Jumping Through Sacred Hoops: Multi-Ethnic Indigenous Identity & Approaches in Health & Wellness Education
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Abstract
As a result of historical trauma, it is paramount for Indigenous communities to take control of their health and wellness today in order to maintain the survival of Indigenous people. This study examines the perceptions of multicultural health educators’ views on the effectiveness of using multi-ethnic approaches for health education in the Belcourt Youth Activities Program. In this study, data were collected using interviews and online surveys of multi-ethnic Indigenous wellness educators. The data analysis of this study applied appreciative inquiry, which empowers its practitioners to explore innovative practice while being an agent of change by challenging the dominant power (Hung et al., 2018). An innovative practice in this study utilized a self-created medicine wheel as an analytical tool for program evaluation.
The findings of this study revealed the Belcourt Youth Activities Program took a multi-ethnic approach to Indigenous wellness education. The data analysis indicated the following results: (1) The use of community-based learning and land-based learning strategies contributed to the concept of culture as medicine; (2) perceptions of culture as medicine in relationship between both individual health and cultural survival was preventive, not curative; (3) Belcourt Youth Activities Program educators were more likely to report their perceptions of a positive health outcome of healthy relationships, respect for sport, having a positive attitude, and carrying knowledge into everyday life among student program participants as a result of the cultural education if they worked with the program for a longer period of time; (4) multi-ethnic approaches to Indigenous education were viewed as a tool for decolonization by Belcourt Youth Activities Program educators; and (5) the use of multi-ethnic Indigenous approaches to education builds a sense of community and helps us survive in the evolving world today to allow us to work together to understand the many categories of cultural identities present in one area. The results of this study can be used to address the current gaps in literature in terms of multi-ethnic Indigenous identity and its relation to cultural education initiatives. Multi-ethnic approaches to education are not only culturally sustaining but allow for cultural survival within Indigenous communities.