Language, Culture, and Collectivism: Uniting Coalition Partners and Promoting Holistic Health in the Menominee Nation

Abstract

Recent perspectives on Indigenous health have recognized language, culture, and values as central to well-being and recovery from historical trauma. Health coalitions, which identify community health concerns and mobilize members to implement strategies for change, have begun to shift their focus from programs to policy, systems, and environmental change but have been slower to recognize the possibilities of centering Indigenous ways of being in their work. This article details a case study of the Menominee Wellness Initiative, an Indigenous health coalition that has increasingly made language, culture, and collective values the focus of their health promotion work, and often due to the participation and influence of community organizers in the coalition. The study is presented as a collaborative writing effort between coalition members and academic partners. Qualitative data were gathered through observations of coalition meetings; in-depth, semistructured interviews with coalition members; and interactive data analysis discussions within the collaborative writing team. In the results, we describe how the shift in the coalition’s framework came to be and the influence this shift has had on the coalition, its activities, and its community impacts. These findings illustrate and extend understanding of several principles of Collaborating for Equity and Justice and supports literature and practice related to health promotion through the centering of Indigenous ways.

Wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and the United States: A Systematic Review

“…Of the included studies, 41 [ 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 ] papers related to the wellbeing of Indigenous peoples in the United States. The United States comprises of different Indigenous groups (American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians) [ 2 , 120 ], with unique cultures and languages.…”

“…The holistic nature of wellbeing was reported by ten papers [ 87 , 94 , 95 , 99 , 101 , 107 , 108 , 110 , 112 , 117 ]. Wellbeing among the Indigenous peoples in the United States is a holistic concept placing value on the integration of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health [ 87 , 94 , 95 , 101 , 108 , 110 , 112 , 117 ], with some explicitly locating the concept of wellbeing within the conceptualisation of the Medicine Wheel that contain the quadrants: mental, physical, emotional and spiritual [ 87 , 95 , 99 ].…”

“…In order to realise “ full integration ”, ten papers reported the importance of finding balance [ 87 , 94 , 101 , 107 , 110 , 117 ], which could be maintained or achieved through strong spiritual and relational connections [ 95 , 101 , 107 , 112 , 117 ], and maintaining a sense of cultural identity [ 107 ].…”

“…The importance of culture to the wellbeing of the Indigenous peoples in the United States was reported by 30 papers [ 79 , 80 , 81 , 83 , 85 , 86 , 88 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 , 98 , 99 , 101 , 103 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 111 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 ]. Culture confers Indigenous peoples in the United States a sense of identity [ 94 ], pride [ 94 , 114 ] and strength [ 88 ].…”

Psychological sense of community and motivation toward collective social change among community coalition members of color in the southwestern United States

“…As McMillan and Chavis (1986) outlined, these dimensions of belongingness (i.e., membership and emotional connection) are grounded in individuals' perceived feelings of "fit" into their community, or shared bond that is based on shared experiences and histories, and identities. The ways in which these coalition members ascribed their connection to both their community and one another indicate a shared belief centered on collectivism and synergistic community change (Hilgendorf et al, 2019;Peterson et al, 2019).…”