Decolonizing Approaches to Inuit Community Wellness: Conversations with Elders in a Nunavut Community
Publication: Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
2 March 2017
Abstract
Nunavut communities struggle with numerous challenges related to social distress. It is important to specify that these struggles represent a rupture with traditional Inuit society. Most research to date has linked colonization and ongoing social inequity to these distresses. This community-based, participatory research project elicits traditional knowledge from Elders living in Cape Dorset, Nunavut. The aim is to identify Inuit values, beliefs, and actions with the potential to improve community wellness. The themes that emerge include respect, leadership, family connection, inclusion of traditional knowledge, working together, and resiliency. Results resonate with other community wellness research projects in Nunavut.
Résumé
Les communautés du Nunavut font face à plusieurs défis qui relèvent de la détresse sociale et qui—il est important de le préciser—procèdent d’une rupture avec la société inuite traditionnelle. La plupart des recherches menées à ce jour sur cette question ont lié la colonisation et les inégalités sociales actuelles à ces situations de détresse. Ce projet de recherche participative axé sur la communauté a permis de recueillir des savoirs traditionnels des Anciens de Cape Dorset, au Nunavut. L’objectif était de définir les valeurs et les croyances inuites, ainsi que les actions qui pourraient contribuer à améliorer le bien-être de la communauté.
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Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
Volume 36 • Number 1 • May 2017
Pages: 1 - 13
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Version of record online: 2 March 2017
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Candice M. Waddell, Renee Robinson, and Allison Crawford. 2017. Decolonizing Approaches to Inuit Community Wellness: Conversations with Elders in a Nunavut Community. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health.
36(1): 1-13. https://doi.org/10.7870/cjcmh-2017-001
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