Diabetes in Gitxaała : colonization, assimilation, and economic change ...

• Main Author: Anderson, Robin
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2011
• Subjects: First Nations
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0100789; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0100789

Diabetes is used as a lens through which to examine colonial processes of dispossession, assimilation, and economic change in the coastal First Nations community of Gitxaala, in BC, Canada. Diabetes is a worldwide epidemic disproportionately affecting indigenous peoples. Social determinants of diabetes in Gitxaala are explored ethnographically, focusing on diet change and food security. Diet is framed as a 'choice' by government agencies, but economic factors, food availability, and food preferences all delimit the foods consumed in Gitxaala. The importance of traditional foods for subsistence and cultural identity is explored. A history of integrating and then relying upon colonial foods is traced through a history of economic change. Current economic hardship limits both access to nutritious store-bought foods and the harvesting of traditional foods; although many community members prefer traditional foods, starchy processed foods are the most readily available and affordable. Colonial attempts to ...