Letsemot, “Togetherness”: Exploring How Connection to Land, Water, and Territory Influences Health and Wellness with First Nations Knowledge Keepers and Youth in the Fraser Salish Region of British Columbia
Connection to land has been identified as a central determinant of the health and well-being of First Nations in Canada. The wholistic, interconnected, spiritual, and sacred relationship that many Indigenous Peoples have with the land is an integral part of strengthening physical, spiritual, mental,...
Published in: | International Journal of Indigenous Health |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health
2020
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Online Access: | https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijih/article/view/33206 https://doi.org/10.32799/ijih.v16i2.33206 |
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ftunitorontoojs:oai:jps.library.utoronto.ca:article/33206 2023-05-15T16:14:41+02:00 Letsemot, “Togetherness”: Exploring How Connection to Land, Water, and Territory Influences Health and Wellness with First Nations Knowledge Keepers and Youth in the Fraser Salish Region of British Columbia Stelkia, Krista Beck, Lindsay Manshadi, Anita Jensen Fisk, Ashlyn Adams, Evan Browne, Annette J. Dixon, Corinne McEachern, Diane Ritchie, Wendy McDonald, Shannon Henry, Bonnie Marsden, Namaste Behn-Smith, Daniele Reading, Jeffrey 2020-12-29 application/pdf https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijih/article/view/33206 https://doi.org/10.32799/ijih.v16i2.33206 eng eng Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijih/article/view/33206/27374 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijih/article/view/33206 doi:10.32799/ijih.v16i2.33206 Copyright (c) 2020 Krista Stelkia, Lindsay Beck, Anita Manshadi, Ashlyn Jensen Fisk, Evan Adams, Annette J. Browne, Corinne Dixon, Diane McEachern, Wendy Ritchie, Shannon McDonald, Bonnie Henry, Namaste Marsden, Daniele Behn-Smith, Jeffrey Reading https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 CC-BY-NC-ND International Journal of Indigenous Health; Vol 16 No 2 (2021): Wisdom of the Elders: Honouring Spiritual Laws in Indigenous Knowledge 2291-9376 2291-9368 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2020 ftunitorontoojs https://doi.org/10.32799/ijih.v16i2.33206 2021-03-01T10:03:53Z Connection to land has been identified as a central determinant of the health and well-being of First Nations in Canada. The wholistic, interconnected, spiritual, and sacred relationship that many Indigenous Peoples have with the land is an integral part of strengthening physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional health and well-being. However, there has been little empirical evidence on how to assess, measure, and report on connection to land for First Nations Peoples. Using a Two- Eyed Seeing approach, this study explores what connection to land, water, and territory means for health and wellness for First Nations in the Fraser Salish region in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada. Data were collected through a sharing circle with five First Nations Knowledge Keepers and five youth from Stó:lō communities as part of a land-based gathering in Stó:lō territory. Three themes were identified: (a) “the spirits of the land, water, and territory are within us”: the intersection of cultural identity, spirituality, ancestral knowledge, and health and well-being; (b) letsemot, “togetherness”: relationality; and (c) disruptions and new ways of living. For Stó:lō Peoples, connection to the land is an integral component of health and well-being. Connection to land was found to strongly influence physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional aspects of health while also intersecting with Stó:lō cultural identity, spirituality, ancestral knowledge, and ways of living. The findings can be used to inform the development of an indicator for connection to land, water, and territory as a measurement of ecological wellness for the First Nations Population Health and Wellness Agenda in BC. Article in Journal/Newspaper First Nations University of Toronto: Journal Publishing Services Canada British Columbia ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) International Journal of Indigenous Health 16 2 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Toronto: Journal Publishing Services |
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ftunitorontoojs |
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English |
description |
