Table Of ContentDavid Danto
Masood Zangeneh Editors
Indigenous
Knowledge and
Mental Health
A Global Perspective
Indigenous Knowledge and Mental Health
David Danto • Masood Zangeneh
Editors
Indigenous Knowledge
and Mental Health
A Global Perspective
Editors
David Danto Masood Zangeneh
Psychology Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences and
University of Guelph-Humber Innovative Learning
Toronto, ON, Canada Humber College
Toronto, ON, Canada
ISBN 978-3-030-71344-7 ISBN 978-3-030-71346-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71346-1
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Endorsement
This text represents a wholly refreshing, important, challenging, and creative con-
tribution to the literature addressing the impacts of colonization on the well-being
of Indigenous Peoples and the role of Indigenous knowledge(s) in healing and well-
being. If this collection’s breadth of representation loads the bases, the scholarly
depth of these contributions hits the ball out of the park. The global voices we hear
are of Indigenous Peoples themselves, and of health workers, activists, and allies
embedded within those communities by the suffering of a passion, and a commit-
ment of understanding unafraid to be taught. As such, the book claims the all-impor-
tant promise of its title, of Indigenous knowledge(s) by which our predominantly
Western and positivistic understanding of mental health, inclusive of its praxis
implications, can and must be challenged, refigured, adapted, and sometimes even
abandoned. A radical teaching, this. This text moves us away from abstractions and
platitudes to show us just how, just what, it might mean in practice to be “sensitive”
to the other, to be “responsive,” and to be open to creative invention and respectful
collaboration. We learn about innovative therapies, interventions, and research
methodologies: land-based interventions, anti-oppressive therapy, body work, using
dance and rituals in therapy, conducting clinical ethnographic, auto-ethnographic,
or performance ethnographic research, analyzing songs and folk tales, and what it
means to be allies and companions in research and therapy. We learn of a therapy
and research of the heart, of a therapy and research for, from, and of the other. In the
end, this book does everything it sets itself to, and exceptionally so. Now it is our
turn. Having spoken so eloquently and powerfully, the test of our listening is in our
response, which is also to say our responsibility.
Leswin Laubscher
Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
v
Foreword
In these very challenging times, as the global population weathers a pandemic that
has triggered significant death tolls and intense mental health consequences, we are
also observing deepening social conflict. Long-term social isolation, whether sought
or imposed, can generate fear and distrust. In response, Canadian society has had to
revive uncomfortable conversations on equity, diversity, and inclusion, readdress
concepts like “cultural safety” in health care, and confront why black lives and
Indigenous lives matter. This may be true in every society referenced in the stories
of this book. I am gazing through the lens of an Indigenous woman in Canada, and
it is Canada I am watching respond to this crisis in health, mental well-being, and
social/economic paralysis. Unfortunately, these crises are also manifest around
the globe.
It is comforting however, albeit deeply ironic, to know there are solutions to the
conflicts we are being confronted with, many embedded in the very cultures this
country and others have frequently driven to the edge of survival. There are lessons
in these cultural stories, lessons about how historically inherent strengths, resil-
ience, knowledge, and coping mechanisms, used since time immemorial, can pro-
vide viability and hope for our mutual future.
The pages of this book contain powerful examples of possibility, of rising from
genocide and hatred, of protecting and sharing, and of reconstituting hope and a
new way forward. Many of the cultures addressed in these stories have experienced
the pain of exile, the trauma of genocide, and for some, unrelenting death into con-
temporary times. But, there is inspiration here, and a poignant reminder that if you
don’t know who you are and what you stand for, you are going to find it very diffi-
cult to not only survive but also recover from what we are presently experiencing.
Severe weather events, intensifying temperatures, highly contagious diseases, grow-
ing economic disparity, food shortages, and increasingly unstable governments are
now becoming normative.
Here you will find candid expression and recognition of a need to return to a reli-
ance on land as a source of life and the value of maintaining a symbiotic relationship
with forest ecosystems. We cannot live without food, water, and each other. Each
chapter calls forth the value of land-based healing and the roles of Elders,
vii
viii Foreword
knowledge transfer, language, identity, and culture as healing. Each author makes a
strong case for not only reviewing historical challenges and highlighting cases of
resilience but also promoting healing and growth through the revival of communal
life. The kind of living that supports and draws forth the gifts of every culture, puts
down the need to divide and conquer, or worse kill, and embraces the notion of all
being in this together. It doesn’t mean giving up everything you may know and
understand, it means acknowledging Indigenous culturally grounded approaches
can be integrated with Western approaches to create a powerful force for healing
and change.
