Abstract
There is a lack of research on Indigenous family-run land-based programs, despite their wide distribution across Canada and their culturally rooted orientation to addressing mental health issues among youth, who are at elevated risk of suicide and substance abuse. This study employs a qualitative ideographic approach, consonant with Indigenous research methodology, to interview and analyze the report of one program in Mushkegowuk Territory, in northern Ontario. The participant was invited to an interview during which he was asked open-ended questions regarding his outdoor program. Responses were transcribed and subjected to qualitative analysis. Initial results were then shared with the participant, who was encouraged to edit or expand the interpretations until he was satisfied with the outcome. Results indicated that this grassroots land-based program arose out of one individual’s perceived need within his community. The participant articulated his experience with traditional values, outdoor skills, spirituality, and sharing stories to facilitate healing from trauma and substance abuse. Nevertheless, he expressed that offering this service is challenging, primarily because of funding concerns; however, political and religious issues have also presented hurdles. In the view of this participant, knowledge transfer requires future leaders to participate in land-based programming numerous times until they can practice what they have learned. A discussion considering the implications of these results follows.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Advisory Group on Suicide Prevention (2003) Acting on what we know: Preventing youth suicide in First Nations. Retrieved July 12, 2020, from https://mgss.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/preventing-youth-suicide.pdf
Barker, B., & Goodman, A. (2017). Reclaiming Indigenous identities: Culture as strength against suicide among Indigenous youth in Canada. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 108(2), e208–e210.
Bartlett, C., Marshall, M., & Marshall, A. (2012). Two-eyed seeing and other lessons learned within a co-learning journey of bringing together Indigenous and mainstream knowledges and ways of knowing. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2, 331–340.
Canadian Psychological Association & The Psychology Foundation of Canada, Task Force on Responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Report. (2018). Psychology’s Response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Report. Retrieved June 30, 2020, from https://cpa.ca/docs/File/Task_Forces/TRC%20Task%20Force%20Report_FINAL.pdf.
Chandler, M. J., & Lalonde, C. E. (1998). Cultural continuity as a hedge against suicide in Canada’s First Nations. Transcultural Psychiatry, 35(2), 191–219.
Churchill, S. (2000). “Seeing through” self-deception in narrative reports: Finding psychological truth in problematic data. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 31(1), 44–62.
Churchill, S. (2012). Teaching phenomenology by way of a “second-person perspectivity” from my thirty years of teaching at the University of Dallas. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, 12(sup 3), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.2989/IPJP.2012.12.3.6.1114.
Colaizzi, P. (1973). Reflection and research in psychology: A phenomenological study of learning. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.
Colaizzi, P. (1978). Psychological research as the phenomenologist views it. In R. Valle & M. King (Eds.), Existential-phenomenological alternatives for psychology (pp. 48–71). New York, Oxford University Press.
Danto, D., & Walsh, R. (2017). Mental health perceptions and practices of a Cree community in northern Ontario: A qualitative study. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 15(4), 725–737.
Danto, D., Walsh, R., & Sommerfeld, J. (2020). Learning from those who do: Land-based healing in a Mushkegowuk community. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00306-z.
Dell, C. A., Seguin, M. S., Hopkins, C., Tempier, R., Mehl-Madrona, L., Dell, D., Duncan, R., & Mosier, K. (2011). From Benzos to berries: Treatment offered at an Aboriginal youth solvent abuse treatment centre relays the importance of culture. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 56(2), 75–83.
Department of Industry, Tourism, and Investment. (2014). Take a kid trapping & harvesting: Report 2013–2014. Retrieved July 18, 2020, from http://www.iti.gov.nt.ca/sites/iti/files/take_a_kid_trapping_and_harvesting_report_2013_14.pdf.
Dobson, C., & Brazzoni, R. (2016). Land based healing: Carrier First Nations’ addiction recovery program. Journal of Indigenous Wellbeing, 1(2), 9–17.
Giorgi, A. (1985). Phenomenology and psychological research. Pittsburgh, Duquesne University Press.
Giorgi, A. (2009). The descriptive phenomenological method in psychology: A modified Husserlian approach. Pittsburgh, Duquesne University Press.
Gone, J. P. (2012). Indigenous traditional knowledge and substance abuse treatment outcomes: The problem of efficacy evaluation. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 38(5), 493–497.
Gone, J. P. (2013). Redressing First Nations historical trauma: Theorizing mechanisms for Indigenous culture as mental health treatment. Transcultural Psychiatry, 50(5), 683–706.
Hall, L., Dell, C. A., Fornssler, B., Hopkins, C., Mushquash, C., & Rowan, M. (2015). Research as cultural renewal: Applying two-eyed seeing in a research project about cultural interventions in First Nations addictions treatment. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 6(2), 1–15.
Jiwa, A., Kelly, L., & Pierre-Hansen, N. (2008). Healing the community to heal the individual: Literature review of Aboriginal community-based alcohol and substance abuse programs. Canadian Family Physician, 54(7), 1000–1000.e7.
Johnston, A. L. K. (2013). To case study or not to case study: Our experience with the Canadian government’s evaluation practices and the use of case studies as an evaluation methodology for First Nations programs. The Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation, 28(2), 21–42.
Kauppi, C., Pallard, H., McGregor, D., & Seyler, K. (2015). Homelessness and housing in a northeastern Ontario, Canada, First Nation: A community-based project. OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development, 8(4), 51–66.
Kirmayer, L. J., & Valaskakis, G. G. (Eds.). (2009). Healing traditions: The mental health of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Vancouver, UBC Press.
Kirmayer, L. J., Dandeneau, S., Marshall, E., Phillips, M. K., & Williamson, K. J. (2012). Toward an ecology of stories: Indigenous perspectives on resilience. In M. Ungar (Ed.), The social ecology of resilience: A handbook of theory and practice (pp. 399–414). New York, Springer.
