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.
Research Partner