Connection to land has been identified as a central determinant of the health and well-being of First Nations in Canada. The wholistic, interconnected, spiritual, and sacred relationship that many Indigenous Peoples have with the land is an integral part of strengthening physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional health and well-being. However, there has been little empirical evidence on how to assess, measure, and report on connection to land for First Nations Peoples. Using a Two- Eyed Seeing approach, this study explores what connection to land, water, and territory means for health and wellness for First Nations in the Fraser Salish region in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada. Data were collected through a sharing circle with five First Nations Knowledge Keepers and five youth from Stó:lō communities as part of a land-based gathering in Stó:lō territory. Three themes were identified: (a) “the spirits of the land, water, and territory are within us”: the intersection of cultural identity, spirituality, ancestral knowledge, and health and well-being; (b) letsemot, “togetherness”: relationality; and (c) disruptions and new ways of living. For Stó:lō Peoples, connection to the land is an integral component of health and well-being. Connection to land was found to strongly influence physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional aspects of health while also intersecting with Stó:lō cultural identity, spirituality, ancestral knowledge, and ways of living. The findings can be used to inform the development of an indicator for connection to land, water, and territory as a measurement of ecological wellness for the First Nations Population Health and Wellness Agenda in BC. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Stelkia, Krista Beck, Lindsay Manshadi, Anita Jensen Fisk, Ashlyn Adams, Evan Browne, Annette J. Dixon, Corinne McEachern, Diane Ritchie, Wendy McDonald, Shannon Henry, Bonnie Marsden, Namaste Behn-Smith, Daniele Reading, Jeffrey |
spellingShingle |
Stelkia, Krista Beck, Lindsay Manshadi, Anita Jensen Fisk, Ashlyn Adams, Evan Browne, Annette J. Dixon, Corinne McEachern, Diane Ritchie, Wendy McDonald, Shannon Henry, Bonnie Marsden, Namaste Behn-Smith, Daniele Reading, Jeffrey Letsemot, “Togetherness”: Exploring How Connection to Land, Water, and Territory Influences Health and Wellness with First Nations Knowledge Keepers and Youth in the Fraser Salish Region of British Columbia |
author_facet |
Stelkia, Krista Beck, Lindsay Manshadi, Anita Jensen Fisk, Ashlyn Adams, Evan Browne, Annette J. Dixon, Corinne McEachern, Diane Ritchie, Wendy McDonald, Shannon Henry, Bonnie Marsden, Namaste Behn-Smith, Daniele Reading, Jeffrey |
author_sort |
Stelkia, Krista |
title |
Letsemot, “Togetherness”: Exploring How Connection to Land, Water, and Territory Influences Health and Wellness with First Nations Knowledge Keepers and Youth in the Fraser Salish Region of British Columbia |
title_short |
Letsemot, “Togetherness”: Exploring How Connection to Land, Water, and Territory Influences Health and Wellness with First Nations Knowledge Keepers and Youth in the Fraser Salish Region of British Columbia |
title_full |
Letsemot, “Togetherness”: Exploring How Connection to Land, Water, and Territory Influences Health and Wellness with First Nations Knowledge Keepers and Youth in the Fraser Salish Region of British Columbia |
title_fullStr |
Letsemot, “Togetherness”: Exploring How Connection to Land, Water, and Territory Influences Health and Wellness with First Nations Knowledge Keepers and Youth in the Fraser Salish Region of British Columbia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Letsemot, “Togetherness”: Exploring How Connection to Land, Water, and Territory Influences Health and Wellness with First Nations Knowledge Keepers and Youth in the Fraser Salish Region of British Columbia |
title_sort |
letsemot, “togetherness”: exploring how connection to land, water, and territory influences health and wellness with first nations knowledge keepers and youth in the fraser salish region of british columbia |
publisher |
Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijih/article/view/33206 https://doi.org/10.32799/ijih.v16i2.33206 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) |
geographic |
Canada British Columbia |
geographic_facet |
Canada British Columbia |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_source |
International Journal of Indigenous Health; Vol 16 No 2 (2021): Wisdom of the Elders: Honouring Spiritual Laws in Indigenous Knowledge 2291-9376 2291-9368 |
op_relation |
https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijih/article/view/33206/27374 https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijih/article/view/33206 doi:10.32799/ijih.v16i2.33206 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2020 Krista Stelkia, Lindsay Beck, Anita Manshadi, Ashlyn Jensen Fisk, Evan Adams, Annette J. Browne, Corinne Dixon, Diane McEachern, Wendy Ritchie, Shannon McDonald, Bonnie Henry, Namaste Marsden, Daniele Behn-Smith, Jeffrey Reading https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.32799/ijih.v16i2.33206 |
container_title |
International Journal of Indigenous Health |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
2 |
_version_ |
1766000459526438912 |