letsemot, “togetherness”: exploring how connection to land,
TRANSCRIPT
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Primary Research
Letsemot, “Togetherness”: Exploring How Connection to Land,
Water, and Territory Influences Health and Wellness with First
Nations Knowledge Keepers and Youth in the Fraser Salish
Region of British Columbia
Krista Stelkia, Lindsay Beck, Anita Manshadi, Ashlyn Jensen Fisk, Evan Adams, Annette J.
Browne, Corrine Dixon, Diane McEachern, Wendy Ritchie, Shannon McDonald, Bonnie Henry,
Namaste Marsden, Daniele Behn-Smith, Jeff Reading
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords:
Connection to land
Water
Territory
Indigenous determinants of health
Indigenous health
Indigenous knowledge
https://doi.org/10.32799/ijih.v16i2.33206
Connection to land has been identified as a central determinant of the health and
well-being of First Nations in Canada. The wholistic, interconnected, spiritual,
and sacred relationship that many Indigenous Peoples have with the land is an
integral part of strengthening physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional health and
well-being. However, there has been little empirical evidence on how to assess,
measure, and report on connection to land for First Nations Peoples. Using a Two-
Eyed Seeing approach, this study explores what connection to land, water, and
territory means for health and wellness for First Nations in the Fraser Salish
region in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada. Data were collected
through a sharing circle with five First Nations Knowledge Keepers and five
youth from Stó:lō communities as part of a land-based gathering in Stó:lō
territory. Three themes were identified: (a) “the spirits of the land, water, and
territory are within us”: the intersection of cultural identity, spirituality, ancestral
knowledge, and health and well-being; (b) letsemot, “togetherness”: relationality;
and (c) disruptions and new ways of living. For Stó:lō Peoples, connection to the
land is an integral component of health and well-being. Connection to land was
found to strongly influence physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional aspects of
health while also intersecting with Stó:lō cultural identity, spirituality, ancestral
knowledge, and ways of living. The findings can be used to inform the
development of an indicator for connection to land, water, and territory as a
measurement of ecological wellness for the First Nations Population Health and
Wellness Agenda in BC.
A U T H O R I N F O
Krista Stelkia, MA, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Email:
Lindsay Beck, MSc, Office of the Chief Medical Officer, First Nations Health Authority, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Anita Manshadi, BA, Office of the Chief Medical Officer, First Nations Health Authority
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Ashlyn Jensen Fisk, BA, Office of the Chief Medical Officer, First Nations Health Authority
Evan Adams, MD, MPH, Office of the Chief Medical Officer, First Nations Health Authority
Annette J. Browne, PhD, MSN, RN, School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Corinne Dixon, Regional Engagement, First Nations Health Authority
Diane McEachern, BA, Regional Engagement, First Nations Health Authority
Wendy Ritchie, BEd, LSC, Regional Engagement, First Nations Health Authority
Shannon McDonald, MD, Office of the Chief Medical Officer, First Nations Health Authority
Bonnie Henry, MD, MPH FRCPC, Office of the Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia Ministry of Health, Victoria, British
Columbia, Canada
Namaste Marsden, BA, LLB, Community Health and Wellness Services, First Nations Health Authority
Daniele Behn-Smith, MD, Office of the Provincial Health Officer, British Columbia Ministry of Health
Jeff Reading, PhD, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the Stó:lō communities for welcoming us into their
territory. Thank you to the Knowledge Keepers and youth who shared a wealth of Indigenous
knowledge with us. We would like to thank the Fraser Salish Regional Team, who made the
land-based gathering possible, along with Keiten Brown and Jasmine Feather Dionne for
assisting with data collection and transcription. This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes
of Health Research.
Introduction
The wholistic, interconnected, spiritual, and sacred connection to land has been identified
as a central determinant of the health and well-being of First Nations in Canada (Greenwood &
de Leeuw, 2007; Labun & Emblen, 2007; Lines et al., 2019). Although conceptualizations and
understandings differ between Indigenous Nations, communities, and even families, Colomeda
and Wenzel (2000) explain that broadly, connections between land and health for Indigenous
people derive from “an ancient and deep respect for the land, embodied in the spiritual concept
of Earth as Sacred Mother” (p. 245). From this perspective, the land provides everything needed
to live a life of good health, including access to medicines, food, water, clean air, and spiritual
connections (Colomeda & Wenzel, 2000). All of these connections interact and create an
intricate foundation for health and wellness of Indigenous people.
