Decolonizing bodies: a First Nations perspective on the determinants of urban indigenous health and wellness in Canada

• Main Author: Quinless, Jacqueline
• Other Authors: Baer, Douglas Edward
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: First Nations; self-determination; reconciliation; decolonization; participatory action research; social determinants; well-being; social capital; urban indigenous; Canada
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1828/8000

Through a research partnership with the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) and using mixed methods participatory action research this Dissertation critically engages with dominant Western-based knowledge systems of well-being from a decolonizing standpoint to better understand the determinants of Indigenous health and well-being. This study specifically asks: what are the main factors effecting different dimensions of well-being for Indigenous peoples living in urban centres, how does engaging in traditional land-based activities and cultural ways of life affect well-being, and to what extent does intergenerational trauma impact well-being? Thirteen key informant interviews were conducted with FNHA members involved in the development of the First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness (FNPOW) to garner knowledge about the thoughts, feelings, belief systems, values, and knowledge frameworks that are embedded in this perspective. A multi-level statistical model was developed informed by the First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness, the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Survey and 2011 National Household Survey, to produce health and wellness outcomes. Using a strength-based approach to well-being this study shows that the FNPOW advocates self-determination, and implementing the perspective in research work offers a pathway to generating measures of health and wellness rooted in Traditional knowledge systems, and a pathway to decolonizing bodies. These outcomes are a form of social capital reflective of Indigenous values that can be utilized as a resource to strengthen community capacity to support Indigenous self-determination. Graduate