Indigenous Eco-Relational Engagement and mental wellbeing among American Indian and First Nation adults: Applying the Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge framework.

Abstract

Addressing Indigenous determinants of health includes understanding the interconnectedness among Indigenous health and wellbeing, relationship to place and Mother Earth. Though persistent challenges exert a disproportionate burden on Indigenous communities, many experience an intersecting risk profile that includes a history of settler-colonial subjugation and historical loss, while navigating loss and damage due to climate change which further impinges on their mental health. Traditional, spiritual, and cultural activities operate as functional observations of Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledges (ITEK) and are increasingly recognized as necessary components of adaptation and mitigation to climate change and sustainability of otherwise delicate ecosystems. In addition, corresponding traditional and cultural activities have been associated with improved mental health. The present investigation utilizes land-based cultural and traditional activities, as well as indicators of language revitalization in a composite variable - Indigenous Eco-Relational Engagement (IERE) to determine the relationship to positive mental health among Anishinaabeg in the United States and Canada. The results suggest that IERE shares a positive relationship with positive mental health among Anishinaabeg adults. Results of the present investigation help us to reconcile the relationship between Indigenous and planetary health, such that both may be supplemented through the active observation of ITEKs vis-à-vis engagement in traditional cultural, spiritual activities and language revitalization efforts.