If the land's sick, we're sick:* The impact of prolonged drought on the social and emotional well-being of Aboriginal communities in rural New South Wales

Abstract

Prolonged drought presented substantial and unique adversity for rural NSW Aboriginal communities, compounding existing, underlying disadvantage. Drought-induced degradation of and, sometimes, the necessity to leave traditional land drove people apart and disrupted Caring for Country activities. Some people reported despair at not being able to discharge cultural obligations. At the same time, the drought prompted increased love of and concern for land and a renewed enthusiasm for expressing connectedness to land through all forms of art. Modern Aboriginal and wider community well-being programs helped frame a response to drought alongside traditional Aboriginal dreaming and cultural approaches to emotional health and well-being.

Climate change influences on environment as a determinant of Indigenous health: Relationships to place, sea ice, and health in an Inuit community

“…Further, results demonstrate that increased environmental variability and unpredictability of ice and weather conditions, in addition to contributing to increasing injuries and stress, is affecting place meanings and resulting in loses of health benefits derived from sea ice use. The findings presented in this case study clearly demonstrate that investigations of health impacts of climate change on Indigenous communities need to incorporate an notion of place to comprehend the complexity of how climate change interacts with placed-based socio-cultural meanings and uses of the environment, as well as legacies of colonization, to affect Indigenous individual and community health (Cunsolo Willox et al, 2012;Rigby et al, 2011). These results also provide a foundation for subsequent research assessing impacts of climate change on Inuit mental and cultural health for different groups (e.g., for different generations), for example by investigating impacts on competence and autonomy.…”

Protective factors for mental health and well-being in a changing climate: Perspectives from Inuit youth in Nunatsiavut, Labrador

“…For example restricted land access greatly impacts protective factors and pathways to enhancing youth mental health and well-being as well as coping mechanisms for those struggling with existing mental health challenges. Although the land is the top preference for staying busy, healthy, and connected to culture, youth in all five Nunatsiavut communities also realize that accessing the land is becoming increasingly difficult and, as such, they need to find other ways to fill the King et al, 2009;Carnie et al, 2011;Kirmayer et al, 2011;Rigby et al, 2011).…”

Identifying and categorizing cobenefits in state-supported Australian indigenous environmental management programs: international research implications

“…Uncritical adoption of terms such as "holism" to characterize indigenous health have been interrogated (Lutschini 2005), but commentators have also noted the "striking similarity" between Western and indigenous understanding of well-being (Kingsley et al 2009b). https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol22/iss2/art11/ The connection between indigenous well-being and the perceived health of landscapes and waterways is regularly emphasized (Willis et al 2004, Johnston et al 2007, Ganesharajah 2009, Weir 2009, Rigby et al 2011, Biddle and Swee 2012, Green and Minchin 2012, Kingsley et al 2013. Residence in smaller communities on traditional lands appears to correlate with mental well-being (Morice 1976) and with specific biomedical health indicators (McDermott et al 1998, Rowley et al 2008.…”

“…This reflects the perspectives of indigenous people (Anderson 1996, Greiner et al 2005, Rigby et al 2011, Kingsley et al 2013, as well as longstanding international definitions encompassing mental and physical well-being rather than merely the absence of illness (World Health Organization 1948). Uncritical adoption of terms such as "holism" to characterize indigenous health have been interrogated (Lutschini 2005), but commentators have also noted the "striking similarity" between Western and indigenous understanding of well-being (Kingsley et al 2009b).…”