Turning to Traditional Processes for Supporting Mental Health
Connection to the landscape of the Yukon is critical to mental health. Photo: The Gordon Foundation
Through a partnership with the Gordon Foundation, The Arctic Institute is publishing a series of papers on Canadian Arctic policy critiques and solutions written by Jane Glassco Northern Fellows. The Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship Program recognizes the leadership potential of northern Canadians aged 25-35 who are passionate about addressing emerging policy challenges and building a strong North. During the 18-month program, Fellows deepen their understanding of important northern issues, and develop the skills to articulate and advance their ideas and policy research. Fellows publish individual and group policy research papers. For more information, please visit The Gordon Foundation website and follow the Fellowship on Twitter.
- Education Policy to Supports On-Land Learning in Northwest Territories
- Treaties, Modern Negotiation, and Indigenous Resource Management in the Canadian Arctic
- School Curriculum for Arctic Youth Must Include Land Claim Agreements
- Balancing Worldviews: Climate Change Solutions in Canada’s North
- Ways Forward in Addictions Programming in the Canadian Arctic
- Indigenous Language, Community, and Legends in Post-Secondary Education
First Nations culture, traditional values and practices are fundamental to our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. This importance is highlighted by examining how reliance on traditional values and practices makes an instrumental contribution to maintaining mental wellbeing and responding to mental health issues. The importance of drawing on our cultural traditions as First Nations people in addressing contemporary challenges in our communities cannot be overstated.
Traditionally, the people of Carcross\Tagish First Nation (C/TFN) in the Yukon were more than just a community; they were family. During the pre-contact period, each community member had designated roles and knew their roles and responsibilities to the community, so that members were able to depend on one another for support, help in emergencies and in times of need. Before the dark days of mission (residential) school, there were few if any suicides, less depression and hopelessness, and the broad spectrum of other mental health issues was not rife throughout our community.
In 1910, the territory’s first residential school, Choutla Residential School, was built in Carcross. The school was in operation from 1911 until 1927, when an Education Centre opened in its place.¹The suicide rate among First Nations people in Canada was three times higher than in non-Indigenous populations between 2011 and 2016, according to Statistics Canada. Suicide rates were highest for youth and young adults aged 15 to 24 years old among First Nations men and Inuit men and women. Statistics Canada says the higher risk of suicide for Indigenous people compared to non-Indigenous [people] is due to “socioeconomic characteristics,” such as household income, labor force status, level of education, marital status, as well as whether they live on or off a reserve and the community size.
Today, mental health issues challenge the wellbeing of our families and community. Mental health challenges are made apparent in addictions, depression, stress, post-traumatic stress, breakdowns in our families, dysfunctional behavior including crimes, and an escalating number of tragic suicides.
My thesis is simple: the reason mental health was not a serious problem in the past amongst First Nations, and now arises as an escalating problem, is directly and indirectly related to engagement in and practice of traditional cultural values and processes. When traditional values and practices permeated the lifestyle of our community, mental health issues were relatively rare. Currently, our traditional values and practices are not central to our community governance, workplace and families. Today mental health issues feature prominently in the many challenges our community faces. Our cultural belief is that the active engagement and use of traditional values and practices can fundamentally address the escalating mental health issues currently affecting the wellbeing of individuals, families and our community. The invigoration of traditional values and practices is as essential to creating and maintaining good governance as it is to creating and maintaining mental health. This paper explores the positive impacts traditional values and practices can have on mental health and wellbeing.
Ashley Carvill was born into a family of leaders within the Carcross/Tagish First Nation (C/TFN). Her training in traditional Indigenous values came at the knee of her paternal great-grandmother, T’sint. As a young child, she was known in Carcross for her high sense of justice and her ability to advocate for the downtrodden youth and Elders in her Traditional Territory and surrounding areas.