First Nations Youth Reframing the Focus: Cultural Knowledge as a Site for Health Education

Abstract

Through a participatory project, health researchers and educators move toward an in-depth, multifaceted understanding o f the urgent and pressing health issues of contemporary Aboriginal youth. Digital video is used by high school students as a researcher vehicle to highlight health topics that emerge from their own personal perspectives. Participants reject the Eurocentric deficit model of health and create a paradigm based in the holistic values of balance and respect as taught by their community and Elders. Through personal explorations, insightful connections are made between health indicators such as drug abuse or suicide and less tangible determinants such as emotional and spiritual well-being. After engaging in the videomaking process, participants felt empowered as emerging researchers and inspired to become messengers of health knowledge for their peers.