Indigenous Knowledge: Revitalizing Everlasting Relationships between Alaska Natives and Sled Dogs to Promote Holistic Wellbeing
Introduction: Indigenous peoples have documented their culture’s history in oral stories, revealing lessons about holistic relationships fostering perseverance. Despite vast differences in time, relationships and stories are equally important today. Athabascans retain their values, life skills, and...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010244 |
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/1660-4601/20/1/244/ 2023-08-20T04:05:08+02:00 Indigenous Knowledge: Revitalizing Everlasting Relationships between Alaska Natives and Sled Dogs to Promote Holistic Wellbeing Janessa Newman Inna Rivkin Cathy Brooks Kathy Turco Joseph Bifelt Laura Ekada Jacques Philip agris 2022-12-23 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010244 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Mental Health https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010244 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; Volume 20; Issue 1; Pages: 244 Indigenous peoples Alaska Native youths digital storytelling connection to land wellbeing community-based participatory research Indigenous knowledge rural intergenerational mentorship Text 2022 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010244 2023-08-01T07:57:00Z Introduction: Indigenous peoples have documented their culture’s history in oral stories, revealing lessons about holistic relationships fostering perseverance. Despite vast differences in time, relationships and stories are equally important today. Athabascans retain their values, life skills, and wellness through cultural practices. Creating opportunities for youths to learn through reciprocal relationships increases wellness in Indigenous communities, highlighting the significance of community-developed programs that connect youths to their place and culture. Method: Athabascan youths in rural Alaska get hands-on experience and Elder mentorship working with sled dogs in the Frank Attla Youth and Sled Dog Care-Mushing Program (FAYSDP). Through a community-based participatory research partnership with the community of Huslia and Jimmy Huntington School, we examined how FAYSDP affects youths, and how relationships within culture and land promote wellbeing. Fifteen middle and high-school youths shared their perspectives on how FAYSDP impacts them and their community using photovoice and digital storytelling. Nineteen adults contributed their perspectives in focus groups. We used emerging themes (inductive) and Athabascan cultural values and elements of social capital (deductive approaches) to analyze the qualitative data. Results: Findings illustrate how FAYSDP promotes wellbeing by empowering youths to apply what they learn to generate their own knowledge, while centering communities around culturally significant practices such as dog mushing. It connects youths to their home and their cultural values, using dogs as the driving force to bridge generations and foster youth wellness. Discussion: We discuss implications for community-based programs that engage Elders as teachers and the land as their classroom to promote youth holistic wellness. Text Athabascan Alaska MDPI Open Access Publishing Huntington ENVELOPE(-127.078,-127.078,54.707,54.707) Huslia ENVELOPE(8.315,8.315,62.614,62.614) Perseverance ENVELOPE(162.200,162.200,-76.800,-76.800) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20 1 244 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
Indigenous peoples Alaska Native youths digital storytelling connection to land wellbeing community-based participatory research Indigenous knowledge rural intergenerational mentorship |
spellingShingle |
Indigenous peoples Alaska Native youths digital storytelling connection to land wellbeing community-based participatory research Indigenous knowledge rural intergenerational mentorship Janessa Newman Inna Rivkin Cathy Brooks Kathy Turco Joseph Bifelt Laura Ekada Jacques Philip Indigenous Knowledge: Revitalizing Everlasting Relationships between Alaska Natives and Sled Dogs to Promote Holistic Wellbeing |
topic_facet |
Indigenous peoples Alaska Native youths digital storytelling connection to land wellbeing community-based participatory research Indigenous knowledge rural intergenerational mentorship |
description |
Introduction: Indigenous peoples have documented their culture’s history in oral stories, revealing lessons about holistic relationships fostering perseverance. Despite vast differences in time, relationships and stories are equally important today. Athabascans retain their values, life skills, and wellness through cultural practices. Creating opportunities for youths to learn through reciprocal relationships increases wellness in Indigenous communities, highlighting the significance of community-developed programs that connect youths to their place and culture. Method: Athabascan youths in rural Alaska get hands-on experience and Elder mentorship working with sled dogs in the Frank Attla Youth and Sled Dog Care-Mushing Program (FAYSDP). Through a community-based participatory research partnership with the community of Huslia and Jimmy Huntington School, we examined how FAYSDP affects youths, and how relationships within culture and land promote wellbeing. Fifteen middle and high-school youths shared their perspectives on how FAYSDP impacts them and their community using photovoice and digital storytelling. Nineteen adults contributed their perspectives in focus groups. We used emerging themes (inductive) and Athabascan cultural values and elements of social capital (deductive approaches) to analyze the qualitative data. Results: Findings illustrate how FAYSDP promotes wellbeing by empowering youths to apply what they learn to generate their own knowledge, while centering communities around culturally significant practices such as dog mushing. It connects youths to their home and their cultural values, using dogs as the driving force to bridge generations and foster youth wellness. Discussion: We discuss implications for community-based programs that engage Elders as teachers and the land as their classroom to promote youth holistic wellness. |
format |
Text |
author |
Janessa Newman Inna Rivkin Cathy Brooks Kathy Turco Joseph Bifelt Laura Ekada Jacques Philip |
author_facet |
Janessa Newman Inna Rivkin Cathy Brooks Kathy Turco Joseph Bifelt Laura Ekada Jacques Philip |
author_sort |
Janessa Newman |
title |
Indigenous Knowledge: Revitalizing Everlasting Relationships between Alaska Natives and Sled Dogs to Promote Holistic Wellbeing |
title_short |
Indigenous Knowledge: Revitalizing Everlasting Relationships between Alaska Natives and Sled Dogs to Promote Holistic Wellbeing |
title_full |
Indigenous Knowledge: Revitalizing Everlasting Relationships between Alaska Natives and Sled Dogs to Promote Holistic Wellbeing |
title_fullStr |
Indigenous Knowledge: Revitalizing Everlasting Relationships between Alaska Natives and Sled Dogs to Promote Holistic Wellbeing |
title_full_unstemmed |
Indigenous Knowledge: Revitalizing Everlasting Relationships between Alaska Natives and Sled Dogs to Promote Holistic Wellbeing |
title_sort |
indigenous knowledge: revitalizing everlasting relationships between alaska natives and sled dogs to promote holistic wellbeing |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010244 |
op_coverage |
agris |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-127.078,-127.078,54.707,54.707) ENVELOPE(8.315,8.315,62.614,62.614) ENVELOPE(162.200,162.200,-76.800,-76.800) |
geographic |
Huntington Huslia Perseverance |
geographic_facet |
Huntington Huslia Perseverance |
genre |
Athabascan Alaska |
genre_facet |
Athabascan Alaska |
op_source |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; Volume 20; Issue 1; Pages: 244 |
op_relation |
Mental Health https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010244 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010244 |
container_title |
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
244 |
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1774715619675996160 |