Indigenous Worldviews
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Assessments:
1) Portfolio: 20%
2) Group Work: 15%
3) Quizes: 20%
4) Tests: 25%
5) Research : 20%
Getting Started
Purpose:
- Explore and share our collective knowledge of the Haudenosaunee Creation teachings
- Develop a working definition of worldview and understand how it works
- Reconstruct the worldview of our ancestors and see what remains of that view
- What is a Worldview?
- Defining The Indigenous Worldview
Suzuki, David and Knudtson, Peter. “Wisdom of the Elders”. Bantam Book, 1992. Chapter 1 – Visions of the Natural World, pages 11 – 22.
Learners will be asked to create a profile of their relationship with the natural world.
- Ask the learners to think about those events or natural place that had an impact on their view of the natural world. What they know and understand about the environment from their lived experience? Who were their teachers and mentors?
- They may want to use photographs, drawings, newspaper clippings or whatever you feel best reflects their story and relationship.
- The profile should include a 3 page narrative/commentary on how their personal environmental profile relates to Indigenous health and worldviews, as well as how the environment affects their personal health.
To begin exploring their relationship to the natural world they may wish to create a timeline (also called a chronology). This strategy may help them get to the early memories of when/where/how their relationship with the natural world began. Ask them to think about who was with them, or perhaps it was a secret place or a tree. Maybe it began with helping their parents or grandparents tend to their gardens. Learners can think about how their family, culture, and society has influenced their relationship to the land, air, and water. What activities did they pursue because of this relationship? Maybe they became a gardener themselves, or involved in leading environmental activities in their community. The use of photographs, drawings, newspaper clippings, and other resources should support and provide evidence of their relationship. They may also have taken courses and earned certificates or diplomas to enhance and support their relationship to the environment. These can also be included.
This will be a chapter in their “whole” personal portfolio.
UNIT 1:CREATION TEACHINGS In this unit learners will be asked to explore Creation teachings and how they inform us about rituals, ceremonies, food and way of life, relationships, roles, and responsibilities. We will readjust our thinking by moving into a circular framework to explore an Indigenous worldview, the principles of whole health, the creation process, and our relationship to the natural world.
“If there is anything wrong with your health, the medicine man will use a fire, mix his medicine with water, and use tobacco and the smoke that rises to the Creator to bring help. This shows how everything is connected and how air helps carry the smoke to the sky world. The native peoples still have medicine men, but they are few because of the attitudes and brainwashing of white culture… Most native people have been led to believe that it is better to go to a doctor than a medicine man….”
Chief Jake Thomas, Cayuda, Teachings from the Longhouse, Stoddart, Toronto, 1994
Questions to initiate dialogue:
What do we know collectively about the creation teachings?
What are the teachings?
How do they inform us about solving the problems/issues we face today?
What tools and resources from the creation teachings support us in making change?
- Creation Teachings
- these are our original instructions and the foundation of our culture
- these instructions tell us how to live and inform us about our way of life
- the annual cycle or cycle of ceremonies also comes from the creation teachings
- the thanksgiving address has its origins in the creation teachings and helps us to have good thoughts (good mind)
- these are our original instructions and the foundation of our culture
Original Instruction Values – Take Care of yourself; use herbal medicines; attend the ceremonies; plant; Share work; use the clans.
In the past females dominated the house and influenced the conduct of the man, soon the Haudenosaunee adopted single family homes where the men became the head of the household, this brought great change to our way of life. Gossip and later violence also came to change the minds of the people. We adopted raising domesticated animals and small independent family garden. (Rick Hill, 2006, ICHA)
Haudenosaunee Values
There is interconnectedness to Haudenosaunee society, as the result of the lessons of the Creation Teachings. These are the kind of values that the Haudenosaunee would see in their Creation Teachings:
Thankfulness: The Haudenosaunee know that they can express their thankfulness through the ceremonies, as outlined in the Creation Teachings. However, it is also a good idea to express a personal thankfulness each day. The old pattern was to rise at sunrise and give thanks for the coming day. As the sun goes down, the old timers would give thanks again. In this way, the Haudenosaunee learn to appreciate each day as a precious gift of
time. It is meant to be used in a good way. People are supposed to live a peaceful, happy life.
