Abstract
Objectives: This paper presents two arguments relevant to both past and present efforts to improve Indigenous health. It advocates for ways of thinking about and doing health promotion that begin with empowerment to help people gain a greater level of control over their lives and circumstances.
Conclusion: A combination of the strengths of different approaches is in fact an empowering, dialectical view that can be achieved by considering Aboriginal people not as children in need, but as capable and efficacious individuals.