Digital Commons Network^™

An Anishinaabe Tradition: Anishinaabe Constitutions In Ontario, Leaelle N. Derynck

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Constitutionalism is an Anishinaabe legal tradition. This thesis explores modern Anishinaabe constitutions in Ontario, as they connect to traditional constitutionalism while meeting the unique governing needs of contemporary Anishinaabe First Nations communities. I address the scholarly and legal context in which these constitutional documents have been produced and shed an empirical light on these understudied legal instruments. Two questions shape this thesis: 1) what are the defining characteristics of Anishinaabe constitutions in Ontario; and, 2) what is their function within Anishinaabe communities? To answer these questions, I review both ratified and draft Anishinaabe constitutional documents of member communities of the …

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: …

Transitioning To Motherhood After Trauma: Interacting With The Healthcare System, Karen E. Haines

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Little is known about the interactions with the healthcare system among women with past interpersonal trauma accessing maternal health care. The purpose of this study was to critically examine the experiences of women with past interpersonal trauma as they interacted with the healthcare system during the transition to motherhood. A critical feminist perspective informed by Relational-Cultural Theory was used to guide this secondary analysis of 29 interview transcripts from: (a) Aboriginal women, (b) refugees, and (c) survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Four themes emerged: 1. Birthing a healthy baby: the common relational thread; 2. Receiving physical care over the emotional …

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% …

The Impact Of Action Schools! Bc On The Health Of Aboriginal Children And Youth Living In Rural And Remote Communities In British Columbia, Dona Tomlin, P. J. Naylor, Heather Mckay, Alexandra Zorzi, Marc Mitchell, Constadina Panagiotopoulos

Paediatrics Publications

Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the short-term impact of a 7-month whole-school physical activity and healthy eating intervention (Action Schools! BC) over the 2007-2008 school year for children and youth in 3 remote First Nations villages in northwestern British Columbia. Study design: A pre-experimental pre/post design was conducted with 148 children and youth (77 males, 71 females; age 12.5±2.2 yrs). Methods: We evaluated changes in obesity (body mass index [wt/ht 2] and waist circumference z-scores: zBMI and zWC), aerobic fitness (20-m shuttle run), physical activity (PA; physical activity questionnaire and accelerometry), healthy eating (dietary recall) and …

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 …

Socioeconomic Disparities In Physical Health Among Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Children In Western Australia, Carrington C.J. Sheperd, Jianghong Li, Stephen R. Zubrick

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Objective. Few empirical studies have specifically examined the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and health in Indigenous populations of Australia. We sought to provide insights into the nature of this relationship by examining socio-economic disparities in physical health outcomes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Western Australia.

Design. We used a diverse set of health and SES indicators from a representative survey conducted in 2000􏰣2002 on the health and development of 5289 Indigenous children aged 0􏰣17 years in Western Australia. Analysis was conducted using multivariate logistic regression within a multilevel framework. Results. After controlling for age and sex, …

Access To General Practitioner Services Amongst Underserved Australians: A Microsimulation Study, Deborah J. Schofield, Rupendra N. Shrestha, Emily J. Callander

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Background: One group often identified as having low socioeconomic status, those living in remote or rural areas, are often recognised as bearing an unequal burden of illness in society. This paper aims to examine equity of utilisation of general practitioner services in Australia.

Methods: Using the 2005 National Health Survey undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a microsimulation model was developed to determine the distribution of GP services that would occur if all Australians had equal utilisation of health services relative to need.

Results: It was estimated that those who are unemployed would experience a 19% increase in GP …

‘Caring For Country’: A Review Of Aboriginal Engagement In Environmental Management In New South Wales, J. Hunt

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

This article discusses some emerging models of Indigenous engagement in environmental management in New South Wales and urges expansion of such engagement. NSW Aboriginal people own only around one per cent of the state’s land, which suggests that land ownership and rights-based approaches to Aboriginal participation in environmental management are insufficient in NSW. Alternative approaches that recognise Aboriginal responsibilities to ‘care for country’ are needed. This article reviews opportunities for Aboriginal people to be involved in environmental and natural resource management activities, noting some of the constraints. It suggests some ways to extend such Aboriginal engagement, emphasising both employment creation …

Empowering Indigenous Peoples’ Biocultural Diversity Through World Heritage Cultural Landscapes: A Case Study From The Australian Humid Tropical Forests, Rosemary Hill, Leanne C. Cullen-Unsworth, Leah D. Talbot, Susan Mcintyre-Tamwoy

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Australian humid tropical forests have been recognised as globally significant natural landscapes through world heritage listing since 1988. Aboriginal people have occupied these forests and shaped the biodiversity for at least 8000 years. The Wet Tropics Regional Agreement in 2005 committed governments and the region’s Rainforest Aboriginal peoples to work together for recognition of the Aboriginal cultural heritage associated with these forests. The resultant heritage nomination process empowered community efforts to reverse the loss of biocultural diversity. The conditions that enabled this empowerment included: Rainforest Aboriginal peoples’ governance of the process; their shaping of the heritage discourse to incorporate biocultural …