Unity: The Creator told the first humans that they are to work hard at keeping the Good Mind, to love each other and always be kind. They are to share the bounty of the Creation and work together to give Thanksgiving. The people are to look at themselves as one large extended family and therefore live in peace.
Respectfulness: A deep sense of belonging comes from gaining the respect of others in the community, as they in turn will make an effort to include respectful individuals in the various duties of the community. It is a reciprocal relationship. People are to be respected for what they can do. No one can do it all. It takes a special commitment to maintain the Haudenosaunee way of life.
Sharing: It is the duty of the people to take care of each other. This is done primarily by sharing. People are supposed to share what they have, especially with those who might be in need. Cultural duties and ceremonial responsibilities are shared. Knowledge is freely shared, just as it was freely taught. There is an interactive, interdependent relationship between the generations, clans, communities and nations.
Cooperation: The Haudenosaunee know that by referring to themselves as Haudenosaunee, they agree to live as related families under one common law, and that the purpose of that law is to maintain peace among our peoples. People learn to cooperate and get along so that the traditions continue. The welfare of the larger society is more important than individual gratification.
Humbleness: The key to a cooperative and thankful society is for the people to remain humble. Haudenosaunee values reject personal arrogance or boastful behavior. One who speaks too much of them will find difficult down the road. The Creator’s twin brother represents this kind of mind, in that he became jealous and reacted irrationally, often resulting in difficult or dangerous situations. People must not use their minds to argue. Humbleness must replace stubbornness.
Constructive Relationships: The Creation Teachings is about the reconciliation of a family that is torn part by death, lies, jealousy and hatred. The Creator must use his Good Mind to pacify his Grandmother and brother in order to seek peace on the Mother Earth. In the end, he establishes a good relationship with them. He also establishes a good relationship with the spirit beings of the universe. He restores balance and harmony between this world and the Sky World. He teaches the humans how to make constructive relationships as a way to live happy and healthy. Clanship is the first element of the extended family, with common female blood
lines, but the clans and nations also exist as older and younger relatives. There are traditional forms of leadership through the clans.
Speaking Kind Words: In order to get along with each other, people must learn to listen to each other. In the Creation Teachings, repetition is used to assure that both speakers understand each other. It sets a cultural format to Seneca speaking patterns. People also have to speak honestly with each other. The most difficult thing is to speak kindly even when things are not going so good. Sharp words are like flint, and they can cut in many ways. By using supportive and kind words, people are shown respect. No angry words are allowed. People do not raise their voices in anger. Good words are like a sapling, flexible but strong.
Thinking collectively - The Creation Teachings impresses upon the Haudenosaunee the need to be forward thinking. The people are to act for the sake of the future. The actions have consequences. Personal conduct matters. The idea is that by uniting the hearts and minds of the people, to have a collective Good Mind, will assure peace and tranquility for the future generations.
Power of Transformation: The Skyholder (Creator) picked up a handful of dirt and said, “The earth is alive!” The earth is a living being, in a constant state of remaking itself. The universe is a place of transformation and renewal. This transformation also works in reverse, as we are transformed into spirit beings as we return to that original place of being. People and animals can transform themselves because of their interconnected spiritual essence. People can also transform their negative thinking by using the Good Mind, and thereby remake themselves.
Inner Spirit: All things, beings and forces of nature have a living spirit. Skyholder took the earth and made the living bodies of the plants and animals, but one day they will die and become part of the earth once again. He also made humans from the earth, with the same idea in mind. From the living earth he made a human body. He added some flesh from his own body, a portion of his own blood, gave it the power to speak and gave it his own breath.
Suggested Activity:
- Have learners explore their most endearing versions of the Creation Story. They may read it from a book or have someone share their Creation teachings with you.