For many Indigenous people, access to land and to traditional territories supports critical
social determinants of health, such as the ability to harvest food, be physically active, and have
spiritual connectedness (Parlee et al., 2005; Tobias & Richmond, 2014). The paramount
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importance of jurisdiction and access to lands was reaffirmed when the United Nations declared
it a fundamental human right of Indigenous Peoples “to maintain and strengthen their distinctive
spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands,
territories, waters and coastal seas” (United Nations, 2008, p. 10). As of October 2019, British
Columbia (BC) is the first province in Canada to formally put forward new legislation that will
put the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into action
by aligning its provincial laws with the declaration (Bellrichard, 2019; Government of British
Columbia, n.d.).
In BC, a majority of the province is located on the unceded traditional territories of First
Nations Peoples, land that was never legally surrendered or subject to treaty negotiations
(Palmater, 2019). Therefore, BC First Nations Peoples continue to live on their traditional
territories in government-defined reserves, as well as elsewhere on their traditional territories
which may include both urban and rural areas. First Nations Peoples’ relationship with the land
has been disrupted by ongoing colonialism, which continues to undermine First Nations self-
determination, dispossess people of their lands, and impose environmental degradation (Elsey,
2013; Greenwood & Lindsay, 2019). Concerns about the impacts of industrial activities are
being raised by First Nations across BC (Shandro et al., 2017). A recent example of industrial
impacts on connection to land was witnessed in the 2014 Mount Polley Mine tailings dam breach
when millions of cubic metres of mining wastewater and material waste were released into
waterways on the first day salmon fishing opened for First Nations (Government of British
Columbia, 2014). The dam failure resulted in environmental dispossession, emotional stress,
altered dietary patterns, and changes in physical activity as a result of decreases in fishing and
cultural practices for First Nations in this area (Shandro et al., 2017).
The dominant discourse of the determinants of health approach still does not fully engage
with the connections between land, identity, culture, and health and well-being for Indigenous
people. Similarly, there is limited understanding of how to define and measure the relationship
that Indigenous people have with their land, water, and territories. Connections to land are
complex, and there are different understandings between individuals, families, communities, and
Nations related to how land is valued, used, and accessed. To truly lead to First Nations health
system transformation in BC, a deeper understanding of the connections between land and health
is needed to help shift the current paradigm toward strengths-based and wholistic programs,
services, and initiatives that reflect the First Nations perspective on wellness (First Nations
Health Authority [FNHA], n.d.-a).
Due to the imperative role of land in First Nations’ health and wellness, the FNHA Chief
Medical Officer and the BC Provincial Health Officer sought to establish an indicator for
monitoring connection to land as part of the First Nations Population Health and Wellness
Agenda, a 10-year vision for measuring and tracking health of First Nations in BC. With this
agenda, there is explicit intent to shift away from a deficit-based narrative of Indigenous health
toward an approach that recognizes and promotes strengths and resilience of First Nations.
Drawing attention to the land as a key determinant of health highlights the need to promote the
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factors that revitalize and renew connection to land among BC First Nations: increased self-
determination; access to and stewardship of lands; and implementation of First Nations-driven
programs and initiatives that facilitate connection to land. Therefore, this study aimed to explore
how connections to land, water, and territory relate to health and wellness, by being on the land
and in community with Stó:lō Knowledge Keepers and youth from the Fraser Salish region of
BC.
Methods
The conceptual approach of Two-Eyed Seeing guided the study. Developed by Mi’kmaw
Elder Albert Marshall, the concept of Two-Eyed Seeing refers to seeing “from one eye with the
strengths of Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the
strengths of Western knowledges and ways of knowing” (Bartlett et al., 2012, p. 335). This work
is part of a larger study exploring how connections to land, water, and territory relate to health
and wellness for BC First Nations. The province of BC is made up of five regional health
authorities including the Interior, Fraser Salish, Northern, Vancouver Coastal and Vancouver
Island regions (FNHA, n.d.-b). Embodying a Two-Eyed Seeing approach and respecting the
distinct and diverse perspectives of Nations within each region, this paper will focus solely on
Fraser Stó:lō.
