You searched for:

  • All

Reimagining miyo-wicehtowin: Human-nature relations, land-making, and wellness among indigenous youth in a Canadian urban context

Wellness and cultural identity can be strengthened for urban Indigenous youth by providing improved access to green spaces in the cities where they live

It’s sometimes mistakenly assumed that land-based activities occur “out there” in rural areas versus in urban environments. This misconception tends to be especially troublesome when applied to the health and wellness of Indigenous youth living in cities. For many Indigenous people, land, nature, and the environment are known determinants of individual and collective health. In fact, “access to land and stewardship over land are often understood as central to the wellness of Indigenous individuals and communities.”

This study engaged urban Indigenous youth as co-researchers in a study framed around the Indigenous philosophy and concept of miyo-wicehtowin – a  Cree word meaning “having or possessing good relations.” The study addressed two central questions: “How do urban Indigenous youth engage with land and nature through urban place-making and meaning-making processes?” “How are connections to land in urban contexts contributing to perceived health and wellness?”  The study took place over the period of a year and included four rounds of “conversational storytelling interviews” involving 28 Indigenous youth and young adults (age 15-25) living in an inner-city neighborhood of Saskatoon in Saskatchewan, Canada. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed.

In the context of miyo-wicehtowin, the researchers and their indigenous partners used a “two-eyed seeing” framework involving a combination of Indigenous Methodologies and Western Grounded Theory to analyze the interview responses. They identified four interrelated processes of land-making through which Indigenous youth construct their relationships with nature in their urban environments: (1) hugging trees as family-making; (2) gift-giving; (3) story-making and land-based teachings; and (4) soothing places for regulating emotions. Findings also showed that the Indigenous youth encountered “nature” where the “land” is. For them, land and nature (including natural elements such as bodies of water, air, and stars) move through different spaces and often across urban and rural settings. In other words, “land and the natural elements that move within it do not stop at city borders.” Additionally, nature and land are not abstract; they’re “lived places that are experienced, embodied, and cultured.”

This research makes important contributions to the Indigenous health literature by highlighting Indigenous youth voices and calling attention to the fact that wellness and cultural identity can be strengthened by improved access to green spaces and land within inner-city areas.

Citation

Hatala, A., Morton, D., Njeze, C., Bird-Naytowhow, K., Pearl, T., (2019). Reimagining miyo-wicehtowin: Human-nature relations, land-making, and wellness among indigenous youth in a Canadian urban context. Social Science & Medicine, 230, 122-130.

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.04.012

MADE POSSIBLE WITH SUPPORT FROM:

Turner Foundation

MADE POSSIBLE WITH ONGOING SUPPORT FROM:

University of Minnesota - Institute on the Environment
EE Research

A collaborative research library of:

Children and Nature Network and NAAEE

Connect to more resources through our eeResearch collaboration with the North American
Association for Environmental Education, combining articles, syntheses and research summaries
for the field of environmental education and the children and nature movement.

SUPPORT OUR WORK

Help us make sure that all children live, learn and grow with nature in their daily lives.

Donate Membership