C. List the original instructions found within the Creation teachings and articulate how each of these inform you about wellness.
Indigenous Worldview - Cosmology
“The worldview of a culture is contained in its cosmology, myths, legends, folk heroes, and epic dramas, which until quite recent times, have been handed down to each generation through oral tradition. These primary sources explain and give meaning to the culture’s origins, the interrelationship and interdependence of nature and humans, the way of life, the form of government, and the way it adapts the old ways to the newer realities” (Cornelius, 1999, p. 47)
“A worldview is a set of assumptions and beliefs that form the basis of a people’s comprehension of the world. The stories, symbols, analogies, and metaphors that express a worldview in coded form are called mythology. Worldviews are conveyed via mythology in informal, formal, unconscious, and conscious ways through family, community, art, media, economic, spiritual, governmental, and educational institutions” (Cajete, 2000, p. 62).
“Creation teachings are all about promoting, maintaining, and sustaining our health” (Dan Longboat, 2000, ICHA).
“Indigenous Worldviews – of health and healing have to do with being in balance or out of balance in an unhealthy state” (Rick Hill, 2006, ICHA).
Discussion
Worldview
- Haudenosaunee worldview provides an understanding of how the world works and is embedded in the knowledge provided by the cultural practices
- It is how Haudenosaunee ancestors seen the world
- There are certain understandings, knowledge systems and traditions that have been passed down by the ancestors that enlarge a person’s worldview
- Education, economics all of those systems are there to make people consumers
- Education today is to make a person into someone who can contribute to and provide some kind of function within society
- Many things in Haudenosaunee tradition and way of life enable a person to focus their minds
- Haudenosaunee traditional practices are there to make a person’s mind strong and help them to focus their mind
- There are different things that are inherent and within the culture that make a certain kind of mind, create a certain kind of body and create a certain kind of spirit
Agricultural
Medicinal practices
Compare and Contrast Western and Indigenous worldviews:
- Create a chart, insert on one side the characteristics learners identify as belonging to an Indigenous worldview. On the opposing side insert the characteristics they identify as belonging to a western worldview. Discuss any characteristics that overlap or are shared between the two.
- Review these characteristics. Identify what characteristic are present in your day-to-day activities?
- Would you change anything?
What health principles are found within the Creation teachings?
Emmi Mitchell, former Program manager of the Ononkwa’on:we tanon Thika:te Iakotsienhtahka - Traditional Medicines and Alternative Healing Program of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne had developed a chart to show the four areas of health, and some common problems we experience:
1) Physical - We need to pay more attention to our physical health, but remember that many of our physical problems are due to an imbalance in the others area of health.
2) Social - There is often a feeling of isolation that in turn, leads to sleep disorders. We need to use the concept of Skanikon:ra Enskaien:tane {One Mind Will Be Restored} which refers to the unity of the people. We need to reconnect the people to their traditional healing practices.
3) Emotional - We inherit generational garbage, or suffer trauma that results in low self-esteem, which leads to abusive relationships, substance abuse and divorce. We must peel away the layers of emotional problems in order to restore good thinking that will into turn, lead to a healthy lifestyle.
4) Spiritual - We need to restore our sense of self as a spiritual being. The term Sge:no dwenohdonyoh, meaning “well being we are experiencing in thought” needs to be restored in our thoughts and actions.
Relationship to Creation
“If you ask me what the most important thing that I have learned about being a Haudenosaunee, it's the idea that we are connected to a community, but a community that transcends time. We're connected to the first Indians who walked on this earth, the very first ones, however long ago that was. But we're also connected to those Indians who aren't even born yet, who are going to walk this earth. And our job in the middle is to bridge that gap. You take the inheritance from the past, you add to it, your ideas and your thinking, and you bundle it up and shoot it to the future. And there is a different kind of responsibility. That is not just about me, my pride and my ego, it's about all that other stuff. We inherit a duty, we inherit a responsibility. And that's pretty well drummed into our heads. Don't just come here expecting to benefit. You come here to work hard so that the future can enjoy that benefit.”
