Volume 13, Number 2, 2022

EN:

The 2007 Australian Northern Territory Emergency Response policy was harmful to the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We thematically analysed 72 speech acts and reports from the three prominent perspectives: a Northern Territory government inquiry report, the Federal government, and an Aboriginal civil society coalition to examine how framings during the policy agenda setting phase constrained or supported scope for equitable health outcomes. The report authors and the coalition emphasised colonisation and other social determinants of Indigenous health. The Federal government used a discourse of pathology and white sovereignty. Our findings highlighted the need for Indigenous voice in policy making, and the need to address colonial assumptions underpinning policy framings to achieve Indigenous health equity.

EN:

Indigenous youth are key partners in improving our understanding of holistic health and identifying solutions to address health-related issues. The Urban Gardens Project was a community-based research partnership involving Indigenous youth co-researchers, Brandon University, Indigenous Knowledge Users, Elders, and Indigenous organizations in Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba. Using the Medicine Wheel as an analytic framework, the study identified key indicators of spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing that Indigenous youth attributed to gardening. Findings illuminate the need for policies to foster Indigenous youth engagement, leadership, and urban gardening programs that advance Indigenous cultural practices to contribute to Indigenous health and wellbeing. The research was funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR).

EN:

British Columbia’s Community Benefits Agreement that aims to provide jobs in the construction trades for underrepresented groups serves as a case to explore the successes and barriers to distributing the benefits of urban development to Indigenous groups towards the goal of economic justice. Through a content analysis of stakeholder interviews and documents about the agreement, we found that, while there is optimism that the CBA may help advance public discourse on economic justice for Indigenous Peoples, there are significant barriers that have gone unaddressed in this and other labor agreements due to a lack of community engagement. These include lack of transportation, continued marginalization of Indigenous workers into unskilled labor, and the reinforcement of dependence on non-Indigenous economies.

EN:

The opioid crisis is disproportionately impacting Indigenous communities in Canada. There is a need to evaluate practical approaches to recovery that include community-based opioid agonist treatment (OAT) and integration of cultural treatment models. Naandwe Miikan, translated as The Healing Path, is an OAT program that blends clinical and Indigenous healing concepts and providers in a community-based setting. Aside from OAT pharmaceutical treatment, clients work with Indigenous counsellors that integrate culture with treatment, such as land-based activities, that reconnect the community to Indigenous teachings and harvesting. In this paper, we present a case study showcasing community advocacy in creating innovative funding models and engaging with clinicians to provide a shared care OAT model with traditional Indigenous counselling, cultural programs, and data sovereignty. Policy needs are identified.