scholarly journals Decolonizing Diet: Healing by Reclaiming Traditional Indigenous Foodways

2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 0 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Bodirsky ◽  
Jon Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Oral Traditions ◽  
Cultural Integrity ◽  
Food Knowledge ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Nations Community

Abstract Traditional Indigenous foodways remain important for the ongoing health and well being of contemporary Indigenous North American peoples. Drawing partly on primary research on food-related knowledge and experience within the First Nations community of Toronto, the authors trace how colonial policies of assimilation attempted to destroy Indigenous knowledge and in so doing spawned numerous trans-generational health consequences for Indigenous populations, which are still felt today. While colonial attempts at assimilation seriously undermined the integrity of traditional Indigenous foodways, today this cultural knowledge is undergoing a resurgence. Contemporary Indigenous peoples have expanded upon oral traditions with written stories of food gathering and recipes as a means to revitalize food knowledge, cultural integrity and community -- all inextricably linked to health. As such, the authors argue that fostering the resurgence of traditional Indigenous knowledge about food is a necessary in healing the trauma emerging from colonialism. Indigenous cookbooks provide opportunities to share information about traditional culture and food knowledge along with the recipes more conventionally associated with cookbooks.

scholarly journals Promoting global health and well-being of Indigenous youth through the connection of land and culture-based activism

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 17-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie M. Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Youth ◽  
Health And Well Being

This research explores and supports the importance of Indigenous cultural knowledge and practices as guiding factors in understanding the agency and actions of Indigenous youth in seeking justice while journeying across the land. The article examines the work of Indigenous scholars and the significance of Indigenous knowledge in connecting to the land and natural environment, thus contributing to ‘being alive well’. An example from Indigenous youth-focused research is highlighted to hear from the youth about the importance of being on ancestral land, journeying with peers and more importantly (re)gaining a sense of well-being and health through culture-based activism.

Aboriginal Midwifery: A Model for Change

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amber D. Skye
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Maternal Care ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Capacity Building ◽  
Aboriginal Communities ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Birthing Centres

This paper will discuss indigenous knowledge and epistemologies of health and well-being as essential practices to improving the health status of Aboriginal communities. These methods will be illustrated through the practice of Aboriginal midwifery and birthing practices currently being revitalized in Aboriginal communities. Indigenous knowledge of health, well-being, medicine, and healing practices have historically sustained the health and well-being of Aboriginal communities for centuries pre-contact. However, these traditional epistemologies of health and healing have been eroded through centuries of colonial oppression and the imposition of western scientific methodologies and legislation. Through decades of acculturation, much of the traditional knowledge of health, medicine and healing has been lost. However, a recent resurgence of traditional Aboriginal midwifery has occurred in an effort to retain, revive and restore the indigenous knowledge of Aboriginal communities. The revival of traditional Aboriginal midwifery has resulted in the development of Aboriginal birthing centres that blend traditional knowledge, medicine and healing practices with contemporary medical services, to provide culturally significant maternal care services for Aboriginal women and families. Currently, there are Aboriginal birthing centres and services in, Nunavut, Quebec and Ontario. The high quality of community-based maternal care, access to culturally significant health services - utilizing traditional medicine and employing traditionally trained Aboriginal midwives has shown improved outcomes, impacting community healing, cultural revival, and community capacity building. The traditional methodologies employed by Aboriginal birthing centres will be detailed to exemplify the significance of indigenous knowledge and epistemologies of health in providing improved health care services to Aboriginal communities.

The Impact of Migration on the First Nations Community Well-Being Index

2014 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Cooke ◽  
Erin O’Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Nations Community

scholarly journals The development of a community-based public health response to an outbreak of post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis in a First Nations community

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 339-346
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Jacob ◽  
Natalie Bocking ◽  
Ruben Hummelen ◽  
Jenna Poirier ◽  
Len Kelly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Mandatory Reporting ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Household Contacts ◽  
Health Response ◽  
Post Streptococcal Glomerulonephritis ◽  
Nations Community