Rick Hill Sr. (Tuscarora) Chair, Haudenosaunee Standing Committee on Burial Rules and Regulations
“We are really good at identifying the problems; we need now to focus on solutions and/or prescriptions” ~ Dan Longboat, 2006 ICHA
People and the Natural World
Dan Longboat
Understanding the Roots of Thought (for all people)
- Observe our behaviours to see how the listings below and manifested
- Think about deviant behaviour i.e. abuse, alcohol, etc.
- These things are the result of fractionalism created by colonization and we need to ask: whose behaviour is this? What has caused this behaviour?
- Culture - Elders offer ancestral knowledge and lived experience
- Culture gives us our worldview, language, government, land, social structure – everything
- When we revitalize our culture and work to rebuild the fractionalism within our communities, we reconnect ourselves back to the earth
- Science – evolution – creationism – Christianity (biblical teachings) are Western beliefs – that is why they are cloning and practicing genetic engineering
- Louis Henry Morgan (historical references) identifies the Haudenosaunee as the finest people in the world
Two catalysts are needed to make change:
- Catastrophe
- Enlightenment
- Maple sap
- Berries – strawberries
Swadogwa’sh:d Dish With One Spoon
On February 19, 1789, Cayuga Chief Domine Peter spoke to New York Governor Clinton, offering a String of Black Wampum with Six Rows:
“I entreat by this String to keep firm to your Word and reach out your Hand over my Country and save it; our Dish we will reserve.”
This is a complicated statement as it contains four cultural metaphors. First, the string is a reference to the wampum that was used to show the sincerity of the words, and to document what was said.
Second, the concept behind the term word was that it is a pledge of the governor that is being acknowledged. Word could also mean a request or treaty agreement.
Third, the mention of the Hand over my Country means that the Governor promised to protect the land of the Haudenosaunee, not possess them. This was a common way of allowing the colonial governments to assist the Haudenosaunee in protecting their lands from outside interference. In this case the Governor offered to lease the lands to keep unscrupulous whites from fraudulently taking Haudenosaunee lands.
Fourth, Our Dish we will reserve, means that the Haudenosaunee would retain their hunting and gathering rights within their leased territory. The Dish is a very old metaphor to symbolize the bounty of the land that was meant to heal and feed the people. This dish is often referred to as Swadogwa'sh:d, the Dish with One Spoon.
Food is a blessing, meant to be shared. After the earth was created, the Skyholder (Creator) told the first people: “We will eat together. It is well-known that we all have an equal right to it.” This later becomes the dish with one spoon idea. The woods are seen as a large food bowl from which all can eat. A wooden spoon is used to get the meat from the bowl. No sharp utensils are used so that no one gets accidentally injured.
At the time for the Formation of the Confederacy, the Peace Maker told the assembled Chiefs we will eat from one bowl, not using any knives. They will eat beaver tail. This means that we all have equal shares of the game roaming about. There will be no knife, no one will get cut, no blood will be shed, and peace will be maintained. These ideas are linked, that we each can share the bounty of the land and that we will “eat” from the same bowl - the great woods.
In 1887, Chief John Buck described this wampum belt: “all white except a round purple patch in the center. This represents all Indians on the continent. They have entered into one great league and contract that they will all be one and have one heart. The pot in the center is a dish of beaver, indicating that they will have one dish and what belongs to one will belong to all.”
More than a simple concept of sharing, this is also about using the natural resources properly to assure that they will continue. This is the model of sharing that the Haudenosaunee applied to nature in general. The women were “managers” of the fields and men the “managers” of the woods. By this, we mean that women were responsible for assuring proper use of the fields, for collecting foods and medicines, as well as cultivating crops. Men, as self-regulation hunters, upheld certain hunting protocols to assure that the game would be plentiful.