Stó:lō People and Territory
The research was conducted in Stó:lō territory, which is located in the Fraser Salish
region of southwestern mainland BC (FNHA, n.d.-b). The Fraser Salish people are composed of
32 urban and rural communities with a population of 9,000 registered First Nations people
(FNHA, n.d.-b). Stó:lō is the Halkomelem word for the Fraser River but is also used in their self-
identification as “People of the River” (Carlson, 2001; Schaepe, 2008). Stó:lō refer to their
traditional territory with a Halkomelem word, S'ólh Téméxw (Carlson, 2001). Mobile hunter
gatherers within the S'ólh Téméxw depended on the land by harvesting the resources of the land,
and of the rivers, through fishing, foraging, and hunting.
Recruitment and Participants
Following ethical approval from the Simon Fraser University Research Ethics Board,
recruitment of participants and data collection were conducted from May to July 2019. Using
purposive sampling, four First Nations Knowledge Keepers and five youth from the Stó:lō
communities were invited to participate in a land-based gathering to explore various sacred land
sites and partake in a sharing circle. With guidance from the Fraser Salish Regional Engagement
Team, we identified First Nations Knowledge Keepers from the Fraser Salish region who carry
extensive knowledge regarding health of the land, water, and territory, and invited them to
participate in our study. A total of nine participants were recruited, five women (three
Knowledge Keepers and two youth) and four men (one Knowledge Keeper and three youth). The
participants represented eight of the 32 First Nations communities in the Fraser Salish region.
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Data Collection: Land-Based Gathering and Sharing Circle
Data were collected through the sharing circle component of a one-and-a-half-day land-
based gathering. To support ongoing relationship development and trust-building between
participants and researchers, the first day of the gathering involved a welcoming ceremony in the
Coqualeetza Longhouse, a bus tour to four sacred sites in the area (see Figure 1), and an evening
dinner with traditional Stó:lō dancing. The second day took place outdoors at Shxwhá:y Village
Lake within Stó:lō/Ts’elxwéyeqw traditional territory, with an official welcome from Shxwhá:y
Village Chief Councillor, followed by the sharing circle. Participants and researchers then
paddled together around a lake in two traditional canoes as part of the process of building trust,
to hear the participants’ firsthand stories while on the land together, and to promote opportunities
for hearing teachings about the importance of canoeing and the waterways to the Stó:lō. The day
ended with reflections from participants and researchers and a travelling song performed by the
youth participants.
Figure 1
Youth Guiding Research Team Members and Knowledge Keepers to Sailor Bar Rock, the
Natural Boundary Between the Stó:lō and Nlaka’pamux Territories, 2019
Prior to taking part in the sharing circle, participants were informed of the purpose of the
study and had an opportunity to review the informed consent form and provide written consent.
Led by the principal researcher, the sharing circle was hosted over two hours and was video and
audio recorded. The sharing circle was guided by the following questions:
1. How does connection to land, water, and territory influence health and wellness (mental,
physical, spiritual, and emotional)?
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2. What facilitates, strengthens, or improves connections to land, water, and territory?
3. What is preventing, inhibiting, or reducing connection to land, water, and territory?
4. What signs or signals do you look to, to know or understand the strengths of connection
to land, water, and territory as an individual or as a community?
After the sharing circle, Knowledge Keepers and youth were gifted an honorarium to recognize
their participation in the study.
Data Analysis
The audio recording of the sharing circle was transcribed verbatim. A subset of the
research team was formed to complete the data analysis and consisted of seven members who
were BC First Nations and non-First Nations. Each member began by reviewing the transcript
and individually conducting a thematic analysis to identify themes that emerged related to the
research questions. Once completed, a collective review of all themes, similarities, and
differences was undertaken to identify the final set of themes. The rigour and credibility of the
analysis was assessed by sharing the preliminary findings with members of the Fraser Salish
Regional Team and broader research team. They indicated that the overall framing of the
findings resonated with their experiences and represented a coherent account of the complexity
of connection to land, water, and territory and its relationships to health and well-being for Stó:lō
Peoples.
