"We are the Land": Researching Environmental Repossession with Anishinaabe Elders
Research shows that Indigenous connection to land carries important health benefits. Amongst Anishinaabe peoples, the land is the foundation for Indigenous Knowledge and central to physical, spiritual, mental and emotional health. Today, many of the most pressing health inequities experienced by Ind...
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
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Scholarship@Western
2015
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| Online Access: | https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/2784 https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/context/etd/article/4328/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf |
| Summary: | Research shows that Indigenous connection to land carries important health benefits. Amongst Anishinaabe peoples, the land is the foundation for Indigenous Knowledge and central to physical, spiritual, mental and emotional health. Today, many of the most pressing health inequities experienced by Indigenous peoples are shaped by historic and on-going processes of environmental dispossession. This dissertation was framed by a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach conducted in collaboration with two Anishinaabe communities on Lake Superior (Ontario, Canada), the greater goal being to develop strategies of environmental repossession. Developed around three manuscripts, this thesis addressed four objectives: 1) to examine the strengths and challenges of applying CBPR within the context of Indigenous health research; 2) to identify the impacts of both historical and on-going experiences of environmental dispossession upon community health; 3) to explore Elders' approaches for resisting environmental dispossession and maintaining their connections with traditional lands; 4) to apply an integrated knowledge translation methodology towards developing strategies for environmental repossession. Informed by in-depth interviews with Elders (n=46), this thesis opens with a methodological chapter that reviews how CBPR approaches applied in the context of Indigenous health research can be successful when founded upon notions of respect and reciprocity. Drawing from the Elders' narratives, the following two empirical chapters further reveal that Elders' access to their traditional lands and Indigenous Knowledge base have been negatively impacted by various processes of environmental dispossession, including Residential Schools and environmental contamination. Elders' strategies for resisting these negative impacts and maintaining strong connections with their traditional lands and resources include the development of cultural camps and the planting of community gardens. In focus groups and talking circle ... |
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