Wisdom Engaged : Traditional Knowledge for Northern Community Well-Being

"I listened to my mum, my dad, my gramma, that is why I am still here. That is how you stay alive." ―Mida Donnessey

Wisdom Engaged demonstrates how traditional knowledge, Indigenous approaches to healing, and the insights of Western bio-medicine can complement each other when all voices are heard in a collaborative effort to address changes to Indigenous communities’ well-being. In this collection, voices of Elders, healers, physicians, and scholars are gathered in an attempt to find viable ways to move forward while facing new challenges. Bringing these varied voices together provides a critical conversation about the nature of medicine; a demonstration of ethical commitment; and an example of building successful community relationships.

Contributors: Alestine Andre, Janelle Marie Baker, Robert Beaulieu, Della M. Cheney, Stakawas, Katsawa, Mida Donnessey, Mabel English, Christopher Fletcher, Fort McKay Berry Group, Annie B. Gordon, Celina Harpe-Cooper, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Leslie Main Johnson, Thea Luig, Art Mathews, Sim’oogit T’enim Gyet, Linda G. McDonald, Ruby E. Morgan, Bernice Neyelle, Morris Neyelle, Keiichi Omura, Mary Teya, Nancy J. Turner, Walter Vanast, Darlene Vegh.

Leslie Main Johnson is Professor Emerita of Anthropology at Athabasca University. She is an ethnographer and ethnobiologist who has worked with Indigenous peoples in northwestern Canada since the 1980s. Earle H. Waugh is Professor Emeritus and was Director of the Centre for the Centre for Health and Culture in the Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Alberta in Edmonton upon his retirement.