Each participant provided consent to have their name and Nation affiliation identified
when using their direct quotes from the sharing circle. Preliminary findings were shared with
participants for feedback and validation. The validation process was a commitment to
continuously engage with participants and ensure that what was being interpreted by the research
team was accurate.
Results
Three interconnected themes about how connection to land, water, and territory influence
the health and well-being of Stó:lō participants emerged: (a) “the spirits of the land, water, and
territory are within us”: the intersection of cultural identity, spirituality, ancestral knowledge, and
health and well-being; (b) letsemot, “togetherness”: relationality; and (c) disruptions and new
ways of living.
“The Spirits of the Land, Water, and Territory Are Within Us”: The Intersection of
Cultural Identity, Spirituality, Ancestral Knowledge, and Health and Well-Being
This theme addresses the strengths of identity and profound spiritual connections of land,
water, and territory expressed by participants throughout the sharing circle. Spiritual land
practices, ceremonies, and specific resources from the land were all seen as contributing to the
health and wellness of Stó:lō people. In speaking about their personal, family, and community
connections to land, participants indicated how land is so intertwined with their lives that it
intersects with their cultural identity, spirituality, and ancestral knowledge. Therefore, the
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relationship with the land is multidimensional, and participants described the land as being part
of who they are and, in turn, they are part of the land.
When asked about connections between land and health, Stó:lō participants emphasized
that “the trees and the environment around us are alive just as the spirits within us” (Tyneshia
Commodore, Soowahlie and Lummi First Nation). They said that land forms the basis for
personal and communal identity, purpose, spirituality, ceremony, and ancestral knowledge, all of
which were felt to be central to health and well-being. One youth described the all-encompassing
role land plays for the Stó:lō ways of life:
First Nations have been connected to land for centuries over so many generations. It’s a
spiritual connection through the land, through ceremony, through ancestral grounds …
everything in the ecosystem is balanced, everything is one. Think of First Nations as a
part of that circle—of being within that as one. … We/First Nations have depended on the
land and everything for centuries. … The land has played a vital role. (Tyneshia
Commodore, Soowahlie and Lummi First Nation)
Many participants discussed the sacred role of water and cedar in their territory, saying,
“We pray every morning for the water because we can’t breathe without water, the plants can’t
breathe without water … our tree of life” (Wendy Ritchie, Skowkale First Nation) and “Wash
your walls and furniture with a cedar tea to uplift your house, and we put the cedar above our
door so when people walk through they have a good feeling” (Yvonne Tumangday, Sts’ailes
First Nation). For another Knowledge Keeper, water was described as being similar to the water
of a mother’s womb, as protective and a source of wellness. This comparison demonstrates that
the land is viewed as a caretaker, family-like and one with the Stó:lō.
In many instances, participants recounted spiritual land practice traditions, continued
from time immemorial, that provide a way to connect to sacred sites on the land and positively
influence health and wellness. A youth from Katzie First Nation explored how being in those
sacred places supports practices that encourage healing, coping, and personal development:
Being in the mountains, being at the lake, being on the canoe. These are all ways that our
people have healed over the last hundreds of years, thousands of years even. Something
that we have practised since the beginning of our time. So, I find that one of the positive,
good ways of healing, mourning, grieving, growing. (Mavis Pierre, Katzie First Nation)
Mavis Pierre further stated, “If we are not connected to the land, the water, and the territory it
affects our mental health,” showing how her journey of seeking refuge on the land, water, and
territory supported her mental well-being. Lack of connection to land was also considered a
factor in poor mental wellness “because a lot of people have a hard time understanding where
they’re from.” Lakota Julian (Skwah and Matsqui First Nation) brought up his grandmother’s
advice: “Any place you are, any place you go is a part of you, it’s a part of your story, it’s a part
of where you come from.”