Optional Art Activity: Creation Art
- Ceremonies – thankful
- Metaphors – one family
- Tell stories
- Dish with one spoon
Cornelius, Carol. (1999). Iroquois Corn In a Culture-Based Curriculum. Albany: State University of New York Press. Martin, Cindy. (2003). Tree of Life, A Resource Manual and Food Guide. Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, Ohsweken, Ontario: Six Nations Health Services
Thomas, Chief Jake, Cayuga. (1994). Teachings from the Longhouse. Toronto: Stoddart.
UNIT 2:2 THANKSGIVING ADDRESS In this unit we will explore the Thanksgiving Address or the words that come before all else (a time to bring everyone’s mind together). The purpose of this exploration is to reveal the deeper underlying meanings of these words and to fully comprehend the message conveyed therein. The greeting to the natural world is thought to bring about like minds and offers instructions on how we are to live in relation to the natural world.
Purpose:
- The Thanksgiving Address provides us with a map to our preferred relationships to Creation
- The annual cycles of Thanksgiving provide us with one way to express our connection to nature
- Ohento Karihwateh’kwen – The Words Before All Else
- Awehaode Communications 1998
- What is the Good Mind?
- The Essential Values
- An Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) Thanksgiving
Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity, A Complementary Contribution to the Global Biodiversity Assessment. 1999 United Nations Environment Program, Kenya (p. 450-452)
The Thanksgiving Address
Thankfulness: The Haudenosaunee know that they can express their thankfulness through the ceremonies, as outlined in the Creation Teachings. However, it is also a good idea to express a personal thankfulness each day. The old pattern was to rise at sunrise and give thanks for the coming day. As the sun goes down, the old timers would give thanks again. In this way, the Haudenosaunee learn to appreciate each day as a precious gift of time. It is meant to be used in a good way. People are supposed to live a peaceful, happy life.
Quote on Native Spirituality:
“The essence of Native spirituality is not religion in the Western sense of the word, but rather a set of core beliefs in the sanctity of personal and community relationships to the natural world, which are creatively acted upon and expressed at both the personal and communal levels.” (Cajete, 2000, p.14).
The Thanksgiving Address, Greetings to the Natural World:
“It specifies the duties assigned to each of the elements of the natural world and the duties of human beings regarding each of those elements. It expresses an attitude of appreciation and responsibility in an interconnected whole. There is a sense of equality expressed in the interdependence of all that was created. There is no separation between human beings and the natural world; all are equal and interrelated by kinship terms.” (Cornelius, 1992, p.18)
“Mother earth has so much energy, so much so that she even tries to push through cracks in the pavement.” (Norma General, 2005, ICHA). site http://www.potsdam.edu/EDUC/Akwesasn/cradle/Ohenton.html
UNIT 2: FIRST NATION HISTORY This unit will serve as a brief introduction First Nations history and observe the ceremonies, rituals and traditions integral to an Indigenous way of life. Pre-contact and post-contact history will also be explored in this unit.
Purpose:
- Explore First Nations history in North American with a specific focus on the Haudenosaunee
- Present a historical timeline
“Sixty years ago most people had the means and capacity to be self-sufficient, this started to change in the 1940s and today most of us rely upon grocery stores. Diabetes was relatively unknown in the 1940s, because people were farming and producing their own food. This lifestyle of self-sufficiency also provided them with the necessary physical activity. The colonizers killed more people with food than bullets.” (Rick Hill, 2006, ICHA)
“Up to the 1800s at colonial and political meetings the Haudenosaunee would condole one another before official business. This ceremony would acknowledge any losses and signify that these people matter to us. Condolence can also be seen as a kind of forgiveness” (Rick Hill, 2006, ICHA).
Timeline:
1492 - Guns, Germs, Steel, Missionaries and Jesuits 1500 – Fur Trade (brought greed – people killed off the Beaver, Buffalo, etc)
1550 – Contact (50% of Haudenosaunee people died of measles and small pox. Disease struck the youth and elders hardest)
1609 – Champlain, introduction of guns (greed, violence, treaties, alcohol, forefathers sold land)
1613 – Two Row Wampum (300 foot Longhouses) and Covenant Chain
1680 – French
1692 – Witchcraft
UNIT 3: COLONIZATION
This unit will introduce and explore the impacts of colonization on the ways of life of Indigenous people in North America.
