Postcolonial healing landscapes and mental health in a remote Indigenous community in subarctic Ontario, Canada
The concept of therapeutic landscape is concerned with a holistic, socio-ecological model of health, but most studies have attempted to explore land-health links from a Western perspective. On an Indigenous reserve in Northern Ontario, part of the Canadian subarctic, we explore the importance of spa...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10045/53606 https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2016.1155673 |
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ftunivalicante:oai:rua.ua.es:10045/53606 2023-05-15T16:16:48+02:00 Postcolonial healing landscapes and mental health in a remote Indigenous community in subarctic Ontario, Canada Marquina Márquez, Alfonso Vírchez, Jorge Ruiz-Callado, Raúl Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Sociología I Población, Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (POMADE) Observatorio Sociológico de la Educación (OBSOEDU) 2016-03-04 http://hdl.handle.net/10045/53606 https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2016.1155673 eng eng Taylor & Francis http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2016.1155673 Polar Geography. 2016. doi:10.1080/1088937X.2016.1155673 1088-937X (Print) 1939-0513 (Online) http://hdl.handle.net/10045/53606 doi:10.1080/1088937X.2016.1155673 © 2016 Taylor & Francis info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Mental health Indigenous identity Self Therapeutic lanscape Canadian subartic Sociología info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2016 ftunivalicante https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2016.1155673 2020-06-05T13:10:49Z The concept of therapeutic landscape is concerned with a holistic, socio-ecological model of health, but most studies have attempted to explore land-health links from a Western perspective. On an Indigenous reserve in Northern Ontario, part of the Canadian subarctic, we explore the importance of spaces and places in creating postcolonial therapeutic landscapes to treat the wounds inflicted by colonialism. The aim of this research is to gain insight from views and experiences of First Nations residents living on reservations that are undergoing a process of regaining traditional spiritual beliefs and teachings to construct therapeutic spaces to face mental health problems caused by legal opioid analgesic abuse. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with Cree and Ojibwe participants to understand how they are reconnecting with earth, spirituality and traditional animist beliefs on their way to recovery. We find that practices such as taking part in ceremonies and ritual spaces, and seeking knowledge and advice from Elders assist with personal healing and enable Indigenous people to be physically and mentally healthy. Our research findings provide important insights into the relationship between space, healing and culture as determinants of health and well-being and document some key factors that contribute to substance abuse recovery. This work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science (Spain) [I + D+i SEJ2005-09344/SOCI]; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada) [I + D+i CURA/NORTHERN]. Article in Journal/Newspaper First Nations Polar Geography Subarctic RUA - Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Alicante Canada Polar Geography 39 1 20 39 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
RUA - Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Alicante |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalicante |
language |
English |
topic |
Mental health Indigenous identity Self Therapeutic lanscape Canadian subartic Sociología |
spellingShingle |
Mental health Indigenous identity Self Therapeutic lanscape Canadian subartic Sociología Marquina Márquez, Alfonso Vírchez, Jorge Ruiz-Callado, Raúl Postcolonial healing landscapes and mental health in a remote Indigenous community in subarctic Ontario, Canada |
topic_facet |
Mental health Indigenous identity Self Therapeutic lanscape Canadian subartic Sociología |
description |
The concept of therapeutic landscape is concerned with a holistic, socio-ecological model of health, but most studies have attempted to explore land-health links from a Western perspective. On an Indigenous reserve in Northern Ontario, part of the Canadian subarctic, we explore the importance of spaces and places in creating postcolonial therapeutic landscapes to treat the wounds inflicted by colonialism. The aim of this research is to gain insight from views and experiences of First Nations residents living on reservations that are undergoing a process of regaining traditional spiritual beliefs and teachings to construct therapeutic spaces to face mental health problems caused by legal opioid analgesic abuse. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with Cree and Ojibwe participants to understand how they are reconnecting with earth, spirituality and traditional animist beliefs on their way to recovery. We find that practices such as taking part in ceremonies and ritual spaces, and seeking knowledge and advice from Elders assist with personal healing and enable Indigenous people to be physically and mentally healthy. Our research findings provide important insights into the relationship between space, healing and culture as determinants of health and well-being and document some key factors that contribute to substance abuse recovery. This work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science (Spain) [I + D+i SEJ2005-09344/SOCI]; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada) [I + D+i CURA/NORTHERN]. |
author2 |
Universidad de Alicante. Departamento de Sociología I Población, Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo (POMADE) Observatorio Sociológico de la Educación (OBSOEDU) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Marquina Márquez, Alfonso Vírchez, Jorge Ruiz-Callado, Raúl |
author_facet |
Marquina Márquez, Alfonso Vírchez, Jorge Ruiz-Callado, Raúl |
author_sort |
Marquina Márquez, Alfonso |
title |
Postcolonial healing landscapes and mental health in a remote Indigenous community in subarctic Ontario, Canada |
title_short |
Postcolonial healing landscapes and mental health in a remote Indigenous community in subarctic Ontario, Canada |
title_full |
Postcolonial healing landscapes and mental health in a remote Indigenous community in subarctic Ontario, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Postcolonial healing landscapes and mental health in a remote Indigenous community in subarctic Ontario, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Postcolonial healing landscapes and mental health in a remote Indigenous community in subarctic Ontario, Canada |
title_sort |
postcolonial healing landscapes and mental health in a remote indigenous community in subarctic ontario, canada |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10045/53606 https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2016.1155673 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
First Nations Polar Geography Subarctic |
genre_facet |
First Nations Polar Geography Subarctic |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2016.1155673 Polar Geography. 2016. doi:10.1080/1088937X.2016.1155673 1088-937X (Print) 1939-0513 (Online) http://hdl.handle.net/10045/53606 doi:10.1080/1088937X.2016.1155673 |
op_rights |
© 2016 Taylor & Francis info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/1088937X.2016.1155673 |
container_title |
Polar Geography |
container_volume |
39 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
20 |
op_container_end_page |
39 |
_version_ |
1766002662240681984 |