Addressing Strengths and Disparities in Indigenous Health

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Suzanne Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Model Of Care ◽  
Personal View ◽  
Indigenous Knowledges ◽  
Making A Difference ◽  
Clinical Environments

As an Indigenous person, I came into the world of Indigenous health scholarship in the 1990s with a personal view that focused on the strength and solutions of our peoples and our cultures. Over the next two decades in research and clinical environments, I observed how biomedicine remained firmly entrenched as the dominant model of care for Indigenous individuals and communities, with traditional knowledges and medicines as an aside or non- existent entirely. I have built my life’s work as a researcher and clinician in centering Indigenous knowledges and healing in both research and health care. Yet today in 2020, biomedicine and Western academic research still dismiss Indigenous knowledges and remain mostly in command of Indigenous health. There are wonderful pockets of Indigenous researchers and practitioners, supported by Indigenous communities that continue to have very little real autonomy or self- determination from colonialism, who are making a difference in Indigenous health by reducing health disparities, using our strengths such as culture, spirituality, medicines, the land, Elders, youth, and more. This issue highlights some of the work by researchers that are making a strong impact on Indigenous health, uplifting our communities.

scholarly journals Promoting or Protecting Traditional Knowledges? Tensions in the Resurgence of Indigenous Food Practices on Vancouver Island

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan K Muller
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Indigenous Knowledges ◽  
Food Practices ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

Indigenous knowledges are increasingly promoted within scholarship and policy making as a necessary component of the well-being and self-determination among Indigenous Peoples. This article contributes to this discussion by raising practical and ethical questions surrounding the resurgence of traditional food practices in Western Canada. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted with cultural activists and Elders in central Vancouver Island, this article reveals how this resurgence is framed by competing and contradictory pressures to build wider inclusion and awareness while simultaneously protecting knowledge and resources from exploitation. Due to this complication, it is imperative that scholars and policy makers develop and apply a more nuanced understanding of Indigenous knowledges in contemporary contexts that can better respond to the needs of Indigenous communities.

scholarly journals Acknowledging and Promoting Indigenous Knowledges, Paradigms, and Practices Within Health Literacy-Related Policy and Practice Documents Across Australia, Canada, and New Zealand

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Robert Boot ◽  
Anne Lowell
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Indigenous Knowledges ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
Quality In Healthcare

Enhancing health literacy can empower individuals and communities to take control over their health as well as improve safety and quality in healthcare. However, Indigenous health studies have repeatedly suggested that conceptualisations of health literacy are confined to Western knowledge, paradigms, and practices. The exploratory qualitative research design selected for this study used an inductive content analysis approach and systematic iterative analysis. Publicly available health literacy-related policy and practice documents originating from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand were analysed to explore the extent to which and the ways in which Indigenous knowledges are recognised, acknowledged, and promoted. Findings suggest that active promotion of Indigenous-specific health knowledges and approaches is limited and guidance to support recognition of such knowledges in practice is rare. Given that health services play a pivotal role in enhancing health literacy, policies and guidelines need to ensure that health services appropriately address and increase awareness of the diverse strengths and needs of Indigenous Peoples. The provision of constructive support, resources, and training opportunities is essential for Indigenous knowledges to be recognised and promoted within health services. Ensuring that Indigenous communities have the opportunity to autonomously conceptualise health literacy policy and practice is critical to decolonising health care.

Reproductive Healthcare Beliefs and Behaviours Among Displaced Tribal Communities in Odisha and Chhattisgarh: An Analysis Using Health Belief Model

2021 ◽  
pp. 2277436X2110059
Author(s):  
Madhulika Sahoo ◽  
Jalandhar Pradhan
Keyword(s):  
Health Belief Model ◽  
Cultural Distance ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Health Belief ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Tribal Communities ◽  
Traditional Health ◽  
Belief Model ◽  
Reproductive Healthcare

The modern healthcare system often experiences difficulties in understanding and providing care to indigenous communities. This is mainly because of the cultural distance between mainstream healing methods and indigenous health belief systems. The Lancet series (2006) on indigenous health discussed the integration of Western and traditional health practices and identified the importance of this integration for betterment of the human world. To understand what health and health care signify to tribal communities in India, it is necessary to examine the whole social system and the beliefs and behaviours related to their culture that provides meaning to people. This study examines the traditional medicinal practices and socio-cultural healthcare beliefs and behaviours of diplaced tribal communities in Odisha and Chattisgarh. The current study has used the health belief model (HBM) to examine the perceived susceptibility and severity of diseases among tribal communities, pertaining to their reproductive healthcare beliefs and practices.