Purpose:
- Discuss how colonization has hindered on our ability to think clearly and act as we should
“Whatever the family chose to do was the family ‘theme’, and that choice was passed down from generation to generation to meet their needs for survival… These are confusing issues for the children in families where they learn about matrilineal society and see male dominance and abuse. The warfare, the alcohol, the apathy, the generations of intimidation led the Native to believe that they had no rights. Being born into that kind of family theme, a person is unlikely to meet one’s psychological needs and this results in the impediment of the individual’s natural human development.”
Barbara-Helen Hill, Shaking the Rattle – Healing the Trauma of Colonization, Theytus Books Ltd., Penticton, BC, 1995
“Shame is the ultimate legacy of colonization” (Rick Hill, 2005, ICHA).
“Colonization is a well oiled machine” (Dan Longboat, 2005, ICHA).
Colonization has disrupted the belief system and the ethnicity of Indigenous people. It has brought about historical trauma both psychological and social that has hindered the development of Indigenous people. Indigenous people internalized beliefs that they were inferior to others and adopted the thoughts, beliefs, and practices of the dominate culture. The process of colonization created a wedge between parent and child, both culturally and spiritually. Because of colonization many Indigenous people are operating from two contradictory belief systems. They are basically walking around saying one thing and doing another. By talking about colonization and the impact it has had on Indigenous people we can begin to make change. What we must realize is that we have choices. Talking about colonization can help Indigenous people to heal and make a better place for the coming generations.
Impact on Indigenous worldview and way of life:
“We started seeing the world as a commodity.”
(Rick Hill, 2005, ICHA).
Questions for Discussion:
- What do we need from our teachings that will support us in dealing with the challenges we face today?
- How do we extend our teachings to the reality of our present world?
“Concept of historical trauma - How can it be that a people whose traditions and culture is to uphold peace can have so much violence in their communities?”
(Rick Hill, 2006, ICHA)
Optional Exercise
Create a mind map to express, what relationships are necessary for whole health?
Reference Materials:
Hill, Barbara-Helen. (1995). Shaking the Rattle, Healing the Trauma of Colonization. Penticton, BC: Theytus Books Ltd.
UNIT 4: HAUDENOSAUNEE CONCEPTS OF HEALTH AND HEALING Understanding the concept of health and healing will assist the learner in looking at what has worked and what has not worked. It is an opportunity to identify patterns and practices that are favourable for Indigenous people. Learners will be asked to explore traditional understandings and definition of health and healing from both an Indigenous and Western perspective.
Purpose:
- Explore the concept of health and healing from an Indigenous perspective (past and present)
- Compare and contrast western and Indigenous approaches and philosophies of health and healing
- Common Beliefs about Medicine Gathering
- Whole Health Notes by Oren Lyons
- Relationships/Maturity by Leroy Hill
- Types of Native Personalities
Conceptions of Illness in Traditional Iroquois Culture, in Iroquois Medical Botany by James W. Herrick, Syracuse University Press p. 33-45
History of Health and Healing
“We have perpetuated our own victimization” (Rick Hill, 2005, ICHA).
“Optimal Health results from harmony and balance in the physical, environmental, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social aspects of our lives. When this harmonious balance is present, we experience the unlimited and unimpeded free flow of life force energy throughout our body, mind, and spirit.”
Robert Ivker, D.O., Sinus Survival, Jeremy P. Tarcher/ Putnam, New York, 2000
“The fundamental factor that keeps Indians and non-Indians from communicating is that they are speaking about two entirely different perceptions of the world. Growing up on an Indian reservation makes one acutely aware of the mysteries of the universe…Attending school away from the reservation is a traumatic experience for most Indian people. In the white man’s world knowledge is a matter of memorizing theories, dates, lists of kings and presidents, the table of chemical elements, and many things not encountered in the course of a day’s work. Knowledge seems divorced from experience…That a reality exists which we cannot measure is difficult for non-Indian peoples to believe, or at least to believe emotionally rather than intellectually.”
