Traditional Aboriginal healing practices: An ethnographic approach
This thesis explores traditional Aboriginal healing practices as they relate to health issues by asking the research question "How do urban-based First Nations peoples use healing traditions to address their health issues?" The purpose of this thesis was to explore the healing traditions o...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Ottawa (Canada)
2004
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10393/26662 https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-18303 |
| Summary: | This thesis explores traditional Aboriginal healing practices as they relate to health issues by asking the research question "How do urban-based First Nations peoples use healing traditions to address their health issues?" The purpose of this thesis was to explore the healing traditions of urban-based First Nations peoples. The objectives were to describe the use of Aboriginal healing traditions, discuss how these traditions addressed health issues, and explore the link between such traditions and holism in nursing practice. Critical ethnography was the qualitative research method used for this thesis. Data collection consisted of eight individual interviews, participant observations over a period of four months, and field notes. The three major categories that emerged from the data analysis were (a) the following of a cultural path, (b) the gaining of balance, and (c) the circle of life. The theme of healing holistically emerged. Healing holistically includes following a cultural path by regaining culture through the use of healing traditions; gaining balance in the four realms of the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical self, and sharing culture between Aboriginal peoples and non-Aboriginal health professionals, as part of the circle of life. Implications for practice include incorporating the concepts of balance, a holistic outlook, and healing and culture into the health care of diverse First Nations groups. Healing holistically is an ongoing process that continues throughout the lifespan. This process can contribute to empowerment for Aboriginal peoples through an enhanced state of health reached by using traditional healing and understood through a critical ethnography approach. |
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