Moving Aboriginal Health Forward

There is a clear connection between the health of individuals and the legal regime under which they live, particularly Aboriginal peoples. From the early ban on traditional practices to the constitutional division of powers (including who is responsible for off-reserve Indians under the Constitution), this is an historical examination of Canadian legal regimes and the impact they have had on the health of Aboriginal peoples. With an emphasis on the social determinants of health, Boyer outlines how commitments made regarding Aboriginal rights through treaties and Supreme Court of Canada rulings can be used to advance the health of Aboriginal peoples.

"Volume IV begins with a look at health and health care followed by issues and governance, and concludes with an examination of housing and homelessness"--Page 4 of cover, Volume IV.

Now in its second edition, Determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ Health adds current issues in environmental politics to the groundbreaking materials from the first edition. The text is a vibrant compilation of scholarly papers by research experts in the field, reflective essays by Indigenous leaders, and poetry that functions as a creative outlet for healing. This timely edited collection addresses the knowledge gap of the health inequalities unique to Indigenous peoples as a result of geography, colonialism, economy, and biology. In this revised edition, new pieces explore the relationship between Indigenous bodies and the land on which they reside, the impact of resource extraction on landscapes and livelihoods, and death and the complexities of intergenerational family relationships. This volume also offers an updated structure and a foreword by Dr. Evan Adams, Chief Medical Officer of the First Nations Health Authority. This is a vital resource for students in the disciplines of health studies, Indigenous studies, public and population health, community health sciences, medicine, nursing, and social work who want to broaden their understanding of the social determinants of health. Ultimately, this is a hopeful text that aspires to a future in which Indigenous peoples no longer embody health inequality.

The research and policy discussions included in Aboriginal Policy Research, Volume VII, offer a portion of the original papers presented at the third Aboriginal Policy Research Conference held in Ottawa in 2009. Co-chaired by Dan Beavon of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Jerry White of the University of Western Ontario, and Peter Dinsdale of the National Association of Friendship Centres, this APRC, like those before it, brought researchers, policy-makers, and the Aboriginal community together to make connections, hear about leading research, and learn together. Volume VII begins with a look at historic treaties and modern meaning and concludes with an examination of how history has influenced policy in Canada today. Book jacket.

"Sharing the Land, Sharing a Future" looks to both the past and the future as it examines the foundational work of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) and the legacy of its 1996 report. It assesses the Commission’s influence on subsequent milestones in Indigenous-Canada relations and considers our prospects for a constructive future. RCAP’s five-year examination of the relationships of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples to Canada and to non-Indigenous Canadians resulted in a new vision for Canada and provided 440 specific recommendations, many of which informed the subsequent work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC). Considered too radical and difficult to implement, RCAP’s recommendations were largely ignored, but the TRC reiterates that longstanding inequalities and imbalances in Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples remain and quite literally calls us to action. With reflections on RCAP’s legacy by its co-chairs, leaders of national Indigenous organizations and the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, and leading academics and activists, this collection refocuses our attention on the groundbreaking work already performed by RCAP. Organized thematically, it explores avenues by which we may establish a new relationship, build healthy and powerful communities, engage citizens, and move to action.

Drawing attention to the ways in which creative practices are essential to the health, well-being, and healing of Indigenous peoples, The Arts of Indigenous Health and Well-Being addresses the effects of artistic endeavour on the “good life”, or mino-pimatisiwin in Cree, which can be described as the balanced interconnection of physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental well-being. In this interdisciplinary collection, Indigenous knowledges inform an approach to health as a wider set of relations that are central to well-being, wherein artistic expression furthers cultural continuity and resilience, community connection, and kinship to push back against forces of fracture and disruption imposed by colonialism. The need for healing—not only individuals but health systems and practices—is clear, especially as the trauma of colonialism is continually revealed and perpetuated within health systems. The field of Indigenous health has recently begun to recognize the fundamental connection between creative expression and well-being. This book brings together scholarship by humanities scholars, social scientists, artists, and those holding experiential knowledge from across Turtle Island to add urgently needed perspectives to this conversation. Contributors embrace a diverse range of research methods, including community-engaged scholarship with Indigenous youth, artists, Elders, and language keepers. The Arts of Indigenous Health and Well-Being demonstrates the healing possibilities of Indigenous works of art, literature, film, and music from a diversity of Indigenous peoples and arts traditions. This book will resonate with health practitioners, community members, and any who recognize the power of art as a window, an entryway to access a healthy and good life.

Bead by Bead examines the parameters that current Indigenous legal doctrines place around Métis rights discourse and moves beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. Contributors to this volume address the historical denial of Métis concerns with respect to land, resources, and governance. Tackling such themes as the invisibility of Métis women in court decisions, identity politics, and racist legal principles, they uncover the troubling issues that plague Métis aspirations for a just future. By revealing the diversity of Métis identities and lived reality, this critical analysis opens new pathways to respectful, inclusive Métis-Canadian constitutional relationships.

Presents a National Aboriginal and Mental Health Policy and Plan developed in consultation with Indigenous Australians and relevant groups and organisations; provides information on, and makes recommendations about priority actions relating to the mental health needs and mental health problems of Aboriginal people; mental health services; relationship of mental health and well-being to physical health.