Background: Post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN) is a rare immune-mediated condition that typically occurs in children as a result of group A streptococcus (GAS) infection. PSGN is not considered a disease of public health significance, or reportable, in Canada. Higher incidence of PSGN has been described among Indigenous people in Canada. No national or provincial guidance exists to define or manage PSGN outbreaks. Objective: To describe an outbreak of seven paediatric cases of PSGN in a remote First Nations community in northwestern Ontario and the development of a community-wide public health response. Methods: Following a literature review, an intervention was developed involving screening of all children in the community for facial or peripheral edema or skin sores, and treatment with antibiotics if noted. Case, contact and outbreak definitions were also developed. The purpose of the response was to break the chain of transmission of a possible nephritogenic strain of streptococcus circulating in the community. Relevant demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected on all cases. Outcome: Seven paediatric cases of PSGN presented to the community nursing station between September 25 and November 29, 2017. Community-wide screening for skin sores was completed for 95% of the community’s children, including 17 household contacts, and as a result, the last of the cases was identified. Nineteen adult household contacts were also screened. Ten paediatric contacts and two adult contacts with skin sores were treated with one dose of intramuscular penicillin, and six paediatric contacts received oral cephalexin. No further cases were identified following the screening. Conclusion: PSGN continues to occur in Indigenous populations worldwide at rates higher than in the overall population. In the absence of mandatory reporting in Canada, the burden of PSGN remains underappreciated and could undermine upstream and downstream public health interventions. Evidence-based public health guidance is required to manage outbreaks in the Canadian context. The community-based response protocol developed to contain the PSGN outbreak in this First Nations community can serve as a model for the management of future PSGN outbreaks.

scholarly journals Reimagining Indigenous spaces of healing: Institutional environmental repossession

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-36
Author(s):  
Vanessa Ambtman-Smith ◽  
Chantelle Richmond
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Knowledge Systems ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Urban Hospital ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health And Healing

Among the global Indigenous population, concepts of health and healthy living are wholistically intertwined within social, physical, natural, and spiritual systems. On-going processes of colonization and experiences of environmental dispossession have had the effect of removing Indigenous peoples from the lands, people and knowledge systems that have traditionally promoted their health. In 2014, Big-Canoe and Richmond introduced the idea of environmental repossession. This concept refers to the social, economic, and cultural processes Indigenous people are engaging in to reconnect with their traditional lands and territories, the wider goal being to assert their rights as Indigenous people and to improve their health and well-being. As Indigenous mothers, both who live in urban centres “away” from our families and traditional lands and knowledge systems, we engage with this conceptual model as a hopeful way to reimagine relationships to land, family, and knowledge. We embrace the concept of environmental repossession, and its key elements – land, social relationships, Indigenous knowledge – as a framework for promoting health and healing spaces among those who live “away” from their traditional territory. Drawing on three examples, an urban hospital, a university food and medicine garden, and a men’s prison, we suggest that these spaces do indeed offer important structural proxies for land, social relationships, and Indigenous knowledge, and can be important healing spaces. With increasingly urbanizing Indigenous populations in Canada, and around the world, these findings are important for the development of healing places for Indigenous peoples, regardless of where they live.

scholarly journals Reflecting on rural social work resulting from a practicum with the Gitanmaax Men’s Group at the Gitanmaax Health and Wellness Center

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James Woodworth
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Care Service ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Health And Wellness ◽  
Work Skills ◽  
Rural Social Work ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Nations Community

The purpose of this report is to summarize my practicum experience with the Gitanmaax Men’s Group at the Gitanmaax Health and Wellness Centre in Gitanmaax Village, BC. The agency serves Gitanmaax membership living within the community of Gitanmaax village as well as those living off-reserve in the surrounding area. This report outlines the learning goals of my practicum and how those objectives were met through reflection, supervision, mentorship, and practice. Unforeseen learning came as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it was having on the Gitxsan nation and on the transfer of cultural knowledge to the younger generation. Along with strengthening my social work skills, my practicum allowed me to explore rural ethics in social work and how these connect to practice. This account of what emerged from my practicum learning concludes with suggestions around ethics, self-care, service delivery, and one’s role as a non–First Nations person working in a First Nations community.

scholarly journals Molecular Decolonization: An Indigenous Microcosm Perspective of Planetary Health

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 4586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Redvers ◽  
Michael Yellow Bird ◽  
Diana Quinn ◽  
Tyson Yunkaporta ◽  
Kerry Arabena
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Planetary Health ◽  
Planetary Scale ◽  
Global Discourse ◽  
Scientific Worldview ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Formal Recognition

Indigenous peoples are resilient peoples with deep traditional knowledge and scientific thought spanning millennia. Global discourse on climate change however has identified Indigenous populations as being a highly vulnerable group due to the habitation in regions undergoing rapid change, and the disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality already faced by this population. Therefore, the need for Indigenous self-determination and the formal recognition of Indigenous knowledges, including micro-level molecular and microbial knowledges, as a critical foundation for planetary health is in urgent need. Through the process of Indigenous decolonization, even at the smallest molecular scale, we define a method back to our original selves and therefore to our planetary origin story. Our health and well-being is directly reflected at the planetary scale, and we suggest, can be rooted through the concept of molecular decolonization, which through the English language emerged from the ‘First 1000 Days Australia’ and otherwise collectively synthesized globally. It is through our evolving understanding of decolonization at a molecular level, which many of our Indigenous cultural and healing practices subtly embody, that we are better able to translate the intricacies within the current Indigenous scientific worldview through Western forms of discourse.