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Connection to land was described as being closely linked with personal and cultural
identity. One youth participant explained, “If you don’t know where you’re from and if you
don’t know where you come from—you don’t know where you’re going” (Lakota Julian, Skwah
and Matsqui First Nation). For Knowledge Keeper Virginia Peters (Sts’ailes First Nation),
cultural revitalization including connection to land was facilitated by maintaining strong
relationships and interactions with Elders, who were able to transmit valuable teachings and
ancestral knowledge. Participants referenced how connection to land has existed for all of living
memory, passed through generations. This steadfastness of territory and connection to land over
millennia shows how deeply embedded land is in ancestral knowledge, stories, and ways of
being. Traditional practices and ancestral knowledge were described by two Knowledge Keepers
as being a part of who they are: “We have lots of stories to share and some of those stories aren’t
in a book, they’re in our hearts, they’re in our DNA” (Yvonne Tumangday, Sts’ailes First
Nation).
Without our canoes, without our dances, without our songs, without our sweat lodges,
without our longhouses, we’d be just common people like everyone else. We wouldn’t be
Aboriginal, we wouldn’t be Stó:lō, we wouldn’t be Haida, we wouldn’t be Cree.
Whatever that means to you. So, take what’s in your blood, take what’s in your heart,
take the walk and the path that the ancestors led for you because they led it for you for a
reason. They led the way for you to follow. (Wendy Ritchie, Skowkale First Nation)
Having the ancestral knowledge and a strong sense of identity was described as a great
source of wealth, beyond conventional monetary terms. Yvonne Tumangday (Sts’ailes First
Nation) described her brother speaking about the wealth of the people: “Our late brother Tim
used to say, ‘We’re really rich. We’re so rich. We’re not rich with money but we’re rich with
what we have. Our knowledge, we have lots.” Youth also spoke of the important role that family
and community members had in teaching and passing ancestral knowledge on to them, which
was critical in facilitating a direct connection to their Stó:lō identity.
Letsemot, “Togetherness”: Relationality
Participants expressed how a common belief for Stó:lō people is that everything is
interconnected, and this concept was relayed in the word letsemot. For Knowledge Keeper
Virginia Peters, “being letsemot” is “working together in a really good way to be stronger”
because the more people can “get moving together with a good heart, a good mind, [and] a good
spirit,” the more they are able to make things “smoother and [then] we can really accomplish a
whole lot more.” This interconnection is a part of the spiritual and ceremonial roots that ground
Stó:lō Peoples’ ways of living. Well-being is impacted by land for the Stó:lō because of the deep
understanding that people are connected to all things, living and not, to maintain the balance of
the land, water, territory, and self. Importantly, the land was not seen as a distinct entity separate
from the people; for them, everything is connected, and the living and the nonliving are in
balance as one.
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During the sharing circle, Knowledge Keeper Wendy Ritchie shared her origin story, as it
was told to her, to illustrate how important it is to explain letsemot by starting at the beginning.
In the creation story told by Wendy, people are created from the earth and take up their place in
the world that includes the nonhuman kin and the nonliving kin. The salmon, berries, and other
beings offer themselves to the people, rather than being considered resources to be taken and
used by humans. The people are of the land and therefore have a responsibility to do their part to
maintain balance: “There’s many stories of creation, even within our own clans we have our own
stories of creation, this is how we in return respect all that’s given to us” (Wendy Ritchie,
Skowkale First Nation).
Togetherness, or letsemot, also played a role in the way participants considered their
relationships with others as positive influences on health and wellness. For the participants, the
experience of being out on the land together with family and community members facilitated a
stronger connection to the territory. Knowledge Keeper Yvonne Tumangday expressed these
important linkages as “all the big families that get together and they can fish together and they
berry pick together and take care of their family.” Similarly, several Knowledge Keepers in the
sharing circle expressed letsemot through the concept of “all my relations”:
Where the term all my relations come from, we say ‘all my relations’ because we’re no
better than each other as we sit here equal. We’re no better than the plants and the grass
that we walk on, the trees that grow above us. (Wendy Ritchie, Skowkale First Nation)
As with the origin story, where the nonhuman kin offer themselves to the people, “we’re no
better than the plants and the grass” shows the equal footing that humans are placed on with all
nonhuman kin in Stó:lō worldview. The humility, deep respect, and lack of a hierarchy shows
that letsemot means all things must exist together in balance, as parts of the whole.
