal levels by building nation-to-nation partnerships and increasing the capacity of Indigenous nations. These recommendations are made in support of respecting British Columbia's (BC) and Canada's commitment to upholding the legal framework of the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) from 2007 and the British Columbia (BC) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) passed in 2019.