Transforming a global order in New Zealand to reduce health inequities in service provision

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
E Rawson
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Medical Emergency ◽  
Major Work ◽  
Health Initiatives

Abstract St John has been providing service in New Zealand for nearly 140 years since its arrival. It has now close to 4000 staff and nearly 20000 Members and over 8500 volunteers. In New Zealand the major work of St John is its Ambulance service providing front line first responders to crash, medical emergency and other life-threatening situations. St John New Zealand also provides a number of 'Community Health' initiatives focused on strengthening communities and prevention. In recent years St John has recognised that they have not engaged well with Indigenous communities and that their organisation in New Zealand must become skilled and relevant in addressing the needs of the Indigenous people of New Zealand, as they suffer the greater burden of disease and illness than any other population in the country. St John NZ Community and Health Services are embarking on a process of transformation through re-orienting its culture and practice by adopting Public Health approaches and an equity lens over all its programmes. They also have committed to understanding and using Indigenous knowledge to support this re-orientation to most effectively engage and implement programmes that will reduce Indigenous health inequities. This presentation will describe the process by which they will be implementing their strategy for change and highlight best practice for working with Indigenous communities. Key messages Indigenous Knowledge is key to addressing Indigenous Health inequities. Mainstream Public Health can learn from Indigenous Public Health approaches.

Economic Development through Treaty Reparations in New Zealand and Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (01) ◽  
pp. 61-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myra J. Tait ◽  
Kiera L. Ladner
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The State ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Treaty Of Waitangi ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
Law Making

AbstractIn Canada, Treaty 1 First Nations brought a claim against the Crown for land debt owed to them since 1871. In 2004, Crown land in Winnipeg became available that, according to the terms of the settlement, should have been offered for purchase to Treaty 1 Nations. Similarly, in New Zealand, the Waikato-Tainui claim arose from historical Crown breaches of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. In 1995, a settlement was reached to address the unjust Crown confiscation of Tainui lands. Despite being intended to facilitate the return of traditional territory, compensate for Crown breaches of historic treaties, and indirectly provide opportunity for economic development, in both cases, settlement was met with legal and political challenges. Using a comparative legal analysis, this paper examines how the state continues to use its law-making power to undermine socio-economic development of Indigenous communities in Canada and New Zealand, thereby thwarting opportunity for Indigenous self-determination.

scholarly journals If We Show Them Will They Come? Attitudes of Native American Youth Towards Higher Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-105
Author(s):  
Emmerentine Oliphant ◽  
Sharon B. Templeman
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Native Community ◽  
Research Methodologies ◽  
General Validity ◽  
Native Canadian ◽  
Indigenous Ways Of Knowing

Indigenous health research should reflect the needs and benefits of the participants and their community as well as academic and practitioner interests. The research relationship can be viewed as co-constructed by researchers, participants, and communities, but this nature often goes unrecognized because it is confined by the limits of Western epistemology. Dominant Western knowledge systems assume an objective reality or truth that does not support multiple or subjective realities, especially knowledge in which culture or context is important, such as in Indigenous ways of knowing. Alternatives and critiques of the current academic system of research could come from Native conceptualizations and philosophies, such as Indigenous ways of knowing and Indigenous protocols, which are increasingly becoming more prominent both Native and non-Native societies. This paper contains a narrative account by an Indigenous researcher of her personal experience of the significant events of her doctoral research, which examined the narratives of Native Canadian counselors’ understanding of traditional and contemporary mental health and healing. As a result of this narrative, it is understood that research with Indigenous communities requires a different paradigm than has been historically offered by academic researchers. Research methodologies employed in Native contexts must come from Indigenous values and philosophies for a number of important reasons and with consequences that impact both the practice of research itself and the general validity of research results. In conclusion, Indigenous ways of knowing can form a new basis for understanding contemporary health research with Indigenous peoples and contribute to the evolution of Indigenous academics and research methodologies in both Western academic and Native community contexts.

