Postcolonial healing landscapes and mental health in a remote Indigenous community in subarctic Ontario, Canada

The concept of therapeutic landscape is concerned with a holistic, socio-ecological model of health, but most studies have attempted to explore land-health links from a Western perspective. On an Indigenous reserve in Northern Ontario, part of the Canadian subarctic, we explore the importance of spaces and places in creating postcolonial therapeutic landscapes to treat the wounds inflicted by colonialism. The aim of this research is to gain insight from views and experiences of First Nations residents living on reservations that are undergoing a process of regaining traditional spiritual beliefs and teachings to construct therapeutic spaces to face mental health problems caused by legal opioid analgesic abuse. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with Cree and Ojibwe participants to understand how they are reconnecting with earth, spirituality and traditional animist beliefs on their way to recovery. We find that practices such as taking part in ceremonies and ritual spaces, and seeking knowledge and advice from Elders assist with personal healing and enable Indigenous people to be physically and mentally healthy. Our research findings provide important insights into the relationship between space, healing and culture as determinants of health and well-being and document some key factors that contribute to substance abuse recovery.

Constructing an Indigenous Model of the Self to Address Cultural and Mental Health Issues in the Canadian Subarctic

Since the last decades, academic research has paid much attention to the phenomenon of revitalizing indigenous cultures and, more precisely, the use of traditional indigenous healing methods both to deal with individuals' mental health problems and with broader cultural issues. The re-evaluation of traditional indigenous healing practices as a mode of psychotherapeutic treatment has been perhaps one of the most interesting sociocultural processes in the postmodern era. In this regard, incorporating indigenous forms of healing in a contemporary framework of indigenous mental health treatment should be interpreted not simply as an alternative therapeutic response to the clinical context of Western psychiatry, but also constitutes a political response on the part of ethno-cultural groups that have been stereotyped as socially inferior and culturally backward. As a result, a postmodern form of "traditional healing" developed with various forms of knowledge, rites and the social uses of medicinal plants, has been set in motion on many Canadian indigenous reserves over the last two decades.

Racionalizando adicciones en una reserva indígena canadiense: la construcción narrativa del yo mediante discursos de salud mental y personalidad

Durante décadas sucesivas, la experiencia social y epidemiológica en las reservas indígenas canadienses, afrontando elevadas tasas de problemas psicosociales y de salud mental, ha generado un tipo de racionalización cultural elaborada dentro de un movimiento social de revitalización neo-animista o neo-tradicionalista denominado healing movement. Esta ponencia examina cómo discursos de salud mental, producidos dentro de este movimiento social de revitalización indígena a nivel local, proporcionan una racionalidad cultural para la construcción contemporánea de la identidad. El diseño de la investigación ha sido cualitativo, realizándose un estudio de caso etnográfico en una reserva indígena en el noreste de Ontario y utilizando un muestreo intencional. Para la recolección del material empírico se utilizaron técnicas basadas en la entrevista y observación participante. Estrategias de análisis del contenido y del discurso han coadyuvado en la obtención de unos resultados que revelan cómo la concepción de la salud mental en reservas indígenas ha llegado a ser un dominio simbólico para crear y recrear la noción del yo indígena y para afrontar su posición marginal en el contexto poscolonial y sociopolítico canadiense. Las conclusiones de este estudio señalan cómo los problemas psicosociales en el contexto de las reservas indígenas trascienden el fenómeno epidemiológico para convertirlo en un fenómeno político, reflexivo y moral.