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This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of three anthropological approaches (interpretive, experiential and explanatory) to requests for intercession in religions and healing rituals. First, an exploration of how Native North Americans have assimilated Roman Catholicism shows how in that process they have constituted Kateri Tekakwitha as the one who heals her devotees. Second, a discussion of the work of those who advocate an experiential approach to the study of rituals illustrates how they come to understand healing powers as they are initiated in religious healing traditions. Finally, the article examines the argument that in response to the cosmic indifference to their existential condition, humans create religious traditions and healing rituals to better confront uncertainty, suffering and death. Throughout the article these three approaches are discussed in the light of the concepts of ‘dispositif' (Foucault and Deleusze) and cognitive dissonance (Fetsinger).

One of the earliest attempts to Indigenize the Canadian curriculum began with Cultural Survival Schools (CSS). This grassroots approach to Indigenous education emerged in Canada in the mid 1970’s. These schools were established in recognition that education is key to the survival of First Nations people. The CSS approach to education involved reaffirming Indigenous identity by selecting aspects of the traditional Indigenous ways and blending them with nonIndigenous ways of knowing and being. Despite various efforts to meet the learning needs of Indigenous youth over the years, significant problems are still present. In the wake of the report released by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in 2015, the concept of cultural safety has become a major focus of the institutional justice and oppression conversation when considering K-12 education for Indigenous learners in Canada. As placing “culture” at the forefront of the education experience was the primary goal of CSS, and thus focusing on “cultural safety”, perhaps it is time to look back at past practices and re-implement these educational approaches. This study offered an opportunity to ask alumni who had attended a CSS to reflect on, and speak more formally of, their experiences in mainstream schools and a CSS, 30 to 40 years after they graduated. The findings of this study support the results from research conducted around the world. However, what is notable about this study is that the participants were able to share how the positive experiences of attending a CSS persisted over time.

Keywords: Indigenous student experience, racism, Hermeneutic Phenomenology, culturally responsive schooling and education

Objectives This article aims to synthesize the critical stages in the development of early detection and intervention services (EIS) for psychosis over the past 30 years, and to review key literature on the essential components and effectiveness of these programs.Method We conducted a narrative review of the literature on the international development of EIS leading to its endorsement as a service delivery model for young people with first-episode psychosis (FEP). We also reviewed various international and Canadian guidelines to identify consensus about the essential components of EIS for psychosis and their effectiveness. Challenges to the implementation of these different essential components are presented, along with practical solutions to addressing them. A particular emphasis is placed on implementing EIS in the Quebec context.Results Based on a model developed in the early 1990s, EIS for psychosis have now been disseminated worldwide and are deployed on a large scale in some regions, such as the United Kingdom and Quebec. The model's gradual expansion has been facilitated by efforts to identify its main objectives and the components essential to achieve them, and by several studies demonstrating its effectiveness.Along with an important philosophical shift to optimism and hope, EIS have typically focused on the twin aims of reducing treatment delay (or the duration of untreated psychosis) and enhancing engagement in specialized, phase-specific, developmentally appropriate treatment. A meta-analysis (published in 2018) demonstrated the superiority of EIS for psychosis compared to standard treatment on several outcomes including hospitalizations, relapse of symptoms, treatment discontinuation, and vocational and social functioning. Based on these studies and expert consensus, many jurisdictions around the world have developed guidelines to ensure compliance with essential components that are associated with the effectiveness of EIS, while accounting for their contextual realities. The components that have been prioritized include outreach to enable early identification and referral; rapid access to care and youth-friendly services; a range of biopsychosocial interventions (pharmacotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoeducation, family interventions, integrated substance use interventions, employment and educational support); a shared-decision making approach; and the intensive case management approach adapted to FEP, which are all delivered by an interdisciplinary team. There is also increasing acknowledgement of the value of continuous evaluation that informs treatment decision-making and quality improvement. Conclusion EIS for psychosis have developed gradually and research has demonstrated its effectiveness. Disseminating the model in ways that ensure fidelity to its core values and the implementation of its essential components is needed to ensure effectiveness; and instill hope for recovery and improve the quality of lives of young people with psychosis and their families.

