Type 2 diabetes is caused by your pancreas unable to produce the insulin at the levels required to keep blood sugars from getting too high. Lifestyle choices, such as inactivity and poor diet, are a few of the known factors that contribute to type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is known to be at a higher prevalence in Indigenous communities, and for this reason, I wanted to begin to dissect the reasons why this is the case as well as what is being done to address the issue.
Ever since colonization by Europeans, the culture and ways of life of the Indigenous peoples of Canada have slowly been snuffed out in favour of the ‘white way’ of doing things. Although the advent of modern medicine and technology has undoubtedly brought forth many benefits in terms of health care, it seemingly has failed to benefit the lives of members within Indigenous communities. Richard Hovey, Treena Delormier, and Alex McComber explore why colonial attempts at healthcare have fallen short of success within Kahnawà:ke, a Kanien’kehà:ka community in Quebec, in the paper titled “Social-Relational Understandings of Health and Well-Being from an Indigenous Perspective”.
The first main question brought up is if diabetes is a symptom, rather than a disease, as a result of oppressive social conditions, such as colonialization. If that is the case, then addressing the social conditions would hopefully address the physical manifestations of those conditions, such as diabetes. The researchers decided to use philosophical hermeneutics as a research approach because it closely aligned with the interpretive relationship amongst Coyote, Raven, and Hermes, the three tricksters that required interpretation of a collaboration of messages to ultimately understand what is being said. It also allows for a conversation amongst members of the community, holding in nature more traditional ways of sharing beliefs, values, and customs.
Social-relational connections was another approach brought forth by Hovey et al. The concept is a two-pronged approach. The first emphasis is on the social structure within a community that can be influenced by colonial social structure and practices. The second part is the relational aspect, that emphasizes the relationships that connect individuals, families, and communities. Social-relational connections have been adversely affected by the continuing dominance of a colonialist society. This is the society that disrupted traditional food systems through the introduction of alcohol, salt, sugar, lard, and flour. The same society tore apart families through residential schools and made a large impact on the effort of demolishing Indigenous culture and identity.
Taking the social-relational connections within an Indigenous community into consideration, as well as what can adversely affect those connections, the researchers interviewed members of the Kahnawà:ke community “about diabetes prevention strategies that consider medical and behavioural lifestyle modifications as well as interventionist approaches within the context of overarching social circumstances” (Hovey 42). The participants did not give answers regarding government intervention or help with medication, but rather they gave insightful answers that spoke about diabetes in relation to their self, their identity, and their spirit. One quote that I quite liked was:
“[I]f you don’t feel who you are, you’ll be so outside of yourself and reckless and don’t care. So when you feel, and you know who you are, and you can feel that things are wrong, and you pay attention, you’re at peace because people who are stressed will start taking to cigarettes, taking to alcohol, taking to food, or any kind of reckless behaviour. So when they’re calm, they’re content, and they’re feeling at peace, they’re going to want to feed their spirit healthy foods, you know? And when I do my conferences, I make sure that they know that the foods that they eat will affect their emotions; will affect their spirit, who they are”.
Addressing diabetes preventing is a multifaceted approach that requires not only medical intervention, but more importantly, intervention on the current ways of thinking in Indigenous communities. Before addressing rampant illnesses, researchers need to address what may be causing the manifestations of these diseases. Type 2 diabetes is known to be caused mainly by lifestyle, and it only makes sense that the negative emotions that Indigenous peoples experience in regards to colonization manifest themselves as poor eating behaviours and inactivity.
Source:
Hovey, R., Delormier, T., McComber, A.M. (2014). Social-Relational Understandings of Health and Well-Being from an Indigenous Perspective. International Journal of Indigenous Health. 10(1), 35-49. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18357/ijih.101201513195