Indigenous Studies In All Schools, Grace Sarra

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Cherbourg State School is approximately 300 km northwest of Brisbane. It is situated in an Aboriginal community at Cherbourg with approximately 250 students. At the Cherbourg State School, the aim was to generate good academic outcomes for all students from kindergarten to Year 7 and to nurture a strong and positive sense of what it means to be Aboriginal in today’s society. In this paper, I will discuss modernism and postmodernism in indigenous studies and how this has impacted on the design and development of the Indigenous Studies Programme at the Cherbourg State School. The programme was designed to provide …

Aboriginal Youth, Hip Hop And The Politics Of Identification, George Morgan, Andrew Warren

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

This paper explores the identity work taking place around contemporary subcultural hip hop amongst Australian indigenous youth in two disadvantaged urban locations. Previous work on Aboriginal hip hop has been attentive to the interface between tradition and modernity. However, existing scholarship has lacked a deeper ethnographic understanding of the dynamics between youth and parent cultures, and the tensions between the two generations. This article is based on research with young hip hop enthusiasts, community activists and educators. It deals with the cultural politics of identification and sees hip hop practice as associated with a process in which Aboriginality is crystallized …

Both Ways Strong: Using Digital Games To Engage Aboriginal Learners, Robyn Jorgensen, Tom Lowrie

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Engaging Aboriginal learners in the school curriculum can be quite a challenge given issues of cultural and linguistic differences. Even more so, these differences can be expanded when the students are in their adolescence. Creating learning environments that engage learners, while providing deep learning opportunities, is one of the biggest challenges for teachers in remote communities. This paper reports on a reform initiative that centred on the use of a digital game, Guitar Heroes, in a remote Aboriginal school. It was found that the digital media provided teachers with opportunities for new learning spaces and resulted in additional unintended learning …

Rethinking The “Best Interests” Of The Child: Voices From Aboriginal Child And Family Welfare Practitioners, Maureen Long, Rene Sephton

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

n Victoria, recent reforms to the child and family welfare system, through the introduction of the Children Youth and Families Act (2005), have significantly strengthened the principle of the ‘‘best interests’’ of the child. Giving substance to the principle, this legislation defines a set of standards and a practice framework to guide its application. How this is to be applied is of particular interest to the Aboriginal child and family welfare sector, given that the principle of best interests has historically underpinned the removal of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families on the basis of …

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 …

A Mi'kmaq First Nation Cosmology: Investigating The Practice Of Contemporary Aboriginal Traditional Medicine In Dialogue With Counselling – Toward An Indigenous Therapeutics, Kisiku Sa'qawei Paq'tism Randolph Bowers

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

This paper explores from a Mi’kmaq and Aboriginal standpoint foundational knowledge in Indigenous therapeutics. Based on an eco-social-psycho-spiritual way of working, the article proposes Indigenous cultural models that open a window to a rich cultural repository of meanings associated with Indigenous cosmology, ontology and epistemology. The three layers of meaning, theory and practice within the symbolic ‘Medicine Lodge’ or ‘Place of The Dreaming’ give rise to ways of working that are deeply integrative and wholistic. These forms of Indigenous theory and practice have much to offer the counselling and complimentary health professions.

Aboriginal Practitioners Speak Out: Contextualising Child Protection Interventions, Dawn Bessarab, Frances Crawford

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

One month before the June 2007 Federal Government Emergency Intervention in the Northern Territory some 55 West Australian Aboriginal child protection workers attended a 3-day summit in Fremantle. Their purpose as front-line practitioners from across the State was to identify how more nurturing and healing communities could be developed and supported in a climate of despair. This paper reports on how the summit was designed and on some of the ideas and concerns that emerged within this dialogical space of cooperative inquiry. The project was a partnership between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal representatives of university, government, and community-service bodies. Aboriginal practitioners …

Hiv Testing Experiences Of Aboriginal Youth In Canada: Service Implications, Catherine Worthington, Randy Jackson, Judy Mill, Tracey Prentice, Ted Myers, Susan Sommerfeldt

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

The objective of this study was to explore HIV testing experiences and service views of Canadian Aboriginal youth in order to provide information for HIV testing services. An exploratory, mixed-method, community-based research design was used for this study. Findings reported here are from 210 survey participants who had experienced an HIV test. Youth were recruited through 11 Aboriginal organizations across Canada, including AIDS service organizations, health centers, community organizations, and friendship centers. Youth who had tested for HIV ranged in age from 15 to 30 years of age (20% were B20), and came from First Nations (75%), Me ́ tis …

Promoting System-Wide Cultural Competence For Serving Aboriginal Families And Children In A Midsized Canadian City, Ruby Ambtman, Suzanne Hudson, Reid Hartry, Dawne Mackay-Chiddenton