Disruptions and New Ways of Living
Examples of the impacts of colonialism and intergenerational trauma were discussed by
participants as disrupting connections between family, land, and culture, including economic
development, lack of education, children in care, loss of Elders, drugs and alcohol, and the prison
system. Knowledge Keeper Virginia Peters (Sts’ailes First Nation) said that the disruption
caused by her parents attending residential school, and the humiliation of punishment they
experienced for practising traditional culture and language, “was ingrained in their minds.” As a
result, she said that her parents “weren’t going to teach us all of our language and our ways.”
Several participants discussed the changes in the way Stó:lō people connect with the land as a
result of technology. Technology was viewed as a driver of cultural revitalization, but it was also
seen as a disruptor to the transfer of First Nations knowledge. One youth discussed how
technology, such as the use of phones and other devices, was disconnecting the younger
generation from culture, family, and learning and engaging in Stó:lō ways of living:
I find that is something we are kind of losing with our younger generations because we
are so caught up in technology … we are so caught up in our devices. … I find that it is
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one of the ways we are not being as connected [as before] because thousands of years
ago our ancestors didn’t have these devices, they didn’t have these distractions, and at
that point in time we were a lot stronger: mentally, physically, emotionally, and
spiritually. (Mavis Pierre, Katzie First Nation)
When describing the process by which technology was slowly introduced, accepted, and
integrated by Stó:lō Peoples, one Knowledge Keeper reflected on how the shared fundamental
values remained as a part of their identity and new ways of living:
Our people didn’t turn down a knife when it was presented to them to cut a fish a little
quicker. Our people didn’t turn down a gun when it was presented to them to shoot a
deer. Our people didn’t turn down a car when it was presented to them, so things change,
things evolve. … Things change, our outlook changes, but our letsemot stays the same.
(Wendy Ritchie, Skowkale First Nation)
The participants referenced multiple sources of disruption to connections to land and culture
stemming from colonialism. Despite the adversity, the letsemot and cultural values remained
throughout times of change. The preservation of these fundamental values was viewed by
participants as a core element of what keeps them healthy, strong, and uniquely Stó:lō.
Discussion
The findings suggest that for Stó:lō Peoples, connection to the land is an integral
component of health and well-being for individuals, families, and communities. Connection to
land has been described as a complex manifestation that involves personal relationships not only
with the land but with all living and nonliving things. The intricate intersections between health
and connection to land, along with cultural identity, spirituality, ancestral knowledge, and Stó:lō
ways of living, are profound. What is evident from the findings is that this complex
interconnection and relationship with the land, water, and territory cannot be comprehensively
understood using a Western reductionist framework. Connection to land is not an objective
outcome that is easily measurable, like physical activity or water quality. What Knowledge
Keepers and youth spoke of is a complex relational concept, one that is not currently captured in
the social determinants of health framework, which still tends to dichotomize the social and
biophysical spheres of health and well-being.
The three interconnected themes found in this study speak to the Stó:lō worldview, in
which identity is interwoven with the land and the ancestors. The themes are consistent with
other studies that have found land plays a sacred role in First Nations wellness beyond that of
physical nourishment and resources (Labun & Emblen, 2007; Lines et al., 2019; Wilson et al.,
2019). The source of knowledge for Stó:lō encompasses spiritual introspection and experiential
learning and how relationships with community and land must be built upon practice and
presence on traditional territories. This worldview represents a dramatic departure from Western
ways of knowing, and has been reported in other Nations including the Nuu-cha-nulth of
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Vancouver Island, for whom the spiritual world is where all knowledge originates (Atleo, 2004).
According to Schultz et al. (2016), such relational worldviews of health suggest that participation
in the social, physical, and spiritual world is a “culturally-specific pathway to health” (p. 22).