A strong message of resilience and hope runs through this entire book, a message
that asks us to embrace the reconstitution and use of traditional practices and knowl-
edge as a way to change the present trajectory of planetary (and human) destruction.
We are living in challenging times, witnessing social disintegration, and far too
much fear, we have a chance to do better, to live better, and ensure a brighter future
for many generations to come.
CynthiaWesley-Esquimaux
Lakehead University
Orillia, ON, Canada
Introduction
Indigenous people span the world and number in the hundreds of millions. Rich in
diversity and distinctiveness, Indigenous cultural groups are spread across nearly
every continent and country. Indigenous Peoples exhibit diversity in lifestyle, cul-
ture, socio-political organization, and history; however, many of these groups have
shared rapid culture change, marginalization, and absorption into a colonial econ-
omy with little regard for their autonomy. This cultural discontinuity has been
linked to high rates of depression, substance abuse, suicide, and violence in many
communities, with the most dramatic impact on youth. Nevertheless, many
Indigenous communities provide remarkable examples of resilience, community
cohesion, and happiness.
Recently in Canada, ground penetrating radar was used to explore the sites of
several “Indian Residential Schools,” institutions funded by the federal government
of Canada and administered by churches between the 1880s and mid-1990s. For
over 100 years, these schools undertook the project of forced “education” of
Indigenous children in Euro-Western values and religion. Many stories of horrific
abuse and mistreatment emerged from this system of approximately 150 such
“schools” across the country. More recently the term “cultural genocide” has been
used in Canada to define the motives and sequelae of this oppressive system. Indeed
the use of the term “genocide” is being debated as well.
Beginning in May of 2021, the ground penetrating radar investigations revealed
the remains of children buried on the sites of several residential schools. At the time
of the publication of this book, approximately 1000 bodies have been found; how-
ever, estimates vary regarding how many bodies will eventually be found. Certainly,
the number of Indigenous lives lost as a result of contact with Euro-Western settlers
in the territories now known as Canada will dwarf the numbers of remains found
and identified. When we take a global perspective, however, humanity’s crimes
against its own Indigenous people become truly unfathomable. Yet this global per-
spective is necessary to respect and acknowledge those lives that were taken and
because an investigation of the crime informs us of the motives of the perpetrator,
which is a painful but necessary step in looking toward a brighter future.
ix
x Introduction
In the spring of 2018 the University of Guelph-Humber held its first annual
International Symposium on Indigenous Mental Health at the Native Canadian
Centre of Toronto, in Canada, on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the
New Credit. Many attended to explore indigeneity in a global context, learn about
the role of culture and tradition in healing the wounds of colonization and trauma,
and better understand the incredible strength and resilience of Indigenous commu-
nities around the world. This book developed out of that meeting and hopefully
extends that spirit of dialogue, support, and collaboration.
We bring together the perspectives of Indigenous researchers and allies around
the world whose interests focus on the well-being of Indigenous Peoples. Through
a strength and resilience-oriented approach, chapters will explore the challenges,
cultural values, and traditions that inform how these communities facilitate mental
health among their members.
The reader may notice that some chapters do not flow neatly into subsequent
chapters in the way that some are accustomed. In soliciting chapters from the authors,
we chose to remain minimally directive, preferring that authors feel free to express
themselves in the way most appropriate to their context. There are, of course, vast
differences in the contexts of Indigeneity and mental health around the world. In
reading the following chapters, we encourage the reader to contemplate these con-
texts and consider the historical, political, economic, and social situations which not
only gave rise to the current challenges and strengths of a particular Indigenous
group, but which also provide the ground for the authors and the chapters themselves.
This book takes the reader on two simultaneous journeys. The first is a trip
around the world meeting with Indigenous scholars and allies to learn about the
work that is being done in the field. The second is a path toward reconciliation, from
acknowledgement of truth, to giving voice to the suffering, to the importance of
culture, to the process of healing, and lastly to reconciliation. Both these journeys
merely scratch the surface regarding the wealth of reports and stories around the
world and the work to be done, as we as a species reflect upon our historical and
ongoing interactions with one another.