Honouring the grandmothers through (re)membering, (re)learning, and (re)vitalizing Métis traditional foods and protocols

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-72
Author(s):  
Monica Cyr ◽  
Joyce Slater
Keyword(s):  
Nutrition Transition ◽  
Family Health ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Traditional Foods ◽  
Food Practices ◽  
Culinary Knowledge ◽  
Health And Well Being

In Canada, Métis cultural restoration continues to advance. Food practices and protocols, from the vantage point of Métis women who were traditionally responsible for domestic work, qualify as important subjects worthy of study because food and food work are integral components of family health and well-being. This qualitative grounded theory study explored Métis cultural food in Manitoba, Canada, with the intent to honour Métis women. In-depth interviews were conducted with Métis residents of urban Winnipeg and southern rural Manitoba. Results indicate that women were traditionally the keepers of culinary knowledge and practices in Métis families, and were highly resourceful in feeding large families and often other community members. Traditional foods were often land-based (wild and cultivated) and frequently enhanced with market foods. There is a strong sense of history, pride, identity, and desire for revitalization through cultural activities such as food practices; however, disrupted cultural knowledge translation around food and the nutrition transition to unhealthy Western diets present challenges. Results of this research will provide Manitoba Métis people with opportunities for critical reflection on food and their identity as Métis; food origins; the role of food in our lives; and how ecological and political structures affect the production and consumption of food. In addition, this research will provide an alternative discourse as it relates to Métis food, supporting a holistic approach to overall health and well-being that is self-affirming and strength-based.

The rationale for developing a programme of services by and for Indigenous men in a First Nations community

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie George ◽  
Melody Morton Ninomiya ◽  
Kathryn Graham ◽  
Sharon Bernards ◽  
Samantha Wells
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Significant Public Health ◽  
Mental Wellness ◽  
Mental Well Being ◽  
Nations Community

While mental well-being is recognized as a significant public health priority in numerous Indigenous communities, little work has focused on the mental health needs of Indigenous men. In this article, we describe results from the mixed-methods research used to inform the development of mental wellness programming for boys and men. Quantitative and qualitative data from two studies conducted in Kettle & Stony Point First Nation, an Indigenous community in southern Ontario, Canada, were used to (a) understand factors that contributed to issues of mental health, substance use and violence for men, (b) understand men’s experiences accessing and seeking supports and services, and (c) identify ways to address mental health, substance use and violence among boys and men in the community. We show how results from two studies ignited a group of men to develop a culturally strong and strengths-based programme of services as well as a wellness strategy for boys and men in the community.

Indigenizing Forum Theatre through a strength-based approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 117718012110584
Author(s):  
Laurie-Ann Lines ◽  
Casadaya Marty ◽  
Shaun Anderson ◽  
Philip Stanley ◽  
Kelly Stanley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Health ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Partners ◽  
Forum Theatre ◽  
Indigenous Group ◽  
Strength Based ◽  
Mental Wellness ◽  
Nations Community

Strength-based approaches with Indigenous populations are recognized as empowering and promoting change, but there are minimal published explicit examples in Indigenous health in Canada. Working with three First Nations community partners in Alberta and the Northwest Territories, we explored an Indigenous strength-based application of Forum Theatre as a tool for mental wellness. Forum Theatre is differentiated by the interactive participation of the audience, who can change the play outcome. Collectively, community members were trained as community facilitators and used an Indigenous strength-based approach to indigenize Forum Theatre activities. We share strengths highlighted in our approach including inclusivity, relationality, language revitalization, intergenerational connectivity, team facilitation, partnerships, protocols, safety, empowerment, resilience, community connection, community-specific strengths, and relational responsibilities. An Indigenous strength-based approach must include the Indigenous group leading the project and has multiple benefits to the participants, facilitators, and community at-large, particularly when intertwined with relational, communal, and cultural assets unique to the Indigenous group employing the approach.

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