“The Dene Way of Life”: Perspectives on Health From Canada’s North
The health and wellness of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples is often measured in narrow biomedical terms with little consideration given to how health is conceptualized in Aboriginal communities. This study attempts to address this gap by providing a perspective on health and wellness developed in collab...
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Language: | English |
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University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress)
2007
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/jcs.41.3.112 https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/jcs.41.3.112 |
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crunivtoronpr:10.3138/jcs.41.3.112 2024-06-23T07:55:43+00:00 “The Dene Way of Life”: Perspectives on Health From Canada’s North Parlee, Brenda O’Neil, John 2007 http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/jcs.41.3.112 https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/jcs.41.3.112 en eng University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) Journal of Canadian Studies volume 41, issue 3, page 112-133 ISSN 0021-9495 1911-0251 journal-article 2007 crunivtoronpr https://doi.org/10.3138/jcs.41.3.112 2024-05-24T13:22:58Z The health and wellness of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples is often measured in narrow biomedical terms with little consideration given to how health is conceptualized in Aboriginal communities. This study attempts to address this gap by providing a perspective on health and wellness developed in collaboration with the Dene community of Lutsel K’e, Northwest Territories. The research was carried out in the wake of the environmental assessment of Canada’s first diamond mine, located in the traditional territory of Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation. The study focussed on the questions “What is health?” and “What kinds of indicators would be useful for measuring the effects of diamond mining on the health of community?” Health was defined in the local language as “the Dene way of life.” Three core themes, 13 sub-themes and over 50 indicators of health were also identified through semi-structured interviews with individual community members. These indicators refer to many aspects of day-to-day life in Lutsel K’e, tying the concept of health, often discussed in theoretical terms, to tactile elements and processes at work at individual, household, and community levels. Interwoven in these narratives is a discourse about the importance of Dene values, knowledge, and institutions. The work is also telling of how small, remote northern communities respond to and resist the social, economic, and cultural pressures associated with natural resource development. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Territories University of Toronto Press (U Toronto Press) Northwest Territories Journal of Canadian Studies 41 3 112 133 |
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University of Toronto Press (U Toronto Press) |
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English |
description |
The health and wellness of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples is often measured in narrow biomedical terms with little consideration given to how health is conceptualized in Aboriginal communities. This study attempts to address this gap by providing a perspective on health and wellness developed in collaboration with the Dene community of Lutsel K’e, Northwest Territories. The research was carried out in the wake of the environmental assessment of Canada’s first diamond mine, located in the traditional territory of Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation. The study focussed on the questions “What is health?” and “What kinds of indicators would be useful for measuring the effects of diamond mining on the health of community?” Health was defined in the local language as “the Dene way of life.” Three core themes, 13 sub-themes and over 50 indicators of health were also identified through semi-structured interviews with individual community members. These indicators refer to many aspects of day-to-day life in Lutsel K’e, tying the concept of health, often discussed in theoretical terms, to tactile elements and processes at work at individual, household, and community levels. Interwoven in these narratives is a discourse about the importance of Dene values, knowledge, and institutions. The work is also telling of how small, remote northern communities respond to and resist the social, economic, and cultural pressures associated with natural resource development. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Parlee, Brenda O’Neil, John |
spellingShingle |
Parlee, Brenda O’Neil, John “The Dene Way of Life”: Perspectives on Health From Canada’s North |
author_facet |
Parlee, Brenda O’Neil, John |
author_sort |
Parlee, Brenda |
title |
“The Dene Way of Life”: Perspectives on Health From Canada’s North |
title_short |
“The Dene Way of Life”: Perspectives on Health From Canada’s North |
title_full |
“The Dene Way of Life”: Perspectives on Health From Canada’s North |
title_fullStr |
“The Dene Way of Life”: Perspectives on Health From Canada’s North |
title_full_unstemmed |
“The Dene Way of Life”: Perspectives on Health From Canada’s North |
title_sort |
“the dene way of life”: perspectives on health from canada’s north |
publisher |
University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/jcs.41.3.112 https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/jcs.41.3.112 |
geographic |
Northwest Territories |
geographic_facet |
Northwest Territories |
genre |
Northwest Territories |
genre_facet |
Northwest Territories |
op_source |
Journal of Canadian Studies volume 41, issue 3, page 112-133 ISSN 0021-9495 1911-0251 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3138/jcs.41.3.112 |
container_title |
Journal of Canadian Studies |
container_volume |
41 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
112 |
op_container_end_page |
133 |
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1802648387219095552 |