We begin with a difficult look at the harsh reality of genocide, exile, and trauma
experienced by several Indigenous Peoples around the world. In his chapter titled
Yazidi Mental Health and Collective Trauma and Terror, Jan Ilhan Kizilhan exam-
ines the brutal genocide of the Yazidi people, one of the Indigenous nations in Iraq,
by the mercenary group known as ISIS, which took place in 2004. Kizilhan dis-
cusses the importance of cultural and socio-political considerations when helping
the survivors.
In the next chapter titled The Health and Well-Being of Indigenous Khmer
Displaced and in Exile, Gwynyth Øverland recalls her experiences with a number of
Cambodian Khmer members in Norway and discusses how Indigenous groups scat-
tered in diaspora manage to guard, maintain, and sustain the mental health of their
peoples. In this chapter, Øverland seeks to understand how survival and recovery
are related to strength and resilience among these members.
In the chapter titled the Psychology of Mussar: Cultural Safety as a Verb, Silvia
Tenenbaum examines the memory of historical and geographical cycles of exile
among Uruguayan individuals claiming Indigenous roots. Using a decolonizing,
Introduction xi
anti-hegemonic frame informed by psychological research on the ethical teachings
of the Mussar movement, Tenenbaum discusses the notion of “cultural safety” and
the potential benefits of a post-traumatic growth approach to Indigenous communi-
ties in general and Uruguayan individuals in particular.
Our focus then shifts toward approaches to healing and the relevance of the land
to a number of distinct Indigenous groups.
In the chapter titled Healing Practices and Rituals of the Forest-Dwelling Rabha
Community in Modern Times, Chinmayi Sarma discusses health and well-being
practices among the Rabhas of Assam, an Indigenous community of forest dwellers
from India’s North East who share a symbiotic relationship with their forest ecosys-
tem. Sarma examines the nature of healing rituals and process and explores the
implications of a Western medical approach for the Traditional Knowledge systems
and healing practices of the forest-dwelling Rabhas.
In the following chapter in this section, Danto, Walsh, and Sommerfeld interview
individuals directly involved with land-based healing programs in one First Nation
community in Canada, within Mushkegowuk Territory in northern Ontario. They
identify shared and distinct features across land-based approaches to healing in the
region. Themes that arise include the roles of Elders, knowledge transfer, language,
identity, and culture as healing.
We then investigate the impact of cultural knowledge and identity on resilience.
In their chapter titled Mental Health and the San of Southern Africa, Chris Low and
Joram Useb examine the colonial and postcolonial changes that have impacted San
mental health and well-being by examining various social and geographical spaces
that allow traditional rituals to interface with new practices.
In the chapter titled Indonesia’s Political Reform: Challenges and Opportunities
for the Adat Community’s Mental Well-Being, Tody Sasmitha, Jiwa Utama,
Isnenningtyas Yulianti, and Nurul Saadah discuss the legal and political discourse
on the resurgence of adat revivalism and Indigenous development projects, and their
impact on the psychological well-being of community members. The authors exam-
ine opportunities to enhance adat community members’ well-being through com-
mon cultural practices and local knowledge.
In their chapter titled Happiness, Underdevelopment, and Mental Health in an
Andean Indigenous Community, Jorge Yamamoto, María Victoria Arevalo, and
Sebastian Wendorff explore subjective well-being, mental health, and the natural
landscape in a small traditional Andean Peruvian village. To that end, the authors
examine the complex interactions among subjective life satisfaction, the natural
landscape surrounding the village, and supportive social interactions with friends
and family members to address well-being among the community members and
contrast this with popular fallacies about happiness in consumer-driven societies.
In the next chapter titled The Jewish People and Indigenous Resilience, Havatzelet
Yahel examines the Jewish people’s survival strategies and achievements within the
framework of Indigenous resilience. Yahel examines her thesis by reviewing histori-
cal challenges, cases of resilience, healing and growth through the revival of com-
munal life.
We then turn our attention to the relationship between culture and treatment in
several Indigenous contexts. In the chapter titled Alcohol Use and Resilience Among
