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The First Nations in Manitoba, Canada, are calling for active recognition and incorporation of holistic traditional healing and medicine ways and approaches by the mainstream healthcare system that has hitherto tended to ignore all but biomedical approaches. This request for recognition requires elaboration on areas of opportunity for collaboration that could positively influence both Indigenous and allopathic medicine. We discuss pathways to an integrated healthcare system as community-based primary healthcare transformation. A community-based participatory research approach was used to engage eight Manitoba First Nations communities. One hundred and eighty-three (183) in-depth, semi-structured key informant interviews were completed in all communities. Grounded theory guided data analysis using NVivo 10 software. We learned that increased recognition and incorporation of traditional healing and medical methods would enhance a newly envisioned funded health system. Elders and healers will be meaningfully involved in the delivery of community-based primary health care. Funding for traditional healing and medicines are necessary components of primary health care. An overall respect for Indigenous health knowledge would aid transformation in community-based primary health care. Recognition of and respect for traditional healing, healers, medicines, therapies, and approaches is also recommended as part of addressing the legacy and intergenerational impact of assimilative policies including Indian residential schools as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada has stated in its Calls to Action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural knowledge is currently being revitalized by Indigenous practitioners where land is understood as a relational component of healing and wellbeing. Land-based activities such as harvesting, education, ceremony, recreation, and cultural-based counselling are all components of this integrative practice. Land-based practices are centered in Indigenous pedagogy and recognize that identity is interwoven with and deeply connected to land. Formally cultivating this fundamental relationship increases positive mental health and wellness outcomes in Indigenous populations as assessed through a culturally relevant lens. This research paper articulates a cultural concept described here as "land-based" healing or wellness which has been understood and taught for millennia by Indigenous knowledge holders and has largely remained undefined within mainstream mental health promotion and intervention. In this study, qualitative narrative methods were used to document the experiences of eleven land-based program practitioners from three northern territories in Canada. As experts in this field, practitioners' narratives emphasized the need for a greater understanding and recognition of the value of land-based practices and programs within contemporary health and education systems. The development of working definitions, terminology, and framing of land-based healing and wellness practices as a common field is delineated from relevant literature and practitioner narratives in order to enable crosscultural communication and understanding in psychology. Land-based healing is presented as a critical and culturally appropriate method for mental health intervention and community resilience in northern Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This project used a sequential exploratory design to learn about what Canadian Indigenous people found helpful for dealing with the impacts of sexual abuse and sexual violence, as well as facilitators and barriers to service use. Participants resided in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada and identified primarily as Ojibway, Oji-Cree, Cree, and Métis. Talking Circles and individual interviews were integrated with quantitative survey data. The Medicine Wheel was used to organize and describe findings. Spiritual practices included meeting with Elders, attending ceremonies, being outside, teachings, Healing Circles, and using Traditional Healers and Traditional Medicines. Emotional practices included connection, listening and being listened to, validation, cultural connections, self-reflection, belonging, and help with grieving. Physical practices included fasting, having a safe place to go, and sobriety, while mental practices included learning and understanding, non-judgement, learning coping skills, and being persistent. Findings reinforce that supports for sexual abuse/violence must be conceptualized beyond formal supports and be inclusive of the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical practices used by Indigenous peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wisdom of indigenous peoples is manifest in ways of knowing, seeing, and thinking that are passed down orally from generation to generation. This article takes the reader on a journey through three distinct ways of knowing, specifically as they relate to healing and health. The authors are a Midewanniquay, or Water Woman, of the Ojibway-Anishinabe people of the upper Midwest in the United States and Canada; a lomilomi healer from Hawaii; and an initiated Priest in the Yoruba tradition of West Africa. The philosophies of all three cultures emphasize the importance of spirituality to health and wellbeing (or healing process), but each has unique ways in which it nurtures relationship with the Creator, the earth, and humankind through sacred rituals and healing practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Native Studies is the property of Brandon University, CJNS, Faculty of Arts