Vine Deloria, Jr., The Metaphysics of Modern Existence, Harper & Row, New York, 1979.
Traditional methods of Health and Healing
Ask learners to complete these sentences from a Haudenosaunee concept of health and healing: Health is … Health education is … Health is connection and reciprocity … Health is governance (nation/confederacy) … Health is treatment facilities that balance western and Indigenous health concepts to …
“A good mind, good thoughts, good words, and good actions contribute to good relationships.” (Norma General, 2005, ICHA).
“Health is a multi-layered process of ceremonies and relationships.”
(Suzanne Brant, 2005, ICHA)
“In order to change the health of our people we have to do it ourselves. It starts with honouring our responsibilities as Onkwehonwe people. No government, no institution, no organization, no researcher is going to come in and give us the magic pill and cure all our problems.” (Dan Longboat ICHA)
Compare and Contrast the philosophies, principles and practices of:
Indigenous Concepts of Health
Western Concepts of Health
(e.g.) An Indigenous approach includes looking at the whole person. It is understood that physical illness begins with a disruption of the spirit of the individual.
Western medicine is good at treating symptoms whereas traditional medicine attempts to treat the root causes of illness.
Western concepts of Health
- “You fix me” not accountable
- Based on
- Signs and symptoms
- Monetary based (pharmaceuticals)
- Consumer driven
- Managing – not in the business to cure
- Not focused on prevention
- Creates dependency
- Code based – depersonalized
- How can we bridge the gap between Western and Indigenous concepts of health?
- What are the consequences of not acting?
- Does your spirit feel good about wanting to learn more about Indigenous health concepts?
Vine Deloria, Jr., The Metaphysics of Modern Existence, Harper & Row, New York, 1979.
UNIT 2:6 INTRODUCTION TO MODERN INDIGENOUS HEALTH ISSUES Modern Indigenous health issues are a product of a complex web of physiological, psychological, spiritual, historical, sociological, cultural, economic, and environmental factors. Indigenous people in Canada have long been considered to be the most disadvantaged group in the country and experience the kinds of health problems closely associated with poverty. Indigenous people also suffer from problems linked to their historical position within Canadian society. This unit will provide an overview of the current health problems being experienced by Indigenous peoples, along with a historical perspective of health and health care.
Purpose:
- Exploration of the major health issues facing Indigenous people
- Powerpoint on Margaret Wheatley’s article
Aboriginal Health and the Environment by Margaret A. Wheatley, Ph.D. a paper presented to the Canadian Public Health Association Discovering Indigenous Science: Implications for Science Education
The State of Indigenous Health
“Our concept of health drives our healthcare system.” (Rick Hill, 2005, ICHA)
“We are all in a state of illness. You can eat enough to maintain wellness, but not enough to repair. That is where a multi vitamin comes in.”
(Suzanne Brant, 2005, ICHA).
“The spirit is the foundation of our health. It affects our emotions which in turn affect our mental well-being, which in turn has a physical impact on our well being.” (Suzanne Brant, 2005, ICHA).
Modern Indigenous Health Issues
“Prior to 1950 diabetes was relatively unknown in Aboriginal communities.” (Rick Hill, 2005, ICHA)
Discussion:
From the Senate Subcommittee on Population Health 26, April 2007: Determinants of Health of Aboriginal Peoples:
- “The evidence is clear that health inequities in the Aboriginal population are largely determined by inequities in the social, economic and cultural conditions that characterize Aboriginal communities.”
- “Health status of Aboriginal peoples in Canada is profoundly different than that of other Canadians.”
- “Globally, in nations, societies and communities where citizens exercise more authority over the fundamental conditions of life in an equitable and culturally consistent way, health outcomes are generally better even when relative poverty is taken into account.”
- “In the Aboriginal context, increasing evidence is accumulating to support the premise that Aboriginal communities that are self-governing and have strong cultural continuity with traditions have lower rates of health problems.”