Indigenous Mental Health & Cultural Identity

• Indigenous mental health considers environmental, family, wisdom, physical responsibility, community, and cultural aspects.
• It is important to recognise the social, land, respect, mental and spiritual relationships of Indigenous peoples
• Indigenous mental health also considers nations and economics

Thanksgiving Address

• Most Indigenous nations begin gatherings and ceremonies with Thanksgiving.
• An Elder or nation member often leads the Thanksgiving address.
• It is given in traditional language, as a prayer or recognition to all relations, including living things on Mother Earth.

Understanding of Identity

• North American Indigenous cultures introduce themselves by stating their name, clans, community, nation, heritage, ancestors, place, land, language, and treaty
• Focus is on relationships rather than status, position, or power
• Relationships are acknowledged with community, nation, international community, land, and other living things
• Spirit names are proclaimed so relations understand and hear proclaimed truths.

Indigenous Mental Health

• Indigenous peoples in Canada have historically and continually experienced complex, layered, and intergenerational traumas
• This results in multiple communities grappling with mental health and suicide crises
• These collective experiences are considered “colonial trauma”
• Colonial trauma is seen as a key political determinant of health inequities faced by Indigenous peoples.

Human Costs of Indigenous Mental Health

• Colonialism's shape-shifting nature is a significant factor in Indigenous mental health
• Colonialism is ongoing, and understanding its nature helps understand trauma in more nuanced ways
• Indigenous people in Canada face serious challenges related to mental illness and insufficient healthcare due to racism, stereotypes, ignorance, and historical government interventions.

Historical Traumas

• Complex trauma has been caused by residential and day schools, the 60s scoop, and the removal of Indigenous children from their communities.
• Medical testing and racism are also historical traumas
• The Indian Act and its inequalities, land apprehension, and state negligence contribute to Indigenous peoples grappling with internalized inferiority.

Statistics on Human Costs

• Repeated negative messaging reinforces internalized racism
• Indigenous people are twice as likely to experience major depression and other mental illnesses
• 16% of First Nation adults living on reserve experience major depression, compared to 8% of Canadians
• First Nations youth are nine times more likely to experience mental health problems than their Canadian peers.

Mental Health in Canada

• Higher portions of Indigenous participants report fair/poor mental health than non-Indigenous participants at 38% compared to 23%.
• Common mental health diagnoses in Indigenous populations include PTSD, substance use disorder, major depression, and suicide
• Suicide is the leading cause of death for young Indigenous people aged 10-29
• Suicide rates are three times the national average, higher for Inuit, youth and young adults
• The British Columbia Aboriginal Survivors Study showed only two, from a sample of 127 residential school survivors, were free of mental illness
• 30.4% show major depressive episode; 26.1% had chronic depression; and 64.2% showed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Statistics Canada reports that suicide rates among First Nations youth are five to seven times that of non-Indigenous youth.
• Inuit youth suicide rates are eleven times greater and First Nations men die by suicide 2.4 times the national average, and indigenous women five times.

Inadequacies of Current Mental Health Support

• Current resources are inadequate
• There is need for specific training among professionals
• Responding to a crisis and getting people access to processes when people are suicidal or after indigineous people have filled out multiple forms is insufficient
• Service providers are limited specifically for rural & remote communities

Existing Mental Health Supports

• Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) supports mental health services

• Exisiting frameworks and programs include:

• National Aboriginal Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy (NAYSPS) Program Framework

• Mental health counselling through the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) Program

• Jordan's Principle

• Inuit Child First Initiative

• Indian Residential Schools Resolution Health Support Program

• Health support services are avaliable for those affected by issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

• Phone and chat lines such as "hope for wellness”

• More long-term intensive and non-crisis response support is needed.