and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Studies of the efficacy of ‘traditional’ Indigenous healing often fail to consider the epistemologies that underlay specific healing traditions, especially intrinsic notions of efficacy. In this article, I critically engage the concept of efficacy by identifying two somewhat different approaches to the issue of outcome. In ‘transformative’ healing processes, healing is conceptualized as a journey in which the outcome goal is a transformed individual. Efficacy, then, is about incremental changes toward this goal. In ‘restorative’ healing processes, the goal is termination of the sickness and the restoration of health; efficacy is conceptualized as a return to a presickness state. These healing processes are illustrated with examples from the Q'eqchi Maya of Belize and Aboriginal peoples of Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Described, is a strategy session to identify how to integrate the Framework for Cultural Competence and Cultural Safety in Nursing Education (Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada, Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing, Canadian Nurses Association) into a baccalaureate nursing program. Emphasis is placed on engaging a wider community building on faculty and institutional strengths and resources to gather a network of Elders, nurses, students, and faculty. Outlined, is the process to identify potential learning experiences, key resources for implementing the Framework, and developing an advocacy statement to influence School of Nursing (SON) and university level policy regarding commitment to the Framework, its values and principles. Written as a narrative, the information can be shared with other SONs as they move forward with their own work in cultural safety and Aboriginal nursing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Counselling / Revue Canadienne de Counseling is the property of Canadian Counselling & Psychotherapy Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The purpose was to understand the experience of being an Anishinabe man healer. Of particular relevance, healers explained how they provide Indigenous health care in a world dominated by Western biomedicine. Design: A phenornenological approach was utilized to interview four Anishinabe men healers who reside in the United States and Canada. Method: In-person interviews were conducted using an interview guide. The interviews were audiotaped when permitted; otherwise notes were taken. Data analysis was conducted using techniques from Colaizzi and van Manen. Findings: Seven themes were identified: (1) The Healer's Path, (2) Health as Wholeness, (3) Healing Ways, (4) Healing Stories, (5) Culture Interwoven with Healing, (6) Healing Exchange, and (7) Connection with Western Medicine. Conclusions: The themes identified inform nursing practice by pointing out the importance of culture within traditional Indigenous healing, as well as the need for a holistic approach when caring for Indigenous people. Additionally, the Indigenous men healers acknowledged their connection with Western medicine as part of the process of healing for their clients. This emphasizes the need for nurses and other health care providers to become knowledgeable regarding traditional Indigenous healing that their clients may be receiving, in order to foster open communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article highlights a principle that exists across Aboriginal cultures and societies—that we must work with our elders as we envision the future. This can be done by employing two methodologies fundamental to Aboriginal approaches to knowledge translation: listening to elders and drawing on their stories. Based on interviews with seven First Nation, Métis, and Inuit grandmothers from across Canada, this article explores issues related to health research ethics and methodologies by drawing on these elder's stories about the historical role of Aboriginal women in health care and health research. The analysis is grounded in the assumption that, historically, Aboriginal women played a central and critical role in managing health and wellness in their communities, and health research has always been a part of Aboriginal "women's work." In searching for ways to reclaim our leadership roles as Aboriginal women, we must reflect on how the traditional roles, practices, and knowledge systems of our grandmothers can be applied to our current work in health and healing research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's insights on the meaning of Sacred Harp music for the Mennonites in Canada. Topics discussed include the alternative healer created through the singing of the Sacred Harp music, the creation of the larger dough by the Mennonite literature, and the cultural transition in her family and the family of her husband through excommunications.

Discusses the participatory cultural vision of Blackfoot people or Niitsitapi, a group of indigenous people that reside in Alberta. Primary source of knowledge for Blackfoot people; Role of Kaaahsinnooniksi healers in teaching younger people; Principles that encompass the epistemologies of Niitsitapi.

The article reports on the call for physicians to collaborate with traditional healers and to respect their practices in Canada as of March 2015. Topics discussed include the move of Ontario doctors to legally compel cancer treatment for a Mohawk girl with leukemia, the right of the girl's substitute decision-maker to practice traditional medicine, and the increasing view that a blend of treatments is possible. Also mentioned is the need to acknowledge the patient's contribution to healing.