“The Land Nurtures Our Spirit”: Understanding the Role of the Land in Labrador Innu Wellbeing

• Published in: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Main Authors: Leonor Mercedes Ward, Mary Janet Hill, Nikashant Antane, Samia Chreim, Anita Olsen Harper, Samantha Wells
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2021
• Subjects: Indigenous health and wellbeing; land; indigenous knowledge; cultural identity; self-determination in research; Labrador Innu; Canada; Newfoundland; Natuashish; Subarctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105102

We examined Indigenous views of wellbeing, aiming to understand how the Labrador Innu view influence of land on their health. The Innu live in two First Nation communities (Sheshatshiu and Natuashish) in the subarctic portion of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Their views on land and wellbeing are context specific and have not been studied; our research addresses this significant gap in literature. Findings highlight that the experience of being on the land with family and community, learning cultural knowledge, and gaining a sense of identity play a major role in enhancing wellbeing. Externally imposed policies and programs conceiving Indigenous land as a physical place only fail to understand that land sustains wellbeing by emplacing knowledge systems and cultural identity.