Prospectus

Prior to colonization of what is now called Canada by Europeans, Indigenous peoples lived an active lifestyle that was required for survival. They were not sedentary people, rather they foraged and hunted for food that sustained their high-impact lifestyles. However, after colonization, high caloric and high fat foods were introduced to Indigenous peoples. With the advent of permanent reserves, the inability to hunt and forage for resources, and the eventual forced enrolment in residential schools, Indigenous peoples now live a sedentary lifestyle, much like the rest of the developed world, and are faced with the negative impacts of colonization. These negative impacts have manifested into depression, drug and alcohol abuse, unhealthy diets, and a continuation of an inactive lifestyle. These symptoms of colonization have culminated into the onset of Type 2 Diabetes within Indigenous communities at an alarmingly higher prevalence than what is seen in non-Indigenous peoples of Canada.

Organizations centered around diabetes and the Canadian government have tried to implement protocols and programs to address the disturbing epidemiology of Type 2 Diabetes in Indigenous communities. However, these interventions revolve around westernized, colonized approaches to treating and preventing diabetes. These ways of thinking are what created the problem of Type 2 diabetes in Indigenous communities to begin with, and do nothing to address the underlying problem that many of these people face, that of the first-hand and intergenerational effects of colonization.

I want to explore the ways that colonization has silenced members of the Indigenous communities, and in more detail, the lasting impact that the effects of colonization have had on Indigenous peoples in terms of their access to healthcare. In response to the inadequate treatment that Indigenous peoples receive when accessing westernized healthcare, I want to bring forth the different ways in which traditional medicine and culture have been used within communities to treat not only medical conditions like diabetes, but also the underlying symptoms of colonization. By doing so, I want to highlight that colonialist interventions are not necessary, and sometimes prove to be more harmful, in an Indigenous-oriented setting.

The body of work that I have been looking into started off with the systematic racialized bodies of healthcare that Indigenous people have had to interact with since the advent of residential schools. Tuberculosis ran rampant in residential schools, and often the infected children were sent back to their reserves, which in turn spread tuberculosis within these communities. Justified as separating tuberculosis patients from general care patients in hospitals, Indigenous people were segregated from white patients, often having to be in completely different wings of the hospital, in the basement, or in “Indian Hospitals”. These hospitals offered subpar treatment to Indigenous peoples, and were not equipped to deal with more serious problems once Indian hospitals turned from a tuberculosis-treatment facility to a general care facility. In contemporary society, Indigenous peoples are still faced with discrimination and judgement when seeking advice from health care professionals, with symptoms and concerns often being ignored. In order to address the racism in healthcare settings, there has been an introduction of Indigenous health modules in medical and nursing practicums, sacred healing spaces in hospitals, and encouragement of Indigenous peoples to enrol in nursing or medical school.

Not only have the ignorance of healthcare professionals been a catalyst for the increase of diseases and disorders in Indigenous communities, the ignorance of epidemiologists and researchers have also contributed to propagating the rates of diabetes, amongst other disorders, in Indigenous communities. Previously, westernized interventions have been implemented in Indigenous communities, such as increase physical activity and a more balanced diet to try and address and therefore decrease the rates of diabetes. These implementations proved to be more or less useless, as it failed to address the underlying issues of why there were increased rates of diabetes. As explained by members of Indigenous communities and healthcare professionals who work closely with these members, diabetes is so prevalent because of the intergenerational effects of residential schools. Forced enrolment in residential schools resulted in loss of cultural identity. When identity is lost, Indigenous peoples often felt isolated, alone, and depressed, leading to disinterest in feeding their spirit and body properly. Rather than participating in cultural activities that could promote an active, healthy lifestyle and a happier deposition, Indigenous peoples are leading higher risk lifestyles with increased consumption of unhealthy foods and alcohol, as well as sedentary activity, because they have lost their cultural identity and practices. This is why diabetes should be considered a symptom of colonization, and if you address the adverse effects of colonization, the symptom of diabetes should dissipate.

There has been a paradigm shift in the ways in which researchers have been looking into the prevalence of diabetes in Indigenous communities. Moving away from western, empirical research strategies, researchers have been implementing ideologies from Indigenous culture into how research is conducted. Free and open communication is how data was collected, which aligned with traditional ways of sharing beliefs. It was in this method of data collection that researchers found that it was intergenerational impacts that has been contributing to the prevalence of diabetes and other diseases in Indigenous communities. These papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals, and have given evidence that rather than implementing western interventions, interventions that revolve around re-finding cultural identity should be favoured.

Along with the paradigm shift of research methodologies came a shift in the normalization per say of traditional medicine. There are research papers that show the efficacy of different naturally-derived, traditional medicines in the treatment of diseases, as well as how traditional diets help with diabetes, emphasizing the shift from colonized medical intervention in favour of embracing traditional medicine and lifestyle. Another example of decolonization in terms of health care is Indigenous youths have been promoting a healthy lifestyle by engaging with traditional cultural practices.

Through my research, I hope to emphasize that in response to systematic racism towards Indigenous peoples in colonialist health care settings, a shift from westernized interventions to traditional cultural practices will help to address the intergenerational impacts of residential schools that have manifested into serious diseases, namely Type 2 Diabetes, in Indigenous communities.