Kovach, M. (2009). Indigenous methodologies: Characteristics, conversations, and contexts. Toronto, University of Toronto Press.
Kral, M. J., Idlout, L., Minore, J. B., Dyck, R. J., & Kirmayer, L. J. (2011). Unikkaartuit: Meanings of well-being, unhappiness, health, and community change among Inuit in Nunavut, Canada. American Journal of Community Psychology, 48, 426–438.
Kuo, B. C. H., Hsu, W., & Lai, N. (2011). Indigenous crisis counselling in Taiwan: An exploratory qualitative case study of an expert therapist. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 33, 1–21.
Marquina-Márquez, A., Virchez, J., & Ruiz-Callado, R. (2016). Postcolonial healing landscapes and mental health in a remote Indigenous community in subarctic Ontario, Canada. Polar Geography, 39(1), 20–39.
Marsh, T. N., Cote-Meek, S., Toulouse, P., Najavits, L. M., & Young, N. L. (2015). The application of two-eyed seeing decolonizing methodology in qualitative and quantitative research for the treatment of intergenerational trauma and substance use disorders. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(5), 1–13.
Ontario Local Health Integration Network. (2011). NE LHIN Aboriginal First Nations Métis Mental Health and Addictions Framework. RetrievedJuly 22, 2020, from http://www.nelhin.on.ca/indigenous.aspx.
Parkes, M. W. (2011). Ecohealth and Aboriginal health: A review of common ground. National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health. Retrieved July 10, 2020, from https://www.ccnsa-nccah.ca/docs/emerging/FS-EcohealthAboriginalHealth-Parkes-EN.pdf.
Recollet, C., Rego, C., Partridge, C., & Manitowabi, S. (2011). Health status profile & environmental scan: Aboriginal, First Nations & Métis. North Bay, North East Local Integration Network (NE LHIN). http://govdocs.ourontario.ca/node/9742.
Robbins, J. A., & Dewar, J. (2011). Traditional Indigenous approaches to healing and the modern welfare of traditional knowledge, spirituality and lands: A critical reflection on practices and policies taken from the Canadian Indigenous example. The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 2(4), 1–17.
Ross, A., Dion, J., Cantinotti, M., Collin-Vézina, D., & Paquette, L. (2015). Impact of residential schooling and of child abuse on substance use problem in Indigenous Peoples. Addictive Behaviors, 51, 184–192.
Rowan, M., Poole, N., Shea, B., Gone, J. P., Mykota, D., Farag, M., Hopkins, C., Hall, L., Mushquash, C., & Dell, C. (2014). Cultural interventions to treat addictions in Indigenous populations: Findings from a scoping study. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 9, 34. https://doi.org/10.1186/1747-597X-9-34.
Skinner, K., Hanning, R. M., Desjardins, E., & Tsuji, L. J. S. (2013). Giving voice to food insecurity in a remote Indigenous community in subarctic Ontario, Canada: Traditional ways, ways to cope, ways forward. BMC Public Health, 13, 427. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-427.
Smillie-Adjarkwa, C. (2009). Aboriginal alcohol addiction in Ontario Canada: A look at the history and current healing methods that are working in breaking the cycle of abuse. Indigenous Policy Journal, 20(3), 1–9.
Smith, L. T. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples (2nd ed.). London, Zed Books Ltd.
Thomas, W., & Bellefeuille, G. (2006). An evidence-based formative evaluation of a cross cultural Aboriginal mental health program in Canada. Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health (AeJAMH), 5(3), 202–215.
Thunderbird Partnership Foundation. (2018). Land for healing: Developing a First Nations land-based service delivery model. Retrieved July 22, 2020, from https://thunderbirdpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Thunderbirdpf-LandforHealing-Document-SQ.pdf.
Tousignant, M., & Sioui, N. (2009). Resilience in Aboriginal communities in crisis: Theory and interventions. Journal of Aboriginal Health, 5(1), 43–61.
Vukic, A., Gregory, D., Martin-Misener, R., & Etowa, J. (2011). Aboriginal and western conceptions of mental health and illness. Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health, 9(1), 65–86.
Walsh, R. (2004). The methodological implications of Gadamer's distinction between statements and speculative language. The Humanistic Psychologist, 32(2), 105–119.
Walsh, R., Danto, D., & Sommerfeld, J. (2020). Land-based intervention: A qualitative study of the knowledge and practices associated with one approach to mental health in a Cree community. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 18, 207–221.
Wendt, D. C., & Gone, J. P. (2016). Integrating professional and Indigenous therapies: An urban American Indian narrative clinical case study. The Counseling Psychologist, 44(5), 695–729.
Wesley-Esquimaux, C., & Smolewski, M. (2004). Historic trauma and Aboriginal healing. Ottawa, Aboriginal Healing Foundation. http://www.ahf.ca/downloads/historic-trauma.pdf.
Wexler, L. M., & Gone, J. P. (2012). Culturally responsive suicide prevention in Indigenous communities: Unexamined assumptions and new possibilities. American Journal of Public Health, 102(5), 800–806.
Yerxa, J. (2014). Gii-kaapizigemin manoomin Neyaashing: A resurgence of Anishinaabeg nationhood. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 3(3), 159–166.
Acknowledgments
The authors express their appreciation for the hospitality and participation of the participants and the community in Mushkegowuk Territory. We acknowledge the contributions of University of Guelph-Humber Psychology Students: Sara Mancuso and Marlena Williams.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sommerfeld, J., Danto, D. & Walsh, R. Indigenous Grassroots and Family-Run Land-Based Healing in Northern Ontario. Int J Ment Health Addiction 20, 1972–1983 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00496-0
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00496-0