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Topic

Manidookewin: Exploring Community Wellness with Elders and Knowledge Keepers in Whitesand First Nation

Social Dimensions of Health

Date & location

• Thursday, April 24, 2025
• 1:00 P.M.
• Virtual Defence

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Sarah Wright Cardinal, School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria (Supervisor)
• Dr. Billie Allan, School of Social Work, UVic (Co-Supervisor)

External Examiner

• Dr. John Borrows, Faculty of Law, UVic

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Jean-Paul Restoule, Department of Indigenous Education, UVic

Abstract

This research explores community health and wellness guided by the wisdom of three Elders and knowledge keepers from Whitesand First Nation and is rooted in Anishinaabe ways of knowing and being. Using Indigenous research methodologies and guided interviews informed by Jo-Ann Archibald’s (2008) Indigenous Storywork framework, this study examines the research question, “How do Elders and knowledge keepers in Whitesand First Nation define community wellness?”. Through an Indigenized thematic analysis, the conversations with these Elders and knowledge keepers revealed four main themes along with subthemes that provide insights into our community wellness practices as Anishinaabe people from Whitesand First Nation.

These bundles of knowledge were organized in a visual representation of a medicine wheel and were placed in the corresponding sectors that represent the life cycle for us as Anishinaabe people. The first theme was Culture and it was placed in the East, Waabinong, which included the subthemes of Language, Cultural Resiliency and Resurgence, and Sense of Belonging. The second theme, Land, was placed in the South, Zhaawanang, and contains the subthemes of Medicine and Healing, and Source of Life. The third theme, placed in the West, Ningaabii-anong, was Community, animated by the subthemes of Intergenerational Learning, Taking Care of one Another, and Roles and Responsibilities. The last theme that revealed itself was Spirituality and this was placed in the North, Kiiwedinong. The subthemes within this section include Ceremony, Prayer, and Interconnection. This study provides understandings of Anishinaabe community wellness and offers insights to the roots of Anishinaabe wisdom and knowledge.