Walking Together, Working Together

This collection takes a holistic view of well-being, seeking complementarities between Indigenous approaches to healing and Western biomedicine. Topics include traditional healers and approaches to treatment of disease and illness; traditional knowledge and intellectual property around medicinal plant knowledge; the role of diet and traditional foods in health promotion; culturally sensitive approaches to healing work with urban Indigenous populations; and integrating biomedicine, alternative therapies, and Indigenous healing in clinical practice. Throughout, the voices of Elders, healers, physicians, and scholars are in dialogue to promote Indigenous community well-being through collaboration. This book will be of interest to scholars in Indigenous Studies, medicine and public health, medical anthropology, and anyone promoting care delivery and public health in Indigenous communities.

Contributors: Darlene P. Auger; Dorothy Badry; Janelle Marie Baker; Margaret David; Meda DeWitt; Hal Eagletail; Gary L. Ferguson; Marc Fonda; Annie I. Goose; Angela Grier; Leslie Main Johnson; Allison Kelliher; Rick Lightning; Mary Maje; Ann Maje Raider; Maria J. Mayan; Ruby E. Morgan, Luu Giss Yee; Richard T. Oster; Camille (Pablo) Russell; Ginetta Salvalaggio; Ellen L. Toth; Harry Watchmaker Indigenous Elders, healers, Western physicians, and scholars seek complementarities between Indigenous practices and Western biomedicine. Indigenous Elders, healers, Western physicians, and scholars seek complementarities between Indigenous practices and Western biomedicine. 48 figures • The volume foregrounds the voices of Elders, healers, physicians, and scholars in seeking collaborative and complementary ways to address challenges to Indigenous community well-being. It is grounded in the recognition of health as a human right.
• The book draws on Northern knowledge holders, healers, and community members as well as Alberta-based Indigenous healers and scholars. A range of non-Indigenous academics and practitioners also made contributions, supplemented by several solicited pieces from Canadian and Alaskan Indigenous scholars and Elders.
• Topics include traditional healers and approaches to treatment of disease and illness; traditional knowledge and intellectual property around medicinal plant knowledge; the role of diet and traditional foods in health promotion; culturally sensitive approaches to healing work with urban Indigenous populations; and integrating biomedicine, alternative therapies, and Indigenous healing in clinical practice.
• Contributors are from BC, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alberta, Quebec, and Alaska. "Walking Together, Working Together presents holistic and ecological perspectives of Indigenous health issues that are rooted in equity concerns such as emancipation from colonialism and racism." Dr. Farah Shroff, Maternal and Infant Health Canada #1 on the Edmonton Non-fiction Bestsellers list, February 19, 2023

• 1. Introduction: Working Together looking for pathways to well-being and healing
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• Leslie Main Johnson
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• 2. Spiritual Pathway to health and balance
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• Harry Watchmaker
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• 3. Bringing Traditional Medicine into the Medical System
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• Camille (Pablo) Russell and Hal Eagletail
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• 4. The Traditional Indigenous Model of Health and Wellbeing: How does the Western Physician Work Within this Paradigm?
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• Darlene Auger
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• 5. The Healing Journey, Working for Kaska Wellness
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• Mary Maje and Ann Maje Raider
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• 6. Dim Wila Dil dils'm, the way we live. Gitxsan Approaches to A Comprehensive Health Plan, the Gitxsan Traditional Health Plan
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• Ruby E. Morgan and Leslie Main Johnson
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• 7. Holistic and culturally based approaches to health promotion in Alaska Native Communities
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• Gary Ferguson, Meda DeWitt and Margaret David
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• 8. Southeast Tlingit Rites of Passage for Women's Puberty: a Partic