NIHB Program

• The guide to mental health benefits instructs clients to attempt other avenues first.
• One has to contact a NIHB regional office to get a list of providers
• Clients find services in the area can get "22 hours of counselling” annually
• The program and offerings vary among the provinces

Access to Provided Support

• Current acess to support is hard if one is elegible
• This can clearly be seen when acceessing NIHB
• Acessibility relies on literacy and access to tech

Access Challenges

• Individuals in the LGBTQ2S community are more likely to experience mental health concerns
• Approximately 33.8% of female and 17.2% of male youth “living on reserve” have had poor mental health
• Given mental wellness services are increasingly virtual, remote communities struggle with connectivity

Indigenous Social Determinants of Health

• There is a focus on having access to health services
• Personal health and coping skills
• Culture and language
• Education, social inclusion, income and social status
• Employment and working conditions, physical environments, genetics
• Gender, social support networks, early chilhood

Truth and Reconciliation

• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) developed calls to action 18-24 to improve well being
• Some of the actions are acknolwedgement of harm and providing centres - Canada has not implemented a Health Call to Action

Health Calls to Action 18-24

• One must recognise the current state of health for Indigenous peoples
• Identify and close health outcome gaps while recognining distinct health needs
• Fund Indigenous centers and increase culture/competency training
• Increase and ensure the retention of Indigenous Professionals

Addressing Indigenous Mental Health

• Mental health care for Indigenous peoples must be accessible, free, funded, and trauma informed

• The healing must be done by trained practitioners

• Barriers to accessing mental health must be broken down

• There should be financial support to help with dealing and unraveling with complex trauma

• Reparations could include:

• Financial support

• Comprehensive trauma care with trained psychologists and trauma councillors,

• collaboration with Indigenous members

• There should be direction and guidance from cultural knowledge holders

• Mental health needs to consider Indigenous peoples

• Education is needed regarding oppression and colonial acts

Embracing Traditional Healing

• Holistic Indigenous healing interconnects family, community, spirituality, and nature.
• Indigenous communities focus on wellbeing and harmony
• Focus on control of wellness and strengths
• Treament includes teaching, prayer, sacred practice and traditional medicine
• Shkaabe Makwa, opened in Toronto to help traditional healing practices
• Incentives for practitioners, Indigenous, community priorities, and cultural health

Two Row Wampum Treaty

• Haudenosaunee established a way for people to live in peace
• One must respect each other as the discuss issues
• Hauderosaunee belt shows an agreement to European and Americans on Turtle Island for the first time
• This agreement showed they value a frienship of people living in peace

Two-Eyed Seeing

• Etuaptmumk means bringing perspectives together
• There is a need to see and learn the world and indigenous perspectives
• Including knowledge can improve outcomes for everyone

Knowledge Gardening

• When teaching and learning, sow the seeds of knowledge
• It can take years to grow and be applicable to real world situations
• Knowledge is nurtured by relations by learning with everyone to teach in a spritiual experience

The Seven Generations

• One must inherited wisdom and knowledge
• Preserve for the future generations.
• Each generation lasts 120 years.
• A full family can be reached from multiple generations. Planning involves thinking and borrowing earth with actions for 840 years

Seven Grandfather Teachings

• Wisdom: Experience and common sense
• Love: Compassion and affection
• Respect: Effective communication and non-judgement
• Bravery: Standing up for your beliefs
• Truth: Awareness understanding
• Honesty: Being truthful and accepting responsibility
• Humility: Selfless life by respecting others

Influences for the Medicine Wheel

• Spirtiual (Histrory, teachinhs, culture, language
• Emotional (Identity, stability, belonging)
• Physical (purpose)
• The mental sections influecne each other such as: (families, community etc)
• The wheel constitution relies on personhood.

Impact on Indigenous Mental Health

• Trauma can create insecure attachments
• Disruption of emotions can impact mental health
• One can be shaped by behaviours and beliefs
• There are multiple ways for generations to have trauma such as: substance abuse and poor mental health
• Context of war, violence, and forced dsiplacement
• Environments perpetuate advesities which can lead to intergeneration trauma.