Sekuwe (My House): building health equity through Dene First Nations housing designs

• Published in: International Journal of Circumpolar Health
• Main Authors: Linda Larcombe, Lancelot Coar, Matthew Singer, Lizette Denechezhe, Evan Yassie, Tony Powderhorn, Joe Antsanen, Kathi Avery Kinew, Pamela Orr
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2020
• Subjects: health; housing; first nations; architecture; culturally appropriate; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Arctic; Canada; Indian; Circumpolar Health; First Nations; International Journal of Circumpolar Health
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1080/22423982.2020.1717278; https://doaj.org/article/5436cd2aa68e4227953041647afa951f

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada determined that the Dene people, among other Indigenous groups, experienced cultural genocide through policies that separated them from their lands and resources, and from their families, languages, cultures, and by forcibly sending children to Indian Residential Schools. The resultant social inequity is manifested in conditions of social injustice including inadequate housing. The Dene healthy housing research was a continuing partnership between the two Dene First Nation communities, the university and a provincial First Nation non-government organisation. This project engaged the creative energies of university students and Dene senior-high students to create and articulate Dene healthy housing so that concepts/plans/designs are ready for future funding interventions. We co-developed methods and networks to reframe housing as a social determinant of health and an important factor in social justice. This project reflects the fundamental requirement for a respectful understanding of Dene perspectives on housing and health and the need for Dene control over their built environment.