Keywords: intervention précoce, détection précoce, premier épisode psychotique, composantes essentielles, implantation de programme, early intervention, early detection, first-episode psychosis, essential components, program implementation

In Togo, the setting on fire of vegetation is a very common ancestral practice in farming. Beyond certain norms, the useful aspect of bush fire is superseded by its devastative effect on the ecosystems and environment. One of these effects is the fire influences on the vegetable biomass production and diversity. In front of forest fires occurrence enhancing, due to climate irregularity and human pressure on forest ecosystems, it becomes urgent to analyze the impact of fires on vegetable biomass. This study aims to assess the impacts of the iterative fires on herbaceous biomass production and diversity. To reach the goal, the demarcation of plots is based on the distribution of active fires and burned surface data and the ground measuring test. The studies took place in the savanna of protected areas. Plant layer studied is the aboveground herbaceous biomass more exposed to surface fires. It has got that main biomass is lower on the burned plots (1,034.6±249.6 g/m²) than burned plots (1,078.3±275.4 g/m²). The iterative fires lead to a main loss of production of 43.7±26.2 g/m². This loss is higher in guinean zone than sudanian's. The total loss of herbaceous plant biomass is about 16,015±9,627.3 tons/year, equivalent to 8,007.6±4,750.5 tons of carbon rejected. Poaceae grasses, relatively more fire-resistant, prevail on the burned plots to the detriment of other herbaceous families. Indeed, in order to mitigate the rejection of household gas, to promote sustainable biodiversity management and to feel biomass needs, better comprehension of fires impacts on the dynamic of ecosystems becomes very crucial in country development planning.

Keywords: feu actif, zone brulée, biomasse, savane, aire protégée, Togo, active fire, burned plot, biomass, savanna, protected areas, Togo

This paper compares the responses of city officials in Montreal, New York, and Philadelphia to the cholera epidemic of 1832. In the absence of a medical consensus on the cause or contagious nature of the disease, physicians recommended a variety of preventive/protective measures ranging from quarantine to isolation hospitals to city sanitation. Significantly, prejudices toward immigrants, the working class, and particular ethnic groups influenced the city leaders' response to the epidemic as much as the opinion of medical experts. Of the three cities, Philadelphia experienced the lowest death rate during the epidemic—a success that contemporaries attributed to the city's hygienic/sanitation program but was due to the clean supply of drinking water from the city's state-of-the-art waterworks.

This article analyzes the changes which have occurred in land occupation and vegetation cover over the past few decades in a number of villages scattered along the bioclimatic gradient in the South-West of Niger, from the Tillabéry-Filingué line in the North to Gaya (on the Niger-Benin border) in the South. Diachronic analyses were performed based on satellite photographs (CORONA March and October 1965) or aerial photographs (IGN mission in March 1975) which were compared to current Google Earth photographs. These analyses were then confronted to interviews conducted in the various villages as well as to surveys of the state of the vegetation. If researchers emphasize the resumption of rainfall since the mid-1990s, they also show that the South-West of Niger paradoxically presents an increased socio-environmental vulnerability. It seems possible to generalize this observation at the scale of the two regions. However, the research undertaken here leads to a more nuanced conclusion : when data are disaggregated, the situation looks very diversified, revealing, independently from the bioclimatic gradient and from the meridian differentiation linked with the fossile valleys (dallols), situations where the vulnerability of both populations and ecosystems appears more or less pronounced.

Keywords: Sahel, Niger, gradient bioclimatique, changements, socio-environnementaux, dynamique, paysage, occupation, sol, couvert végétal, Sahel, Niger, bioclimatic gradient, socio-environmental, changes, landscape, dynamics, land cover, vegetation cover