Walking Together, Working Together: Engaging Wisdom for Indigenous Well-Being (Patterns of Northern Traditional Healing Series)

This collection takes a holistic view of well-being, seeking complementarities between Indigenous approaches to healing and Western biomedicine. Topics include traditional healers and approaches to treatment of disease and illness; traditional knowledge and intellectual property around medicinal plant knowledge; the role of diet and traditional foods in health promotion; culturally sensitive approaches to healing work with urban Indigenous populations; and integrating biomedicine, alternative therapies, and Indigenous healing in clinical practice. Throughout, the voices of Elders, healers, physicians, and scholars are in dialogue to promote Indigenous community well-being through collaboration. This book will be of interest to scholars in Indigenous Studies, medicine and public health, medical anthropology, and anyone promoting care delivery and public health in Indigenous communities.

Contributors: Darlene P. Auger; Dorothy Badry; Janelle Marie Baker; Margaret David; Meda DeWitt; Hal Eagletail; Gary L. Ferguson; Marc Fonda; Annie I. Goose; Angela Grier; Leslie Main Johnson; Allison Kelliher; Rick Lightning; Mary Maje; Ann Maje Raider; Maria J. Mayan; Ruby E. Morgan, Luu Giss Yee; Richard T. Oster; Camille (Pablo) Russell; Ginetta Salvalaggio; Ellen L. Toth; Harry Watchmaker
• The volume foregrounds the voices of Elders, healers, physicians, and scholars in seeking collaborative and complementary ways to address challenges to Indigenous community well-being. It is grounded in the recognition of health as a human right.
• The book draws on Northern knowledge holders, healers, and community members as well as Alberta-based Indigenous healers and scholars. A range of non-Indigenous academics and practitioners also made contributions, supplemented by several solicited pieces from Canadian and Alaskan Indigenous scholars and Elders.
• Topics include traditional healers and approaches to treatment of disease and illness; traditional knowledge and intellectual property around medicinal plant knowledge; the role of diet and traditional foods in health promotion; culturally sensitive approaches to healing work with urban Indigenous populations; and integrating biomedicine, alternative therapies, and Indigenous healing in clinical practice.
• Contributors are from BC, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alberta, Quebec, and Alaska.

Leslie Main Johnson is Professor Emerita of Anthropology at Athabasca University, living in Edmonton on Treaty 6 territory. Janelle Marie Baker is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Athabasca University, living on the border of Treaty 6 and 7.