Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Sixties Scoop Among Aboriginal Veterans: A Critical Narrative Study, Munira Abdulwasi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study explored the experience of Aboriginal Veterans adopted and/or fostered during the Sixties Scoop using critical narrative inquiry. The objectives were to: 1) understand the lived experience of Aboriginal veterans adopted and/or fostered during the Sixties Scoop, 2) explore any health needs expressed by Aboriginal veterans adopted and/or fostered during the Sixties Scoop, and 3) provide recommendations for the implementation of health services and programs to assist this group of Aboriginal veterans with their health needs. Eight individual interviews were conducted with participants in Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using …

The Canadian Truth And Reconciliation Commission: Healing, Reconciliation, Resolution?, Jessica K. Howsam

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis assesses the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which was created to redress the legacy of the Indian Residential Schools system. Using discourse analysis, it examines the commission’s success in promoting holistic healing within Aboriginal communities and reconciliation as decolonization of settler society and government. This thesis argues that the TRC promoted individual, communal, and cultural healing despite government rhetoric supporting premature termination of healing processes. Although it remains too soon to evaluate the Canadian TRC’s effect on decolonization, this thesis contends that the commission has not yet advanced reconciliation. As of the publication of this thesis in …

"We Are The Land": Researching Environmental Repossession With Anishinaabe Elders, Joshua K. Tobias

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Research shows that Indigenous connection to land carries important health benefits. Amongst Anishinaabe peoples, the land is the foundation for Indigenous Knowledge and central to physical, spiritual, mental and emotional health. Today, many of the most pressing health inequities experienced by Indigenous peoples are shaped by historic and on-going processes of environmental dispossession. This dissertation was framed by a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach conducted in collaboration with two Anishinaabe communities on Lake Superior (Ontario, Canada), the greater goal being to develop strategies of environmental repossession. Developed around three manuscripts, this thesis addressed four objectives:

1) to examine the strengths …

Emotional And Spiritual Challenges Of Aboriginal Foster Parents, Richelle L. Bird

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of the study was to identify the emotional and spiritual challenges faced by Aboriginal foster parents. Interviews were conducted with a total of 83 Aboriginal foster parents in a central Canadian province. The interviews were conducted over the phone and participants were asked two questions: “What are the emotional challenges that would cause you to consider quitting fostering?” and “What are the spiritual challenges that would cause you to consider quitting fostering?” Responses to the questions were sorted by participants and analyzed using multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Seven concepts emerged in response to the first question including: …

Selected Cases On The Continuum Of First Nations Learning, Julie Peters

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Each of the articles in this dissertation addresses a policy or theoretical issue at a different point on the learning continuum. Chapter 2, First Nations Early Learning and Child Care in Canada, examines federal policy specific to First Nations early learning and child care (ELCC). This article contributes to our understanding of ELCC by examining the historical role and relationship of the federal government in the financing and delivery of ELCC, outlining the current state of federal early learning policy related to First Nations, and presenting national data on First Nations ELCC to assess how it can inform policy …

Aboriginal Postsecondary Education In Canada And The Standing Committee On Aboriginal Affairs And Northern Development: A Critical Policy Analysis, Summer Thorp

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This critical policy analysis of the texts of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development’s inquiry into the state of Aboriginal postsecondary education in Canada in 2006 examines the positions taken by witnesses with respect to the context of the policy discussion and the definition of the policy problem. The analysis also examines the policy positions taken by the Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development in its summative report, No Higher Priority, and in the Harper government’s response to the Committee’s report. The results of the analysis indicate that the minority Harper government applied its own …

Risk Factors For Diabetes Mellitus: A Comparative Analysis Of Subpopulation Differences In A Large Canadian Sample, Michael James Taylor

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Objectives: Certain Canadian subpopulations observe numerous modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors for diabetes. This study compares immigrants and Aboriginals (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) with Canada-born individuals at higher risks for diabetes, and deciphers the determinant differences between them.

Methods: Pooled Canadian Community Health Survey data (2001-2010) were used. Time trends for diabetes within each subsample were calculated using individual survey year prevalence rates; diabetes diagnoses were self-reported (N=33,565). Various risk factors were also examined using logistic regression.

Results: Diabetes prevalence rates significantly increased from 2001 to 2010 for each subpopulation, as well as the total sample: Canada-Born individuals (3.9% …

Cultural Connectedness As Personal Wellness In First Nations Youth, Ben Davis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Adolescent development involves changes in self-concept and identification with different groups or cultural norms. Many First Nations adolescents have additional difficulties due to disconnections with family, schooling and cultural background, as a legacy of colonisation and social marginalisation. The present study used data from the First Nations Regional Longitudinal Health Survey, Youth, Phase 2 to test the hypothesis that connectedness to social and cultural factors would predict lower rates of reported depression in First Nations youth, using a logistic regression analysis. The findings indicated that connectedness to family and school, as well as having a sense of control over one's …

Social Determinants Of Mental Health And Well-Being Among Aboriginal Peoples In Canada, Susan Wingert

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The articles in this volume address the question: How do social determinants structure the health and well-being of the Aboriginal population in Canada? The first article uses bivariate statistical tests to assess whether First Nations residents’ subjective assessments of personal and community well-being correspond to scores from the Community Well-Being (CWB) Index, which is a measure of socioeconomic conditions in the community. The second article uses path analysis to test the extent to which the stress process model explains the social distribution of psychological distress and well-being in the off-reserve Aboriginal population. Specifically, it investigates whether stress, mastery, and social …