Aboriginal Health in Canada: Historical, Cultural, and Epidemiological Perspectives

by James B. Waldram, D. Ann Herring, T. Kue Young

Numerous studies, inquiries, and statistics accumulated over the years have demonstrated the poor health status of Aboriginal peoples relative to the Canadian population in general. Aboriginal Health in Canada is about the complex web of physiological, psychological, spiritual, historical, sociological, cultural, economic, and environmental factors that contribute to health and disease patterns among the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. The authors explore the evidence for changes in patterns of health and disease prior to and since European contact, up to the present. They discuss medical systems and the place of medicine within various Aboriginal cultures and trace the relationship between politics and the organization of health services for Aboriginal people. They also examine popular explanations for Aboriginal health patterns today, and emphasize the need to understand both the historical-cultural context of health issues, as well as the circumstances that give rise to variation in health problems and healing strategies in Aboriginal communities across the country. An overview of Aboriginal peoples in Canada provides a very general background for the non-specialist. Finally, contemporary Aboriginal healing traditions, the issue of self-determination and health care, and current trends in Aboriginal health issues are examined.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Grumpylibrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This provides an excellent overview of Aboriginal health in Canada today and, more importantly for my research, into the distant past, even considering pre-contact First Nations health.

I particularly liked that the author's were unwilling to project politics onto their subject. They acknowledge that population estimates are so wildly disparate that it's impossible to settle on the significance of population decimation in previous centuries, they acknowledge disease existed prior to contact, but they also acknowledge that systemic subjugation created disease vectors previously unknown in North America's indigenous populations.

[Kira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. I learned more about how natives were treated and about about the emergence of health care in Canada. This is a wonderful book if you are interested in Canadian History. I am a health care professional, so this book was fascinating to me as a way to be more culturally sensitive to aboriginal patients. I recommend this book highly, but I understand not everyone is as big of a nerd as I am, as lots of it was stats and sometimes could be considered 'dry' information. With that said though, it was a relatively easy read.

[Cath Ennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to this topic. It's rather dense, academic, and a little on the dry side, but very informative and well-referenced.

I would highly recommend following this book with Determinants of Indigenous Peoples' Health in Canada - it's a collection of essays, articles, stories, poems, and interviews on similar topics, written by mostly Aboriginal contributors.