“The Dene Way of Life”: Perspectives on Health From Canada’s North

Abstract

The health and wellness of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples is often measured in narrow biomedical terms with little consideration given to how health is conceptualized in Aboriginal communities. This study attempts to address this gap by providing a perspective on health and wellness developed in collaboration with the Dene community of Lutsel K’e, Northwest Territories. The research was carried out in the wake of the environmental assessment of Canada’s first diamond mine, located in the traditional territory of Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation. The study focussed on the questions “What is health?” and “What kinds of indicators would be useful for measuring the effects of diamond mining on the health of community?” Health was defined in the local language as “the Dene way of life.” Three core themes, 13 sub-themes and over 50 indicators of health were also identified through semi-structured interviews with individual community members. These indicators refer to many aspects of day-to-day life in Lutsel K’e, tying the concept of health, often discussed in theoretical terms, to tactile elements and processes at work at individual, household, and community levels. Interwoven in these narratives is a discourse about the importance of Dene values, knowledge, and institutions. The work is also telling of how small, remote northern communities respond to and resist the social, economic, and cultural pressures associated with natural resource development.