Learning with Indigenous communities to advance health equity

Individual Author(s) / Organizational Author
Acharya, Karabi
Publisher
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Date
October 2021
Publication
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Insights Blog
Abstract / Description

For generations, Indigenous Peoples have known that our health is intertwined with the health of our earth. Their worldview recognizes that being healthy means ensuring the natural resources that give us life are well cared for.

In contrast, Western mindsets tend to view the natural world as an inventory of useful commodities—separate from, and existing only in service to, humanity. Overusing, polluting, and extracting without considering the long-term impacts has created conditions that fuel health inequities in our country: contaminated drinking water, food scarcity, air pollution, and extreme heat are contributing to poor health and driving up disease, particularly in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.

Transforming our relationship with nature is key to building a sustainable, equitable, and healthy future for all. Through the forcible removal, violence, oppression, and other injustices Indigenous Peoples have experienced, they have remained powerful stewards for many of our natural resources. Their values, practices, and policies can show us the way to heal and reclaim the health of our earth and humanity. (author introduction)

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Artifact Type
Application
Reference Type
Blog
Priority Population
Ethnic and racial groups
P4HE Authored
No
Topic Area
Policy and Practice » Interventions
Social/Structural Determinants » Aging and Life Course » Historical Trauma
Social/Structural Determinants » Environment/Context » Systemic Determinants
Social/Structural Determinants » Environmental/Community Health » Environmental Injustice