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

This article describes the work of the Circle of Courage, a cross– cultural group committed to improving the cultural competence of organizations providing services to Aboriginal populations in a midsized city in Canada. Rather than concentrating on indi- viduals’ cultural competence, the Circle targets mainstream orga- nizations. Many of its activities, therefore, require organizations to examine themselves and make systemic changes. Providing support to Aboriginal staff of mainstream organizations is a significant element of the Circle’s initiatives. After an analysis of cultural proficiency—particularly at the organizational and systemic levels—the history of the Circle, its internal functioning, and its specific activities …

Viewing Violence, Mental Illness And Addiction Through A Wise Practices Lens, Cynthia C. Wesley-Esquimaux, Andrew Snowball

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

The progressive approaches First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities use to address health and wellness concerns are rarely written about or acknowledged in a positive manner. This paper speaks to a concept introduced through the Canadian Aboriginal Aids Network (CAAN) entitled “wise practices”. CAAN saw a wise practices model as more useful and inclusive of Aboriginal community practice and knowledge exchange than the current “best practice” model. In addition, wise practices acknowledge and express the notion of “Changing the Face of Aboriginal Canada”, a metaphor frequently used by the senior author of this paper, as a long overdue vehicle for …

Exposing The Cracks In Aboriginal Education Policy: A Critical Analysis Of Ontario’S Social Studies Curriculum, Jeffery S. Westlake

Digitized Theses

This case study demonstrates through the lenses of critical theory and anticolonialism that Ontario’s compulsory Grades 6-9 Social Studies curriculum is written from a Euro-Canadian standpoint and gives little regard to Aboriginal perspectives. Despite the Ministry of Education’s antiracism and equity policies, the Ontario curriculum is tainted by stereotypes, Eurocentrisms, myths, and omissions. The curriculum is an impediment to the reconciliation that must occur between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in order to bring healing to Aboriginal communities. This thesis contributes to critical education research by showing that the Ontario curriculum is partially responsible for the ignorance that secondary school graduates …

Community-Based Suicide Prevention Research In Remote On-Reserve First Nations Communities, Corinne A. Isaak, Mike Campeau, Laurence Y. Katz, Murray W. Enns, Brenda Elias, Jitender Sareen

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Suicide is a complex problem linked to genetic, environmental, psychological and community factors. For the Aboriginal population more specifically, loss of culture, history of traumatic events, individual, family and community factors may also play a role in suicidal behaviour. Of particular concern is the high rate of suicide among Canadian Aboriginal youth. While the need to develop interventions to reduce suicidal behaviour for First Nations on-reserve populations is evident, there may be an element of distrust of researchers by Aboriginal communities. Furthermore, research in mental health and specifically suicide is much more sensitive than studying medical illnesses like diabetes. Clearly, …

Gender And Place Influences On Health Risk Perspectives In Northern Canadian Aboriginal Communities, Cynthia G. Jardine, Amanda D. Boyd, Christopher M. Furgal

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Developing a better understanding of the factors underlying health and environmental risk perspectives has been the focus of significant research in recent years. Although many previous studies have shown that perspectives of risk are often associated with gender, sociocultural variables and place, our understanding of the relationship between these factors and risk remains equivocal. A research study was undertaken to develop better insights into the understanding and perspectives of various types of health risks in two sets of northern Canadian Aboriginal communities – the Yellowknives Dene First Nation communities of N’Dilo and Dettah in the Northwest Territories and the Inuit …

Football Barriers – Aboriginal Under‐Representation And Disconnection From The ‘World Game’, John Maynard

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Indigenous Australians have had some great successes in Australian football and rugby. However, this success has not been mirrored in the ‘world game’, soccer. This study examines the reasons for such under-representation in Australia. The barriers to access to soccer were a combination of racist government policy which restricted the movement of Aboriginal people, and thus their opportunities to engage with a game that was not located near the isolated reserves in which they were held. The most successful Aboriginal players were fortunate that their circumstances placed them in close proximity to locales that were soccer strongholds. Moreover, the multicultural …

Security And Belonging: Reconceptualising Aboriginal Spatial Mobilities In Yamatji Country, Western Australia, Sarah Prout

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Since British colonisation of Australia began, Aboriginal mobility practices have been poorly understood within the Anglo-Australian consciousnesses. This paper examines current discourses and conceptualisations of Aboriginal mobilities in Yamatji country, Western Australia. Finding none of these explanations and interpretations singularly sufficient to encompass the diverse spatial practices of Aboriginal people in the region, the paper proposes an alternative framework for interpreting and understanding these population dynamics. The central tenet of this reconceptualisation is that contemporary Aboriginal spati- alities – including spatial distribution, movements, and immobility – are iteratively shaped by the processes of procuring, contesting, and cultivating security and belonging. …