Health Law

"Recent debates about the health of First Nations peoples have drawn a flurry of public attention and controversy, and have placed the relationship between Aboriginal well-being and reserve locations and allotments in the spotlight. Aboriginal access to medical care and the transfer of funds and responsibility for health from the federal government to individual bands and tribal councils are also bones of contention. Comprehensive discussions of such issues, however, has often been hampered by a lack of historical analysis.

"A monolingual Cree speaker from Onion Lake, Saskatchewan, Kâ-pimwêwêhahk / Jim Jim Kâ-Nîpitêhtêw was a highly respected orator; in later years he served as senior member of the Council of Elders at the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural College in Saskatoon. His discourses have great force an authority, and no speeches of similar scope of depth have ever been published in their original form. In these eight speeches, Kâ-pimwêwêhahk speaks of his concerns for young people, the proper performance of rituals, and also gives an account of the signing of Treaty Six.

“Born in 1912, Mrs. Alice Ahenakew grew up in a traditional Cree community in north-central Saskatchewan. As a young woman, she married Andrew Ahenakew, a member of the prominent Saskatchewan family, who later became a well-known Anglican priest and Cree healer.

"In 'Healing through Art' Nadia Ferrara shows how art therapy has been used as a successful form of healing among Crees. The result of her work as an art therapist in communities in northern Quebec, the book provides a comprehensive analysis of the nature of her patients' experiences. Ferrara examines how individual experience of trauma is perceived, defined, and narrated by Cree individuals and discusses the role that Cree culture and Cree definitions of self play in therapy.

"The area between the Great Lakes and Lake Winnipeg, bounded on the north by the Hudson Bay lowlands, is sometimes known as the “Petit Nord.” Providing a link between the cities of eastern Canada and the western interior, the Petit Nord was a critical communication and transportation hub for the North American fur trade for over 200 years.

"The Supreme Court of Canada’s recognition of a fiduciary relationship between the federal government and Aboriginal Peoples established important guiding principles for Crown-Aboriginal relations. The precise “nature and scope of this fiduciary relationship”, along with the political, legal and financial implications stemming from the relationship, have been the source of debate among Aboriginal Peoples, the Crown and the courts. The federal government recognizes the existence of a fiduciary relationship and that fiduciary obligations are owed to Aboriginal Peoples.

"The Supreme Court of Canada’s recognition of a fiduciary relationship between the federal government and Aboriginal Peoples established important guiding principles for Crown-Aboriginal relations. The precise 'nature and scope of this fiduciary relationship,' along with the political, legal and financial implications stemming from the relationship, have been the source of debate among Aboriginal Peoples, the Crown and the courts. The federal government recognizes the existence of a fiduciary relationship and that fiduciary obligations are owed to Aboriginal Peoples.

"Aboriginal Health in Canada discusses the complex web of physiological, psychological, spiritual, historical, sociological, cultural, economic, and environmental factors that contribute to health and disease patterns among the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. The authors explore the evidence for changes in patterns of health and disease from prior to European contact to the present. They discuss medical systems and the place of medicine within various Aboriginal cultures and trace the relationship between politics and the organization of health services for Aboriginal peoples.

"Using conversations, stories and art, the author shows how Kimberley desert communities have a cultural value and relationship described as kanyirninpa or holding. McCoy uses examples from Australian Rules football, petrol sniffing and imprisonment to reveal the possibilities for lasting improvements to men's health based on kanyirninpa's expression of deep and enduring cultural values and relationships.