scholarly journals Ketamine-Assisted and Culturally Attuned Trauma Informed Psychotherapy as Adjunct to Traditional Indigenous Healing: Effecting Cultural Collaboration in Canadian Mental Health Care

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
Sherry-Anne Muscat ◽  
Geralyn Dorothy Wright ◽  
Kristy Bergeron ◽  
Kevin W. Morin ◽  
Courtenay Richards Crouch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Treatment Effectiveness ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Therapeutic Effects ◽  
Behavioral Systems ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Trauma Informed

Ketamine therapy with culturally attuned trauma-informed psychotherapy in a collaborative cross-cultural partnership may provide a critical step in the operationalization and optimization of treatment effectiveness in diverse populations and may provide a foundation for an improved quality of life for Indigenous people. Decolonizing Indigenous health and wellbeing is long overdue, requiring an equal partnership between government and Indigenous communities, built upon an aboriginal culture holistic foundation of balance of mind, body, social and spiritual realms, and within the context of historical and lived experiences of colonialism. Culturally attuned trauma-informed psychotherapy paired with ketamine—a fast-acting antidepressant that typically takes effect within 4 hours, even in cases of acute suicidality—may be uniquely qualified to integrate into an Indigenous based health system, since ketamine’s therapeutic effects engage multiple neuropsychological, physiological, biological, and behavioral systems damaged by intergenerational complex developmental trauma. Ketamine holds the potential to serve as a core treatment modality around which culturally engaged treatment approaches might be organized since its brief alteration of normal waking consciousness is already a familiar and intrinsic element of healing culture in many Indigenous societies. There is great need and desire in Indigenous communities for respectful and sacred partnership in fostering more effective mental health outcomes and improved quality of life.

Metaphorical and Literal Groundings

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 335-352
Author(s):  
Anna Cook ◽  
Bonnie Sheehey ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Theory ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Normative Theory ◽  
Ethical Standard ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Ethical Responsibility ◽  
Land Ethic ◽  
Indigenous Knowledges ◽  
Indigenous Philosophy ◽  
Ethical Approaches

Accounts of grounded normativity in Indigenous philosophy can be used to challenge the groundlessness of Western environmental ethical approaches such as Aldo Leopold’s land ethic. Attempts to ground normativity in mainstream Western ethical theory deploy a metaphorical grounding that covers up the literal grounded normativity of Indigenous philosophical practices. Furthermore, Leopold’s land ethic functions as a form of settler philosophical guardianship that works to erase, assimilate, and effectively silence localized Indigenous knowledges through a delocalized ethical standard. Finally, grounded normativ­ity challenges settlers to question their desire for groundless normative theory and practice as reflective of their evasion of ethical responsibility for the destruction and genocide of Indigenous communities.

scholarly journals The WTO, Self-Determination, and Multi-Jurisdictional Sovereignty

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. 287-294
Author(s):  
Michael Fakhri
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Most Favored Nation ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
The World ◽  
Wto Appellate Body ◽  
The Eu

In EC—Seal Products, the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body (AB) held that the European Union (EU) Seal Regime banning the importation of seal products could be justified under General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XX(a) as a measure necessary toprotect public morals. It also held that the indigenous communities (IC) exception under the EU Seal Regime is inconsistent with GATT Article I:1 (Most-Favored Nation) because it discriminated against commercial fishers in Canada and Norway and was applied in a manner that favored the mostly Inuit seal hunters of Greenland, and thus ran afoul of Article XX’s chapeau. Since the entire EU Seal Regime is not likely to be done away with, the most important question for Inuit communities is: how will the EU change the discriminatory aspects of the Seal Regime and IC exception? The EU faces an October deadlineto pass its new legislation and this remains a very live issue.

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