The Mental Health of Indigenous Peoples - McGill University

1 Culture & Mental Health Research UnitReport No. 10 The Mental Health of Indigenous PeoplesProceedings of the Advanced Study InstituteThe Mental Health of Indigenous PeoplesMcGill Summer Program in Social & Cultural Psychiatryand the aboriginal Mental Health Research Team May 29 May 31, 2000 Montr al, Qu becEditorsLaurence J. Kirmayer Mary Ellen MacdonaldGregory M. BrassInstitute of Community and Family PsychiatrySir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital&Division of Social and Transcultural PsychiatryDepartment of Psychiatry, McGill University 2001 Division of Social & Transcultural PsychiatryMcGill UniversityContentsPreface & Acknowledgement31.

2 IntroductionThe Mental Health of aboriginal Peoples5 Laurence J. Kirmayer, Gregory M. Brass & Caroline L. Tait2. Social Origins of Distress The Deep Sleep of Forgetfulness : Reflecting on Disremembering26 Ernest HunterHealth Implications of Political Violence, Ethnic Conflictand Contemporary Wars In Latin America 47 Duncan Pedersen The Legacy of the Stolen Generations in Australia69 Jane H. Mckendrick3. Individual And Collective Responses To SufferingAn Overview of Suicide in Indigenous Australia 81 Ernest HunterAboriginal Identity and the Construction of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome 95 Caroline L.

3 Tait4. Transformations of Identity & CommunityHealing the aboriginal Offender: Identity ConstructionThrough Therapeutic Practice112 Gregory M. BrassTowards A Recuperation of Souls and Bodies: Community Healingand the Complex Interplay Of Faith And History120 Naomi Adelson Negotiating Health : Meanings of Building a Healthy Communityin Igloolik135 Kristiann AllenThe Problem of Culture and the Counseling of aboriginal Peoples145 James B. Waldram5. Models For Collaborative Research & Mental Health ServicesWorking in Partnership: Innovative Collaborative ResearchBetween aboriginal Communities and an Academic Unit160 Jane H.

4 MckendrickComments on Hollow Water Community Healing Joseph Couture173An Overview of Six Nations Mental Health Services177 Cornelia Wieman Contributors & Discussants186 Contact Information190 Conference Schedule192 Annual McGill Summer Program in Social & Cultural Psychiatry193 aboriginal Mental Health Research Team1943 Preface & AcknowledgementThis report presents the proceedings of a conference on The Mental Health ofIndigenous Peoples organized by the aboriginal Mental Health Team of theCulture & Mental Health Unit, Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish GeneralHospital in Montreal May 29-31, 2000.

5 The conference was organized inconjunction with the Annual Summer Program in Social and CulturalPsychiatry of the Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry, aim of the meeting was to bring together experts on Mental healthresearch among Indigenous Peoples in Canada, the US and Australia toexchange perspectives, methods and models for research and service meeting was supported by grants from the Conseil qu becois de larecherche people assisted with the organization of the conference and thesubsequent preparation of these proceedings.

6 We thank all of our colleaguesand the staff of the CMHRU for their help and is our hope that this report will help those working in and with Aboriginalcommunities in Canada and elsewhere to conduct meaningful research andpromote culturally responsive Mental Health J. KirmayerMontreal, January 2001451. INTRODUCTIONThe Mental Health of aboriginal Peoples :Transformations of Identity and Community1 Laurence J. Kirmayer, Gregory M. Brass, and Caroline L. TaitAbstract: This paper reviews some recent research on the Mental Health ofthe First Nations, Inuit and M tis of Canada.

7 We summarize evidence forthe social origins of Mental Health problems and illustrate the ongoingresponses of individuals and communities to the legacy of discontinuity and oppression have been linked to high rates ofdepression, alcoholism, suicide, and violence in many communities, withthe most dramatic impact on youth. Despite these challenges, manycommunities have done well and research is needed to identify the factorsthat promote wellness. Cultural psychiatry can contribute to rethinkingmental Health services and Health promotion for Indigenous populationsand sum : Cet article examine un certain nombre de recherches r centesportant sur la sant mentale des Premi res Nations, des Inuits et desM tis du Canada.

8 Nous r capitulons les preuves militant en faveur desorigines sociales des probl mes de sant mentale et illustrons les r ponsesactuelles d individus et de communaut s face l h ritage de lacolonisation. La discontinuit culturelle et l oppression ont t associ es des taux lev s de d pression, d alcoolisme, de suicide, et de violencedans de nombreuses communaut s, avec l impact le plus dramatiqueexerc sur la jeunesse. En d pit de ces d fis, nombre de communaut ss en sont tr s bien tir es et de la recherche s av re n cessaire afin depouvoir identifier les facteurs qui favorisent le bien- tre.

9 La psychiatrieculturelle peut contribuer repenser les services de soins en sant mentale et la promotion de la sant pour les populations et communaut the world, Indigenous Peoples have experienced rapid culturechange, marginalization, and absorption into a global economy with littleregard for their autonomy. Cultural discontinuity has been linked to highrates of depression, alcoholism, suicide, and violence in many communities,with the most dramatic impact on youth. Despite these challenges, manycommunities have done well.

10 This paper will explore issues in the mentalhealth of the First Nations, Inuit and M tis Peoples of Canada. We firstsummarize the social origins of distress among the original inhabitants ofNorth America. We then discuss the range and magnitude of the individual 1 A version of this paper appeared in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry collective problems caused by this history of systematic suppression anddislocation. We also consider some of the ongoing transformations ofindividual and collective identity and forms of community that hold the seedsof revitalization and renewal for aboriginal Peoples .