Disruptions to Traditional Health Practices
Centuries of colonial violence have led to disruptions and loss of traditional health knowledge and practices. Many Indigenous communities are actively fighting colonization through preservation and revitalization of their unique cultural traditions, languages, and ceremonies.
Health Benefits:
Mental Health
Cultural Identity
Community Connectedness
Community Wellness
Health Condition:
Cultural disconnection
Depression
Anxiety
Trauma
Method of Use:
Ceremony
Storytelling
Cultural Narrative
Multiple community members described the impacts of colonization on traditional practices, particularly traditional diets. One participant explained his understanding that illness can arise when humans disrupt relationships with other living beings. He shared that, by traditionally hunting the weakest buffalo, the Lakota believed they became physically susceptible to illness and health conditions, including cardiovascular disease. He further emphasized that maintaining clarity requires eating the right foods and caring for ourselves, and that the loss of these teachings across generations has contributed to poor health. Since we did not grow up with that understanding, Indigenous people became sick.
Another participant discussed how colonization disrupted traditional food systems through the introduction and widespread consumption of processed foods. She described processed foods as a significant contributor to health disparities among Indigenous people and emphasized the needs to reprioritize growing, preparing, and consuming traditional, unprocessed foods to address these health conditions.
Another participant described how the aggregation of diverse tribes into a single group has negatively affected her tribe’s distinct identity and traditions. However, she shared that her role as an Unchi (grandmother) has reinvigorated her commitment to learning, preserving, and teaching her tribe’s language to other community members.