A dominant theme found in our study was the concept of letsemot, which has a profound
meaning to the Stó:lō people. In their worldview, all living and nonliving beings in the spiritual
and physical worlds are woven together. The findings suggest this relational strength of letsemot
is central to fostering resilience for the Stó:lō in spite of all the challenges posed by acts of
colonialism. Previous studies have identified the land as a commodity or source of health
through economic prosperity (Parlee et al., 2005). Economic value was absent from the
discussions of land and wellness by the Stó:lō participants in this study. Instead, ancestral and
cultural knowledge was discussed as being a source of richness with more value than monetary
wealth. Previous literature found land degradation, dispossession, and industry were contributing
factors to disrupting connection to land for First Nations Peoples (Brown et al., 2012; Shandro et
al., 2017). Interestingly, while industrial impacts on connection to land and health were not
raised by participants in this study, the ongoing impacts of colonialism and technology were
identified as disruptions to the transfer of ancestral knowledge to the next generation.
Limitations
Several limitations of the study should be noted. First, the knowledge gathered in this
study only represents the thoughts, perspectives, and stories of the participants who attended the
land-based gathering. Participants did not represent all 32 First Nations communities in the
Fraser Salish region, only eight communities. As the nature of this event was intimate, it
consisted of only one sharing circle with four Knowledge Keepers and five youth. Therefore, the
findings from this study are context dependent, and any generalizations should be made with
caution. Second, while the inclusion of both Knowledge Keepers and youth was meant to
facilitate intergenerational knowledge transmission, the presence of Elders and Knowledge
Keepers may have influenced youth participants (Andersson & Ledogar, 2008). Third, there is
difficulty and “inherent subtlety to dancing between worlds” in reconciling what is required to
bring together First Nations ways of knowing with academic/Western ways of knowing in the
Two-Eyed Seeing method, considering the tensions and power dynamics between them (Hunt,
2014, p. 28).
Future Research
Future research on connection to land, water, and territory with Stó:lō Peoples is required
to deepen understanding of the influence of such connections on health and well-being. Future
studies should aim to explore the thoughts, knowledge, and experiences of Knowledge Keepers
and youth from all 32 First Nations communities in the Fraser Salish region to better understand
the similarities and differences at a regional level. To further advance knowledge of connection
to land, water, and territory, exploring the perspectives and voices of those who live away from
home or in urban environments is needed. Importantly, to facilitate ways of acting on the
knowledge generated from this type of exploratory research, future research should focus on
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identifying effective, acceptable, and relevant ways of measuring the pathways between
connection to land, water, and territory and health outcomes at a community, regional, and, if
feasible, provincial level to help inform population health policy and programming. In addition,
research should explore and identify effective community-level interventions which will help to
facilitate or maintain stronger connections to land, water, and territory for First Nations Peoples.
Conclusion
This study explored connections between First Nations land and health through a land-
based gathering and sharing circle on Stó:lō territory in the Fraser Salish region of BC. The
findings demonstrate that connection to land, water, and territory is integral to all aspects of
physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional health and wellness for Stó:lō people. Stó:lō identity
exists in relationship with the land, water, and territory that is ultimately letsemot, or
interconnected with all things. Environmental dispossession and other acts of colonization have
caused disruption in the knowledge transfer from Knowledge Keepers to youth. An overarching
focus of this study was to provide intellectual space to explore these essential connections in a
way that was cooperative and co-created. By disrupting the process of traditional academic
knowledge creation, our study aimed to create an approach that was more meaningful to First
Nations, to explore what health and wellness means from their own lived experience.
This study has contributed toward a deeper understanding of how Stó:lō people view
connection to land, water, and territory and its relationships to health and wellness. The findings
help address a gap in existing literature on connection to land, water, and territory and will help
to inform the creation of an ecological wellness indicator in the First Nations Population Health
and Wellness Agenda. In focusing attention on connection to land as an Indigenous determinant
of health, we hope to catalyze a shift within the mainstream health system, which tends to view
the environment as a source of hazards or harm, toward a view of the environment as a source of
identity, healing, health, and wellness. Shifting attention from conventional social determinants
of health to ones which are closely intertwined and connected to Indigenous health and well-
being will result in more advanced thinking on how best to support Indigenous self-
determination, health, and healing.
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