“It’s a change your life kind of program”: A Healing-Focused Camping Weekend for Urban Indigenous Families Living in Fredericton, New Brunswick

• Published in: First Peoples Child & Family Review
• Main Authors: Hickey, Jason, Powling, Hayley, McKinney, Patsy, Robbins, Tristin, Carrier, Nathan, Nash, Abigail
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada 2020
• Subjects: land-based healing; Indigenous families; early childhood education; parenting; program evaluation; Wabanaki; Mi’kmaq; Wəlastəkwey; Maliseet; hisphilso; demo
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.7202/1080808ar; http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1080808ar

We present a community-driven research project designed to evaluate an innovative land-based healing initiative – a traditional camping weekend – for urban Indigenous families. The initiative was developed and implemented by Under One Sky Friendship Centre in Fredericton, NB, and involved a weekend-long celebration of culture and community. We gathered data from family members, staff, and stakeholders, and completed a thematic analysis and community review before synthesizing results into a narrative summary. Themes included Skitkəmikw (Land), Cəcahkw (Spirit), Skicinowihkw & Nekwtakotəmocik (Community & Family), and Sakələməlsowakən (Wellbeing). These connections are echoed throughout the article by quotes from participants that capture the essence of the experience. Our research helps to fill a knowledge gap in this area and supports the limited body of existing literature in demonstrating that community-led, land-based healing initiatives support Indigenous wellbeing in many ways that mainstream approaches cannot. Future work is needed to scale up land-based healing initiatives that provide community-led approaches to health promotion, and to examine the effects of ongoing participation on long-term health and wellness outcomes.