Being alive well : indigenous belief as opposition among the Whapmagoostui Cree

• Main Author: Adelson, Naomi
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: McGill University 1992
• Subjects: Cree Indians > Health and hygiene; Cree Indians > Social life and customs; Whapmagoostui; Cree indians
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=39464

Through an analysis of Cree concepts of well-being, I challenge conventional social scientific definitions of health. In this dissertation I argue that there exists a fundamental biomedical dualism in health studies and, using cross-cultural examples, explore an expanded notion of "health". I then introduce the Cree concept of miyupimaatisiiu ("being alive well") and explain that for the Whapmagoostui Cree there is no term that translates back into English as health. I present the core symbols of "being alive well" and in their analysis find a persistence of traditional meanings. For the Cree "being alive well" is consonant with "being Cree", simultaneously transcending the individual and reflecting current political realities. Miyupimaatisiiu for the adult Cree of Whapmagoostui is a strategy of cultural assertion and resistance and hence situated within the realm of political discourses.