Delegate: Katarokwi Indigenous Sleep Research Team at Queen’s University
Delegate Short Bio: The Katarokwi Indigenous Sleep Research Team at Queen’s University is an interdisciplinary and community-engaged group of clinicians, health researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, and Indigenous community partners working collaboratively to advance culturally grounded, holistic sleep health research in Katarokwi (Kingston, Ontario and surrounding area, Canada).
Katarokwi Indigenous Research Collaborative – Indigenous sleep health research
https://www.facebook.com/katarokwi.sleep
Scope of Activity: Individual activity
Activity: The Indigenous-focused World Sleep Day event held in Kingston, Ontario, Canada (in the region known in Mohawk as ‘Katarokwi’) was designed as a community-centered, culturally grounded gathering to promote sleep health and overall wellbeing within the community. The event brought together community members, knowledge holders, and health professionals in a way that emphasized relationality, cultural safety, and respect for Indigenous ways of knowing. A central aspect of the gathering was its intentional connection to land, recognizing land as a source of healing, grounding, and knowledge that is deeply intertwined with sleep, rest, and holistic wellness.
A key goal of the event was to create an accessible and welcoming space for learning about sleep that moved beyond standard biomedical Western approaches. Instead, the activities highlighted the interconnectedness of sleep with mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health, while centering Indigenous perspectives and practices, including the role of land in supporting balance and restoration.
The event featured a series of interactive conversation and activity hubs that allowed participants to engage at their own pace. These included a tea station, where participants could learn about herbal teas that support rest and relaxation while connecting to plant-based knowledge rooted in the land. The dream catcher station invited reflection on the significance of dreams and traditional teachings related to sleep and protection. At the tobacco tie station, participants were offered the opportunity to engage in a culturally meaningful practice grounded in intention, gratitude, and respect, further reinforcing relationships with land and spirit. A sleep mask painting station and a sleep health information booth both provided practical tools to support sleep hygiene, paired with education about creating restful sleep environments. A sleep science booth focused on the interplay of light-dark and wake-sleep rhythms.
In addition to these hubs, a sacred fire was present throughout the event, offering a space for quiet reflection, connection, and ceremony, and reinforcing the relationship between land, spirit, and wellbeing. An evening meal of traditional Indigenous foods further highlighted the importance of nourishment, culture, and land-based practices in supporting holistic health. Songs and drumming brought attendees together around cultural understandings of community, healing, and wellness, as did the traditional opening and closing by Elders and the smudging ceremony at the start of the event.
A central component of the event was a guest presentation, entitled Sleep as Medicine, by Dr. Amy Shawanda, an Anishinaabe sleep researcher at McGill University. Using stories, she wove together Indigenous knowledge with sleep research findings, emphasizing the importance of culturally relevant approaches to health and wellbeing.
Overall, the event aimed to foster community engagement, strengthen relationships, and support knowledge sharing around sleep in a way that was culturally meaningful, land-connected, and community-driven. It also served as an important step in building trust and guiding the ongoing direction of the Katarokwi Indigenous Sleep Research Project to ensure that future initiatives align with community-identified needs and priorities.
Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada (Katarokwi)
Date of Activity: March 13, 2026
Below are event photos, additional photos can be viewed on the event page: Katarokwi Indigenous Sleep Research Project
