Exploring wellness and Wiidooktaadyang (we are helping one another) in Nipissing First Nation1

Abstract

Purpose

First Nations peoples have a long history of what it means to be well, but this perspective has not shaped their health and wellness experiences in Canadian healthcare systems. In response to calls for First Nation self-determination in health, this study provided one First Nation community with the opportunity to articulate what it means to be well. Wiidooktaadyang, meaning ‘we are helping each other’, describes a Nipissing First Nation (NFN) philosophy and a relational approach to realising wellness. From this relational approach, this research explored: 1) how NFN debendaagziwaad (NFN members) on reserve, off reserve and staff understood and experienced wellness; 2) what NFN debendaagziwaad perceived as the ‘appropriate kind of help’ to facilitate wellness; and 3) how understandings of wellness and helping can inform a community-owned service delivery model.

Methods

Designed with an NFN advisory committee, this study employed a qualitative design using a Two-Eyed Seeing theoretical and methodological approach, which paired participatory action research with Indigenous research methods. Ninety participants, grouped according to on reserve, off reserve or staff members, engaged in conversational interviews with community-based research assistants. Their stories were analysed using thematic analysis adhering to Indigenous research principles.

Main findings

The story of wellness of NFN debendaagziwaad comprised five themes: 1) Connectedness, 2) Living the Medicine Wheel, 3) Belonging, 4) Experiencing colonialism and 5) Reclaiming NFN ways. Graphic artists facilitated a process of graphical analysis to illustrate themes as conceptual models. This project moved knowledge into meaningful action by meeting with NFN leaders to describe how they could apply the wellness models to their service integration model.

Principal conclusions

This paper contributes to new knowledge by documenting NFN members’ stories of what it means to be well and their recommendations for reclaiming wellness. The knowledge helped to inform community service planning in a First Nations community. Particularly critical is that the models acknowledge First Nation peoples’ power to determine their health and wellness experiences.