Occupational transaction in support of miyupimaatisiiun (wellness): Eeyou/Eenou community voices

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the results of a community-based study on participation in miyupimaatisiiun (wellness) planning, conducted in partnership with the Eeyou Istchee Cree Nation (Northern Québec, Canada). Nested within a broader developmental and participatory evaluation undertaken by the regional Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay, the study aimed to generate an in-depth understanding of community perspectives on their participation and engagement in local miyupimaatisiiun (wellness) committees (MCs). Over 4 years (2016-2020), 13 visits to four communities, 22 individual conversation-based interviews, and 50 hours of community-based activity observations took place. Data were analysed using an occupational transaction lens to co-construct the meanings and processes of participation in planning for miyupimaatisiiun, and how participants perceive and coordinate their actions with local, regional, and global contexts. This manuscript, the first of two, presents results for three themes addressing the meaning, processes, and challenges to participation: 1) healing from residential school trauma and its intergenerational impacts; 2) revitalizing Cree culture for miyupimaatisiiun, and 3) decolonizing health and wellness systems and policies. Through the concept of ‘occupational consciousness,’ this research suggests that MC members were drawing on their awareness of colonial influences on their own journeys towards healing and cultural recovery as they planned and designed occupations that support community wellness. Implications include the need for cross-community sharing on ways forward for strengthening community cohesion, as well as for improved regional entity acknowledgement of community capacity.

本文介绍了一项关于参与 miyupimaatisiiun（健康）规划的社区研究的结果，该研究是与 Eeyou Istchee Cree Nation（加拿大魁北克北部）合作进行的。该研究是詹姆斯湾地区克里健康和社会服务委员会进行的更广泛的发展和参与评估的一部分，旨在深入了解社区对他们参与当地健康委员会（MCs）的看法。在 4 年多的时间里（2016-2020 年），对四个社区进行了 13 次访问， 22 次基于个人对话的访谈，以及 50 小时的社区活动观察。透过生活活动交换镜头分析数据，以共同构建参与健康规划的意义和过程，以及参与者如何在当地、区域和全球背景下感知和协调自己的行动。这份手稿是两份手稿中的第一份，介绍了三个主题的结果。这些主题涉及参与的意义、过程和挑战：1）寄宿学校创伤的康复及其代际影响； 2) 为健康振兴 Cree 文化，以及 3)为健康和保健系统和政策去殖民化。通过“生活活动意识”的概念，这项研究表明，MC 成员根据他们对殖民影响自己的康复和文化恢复之旅的认识，来规划和设计支持社区健康的活动。其意义包括为加强社区凝聚力以及改进区域实体对社区能力的认可，有必要就向前迈进的方式进行跨社区共享。

Cet article présente les résultats d'une étude communautaire sur la participation à la planification du miyupimaatisiiun (bien-être), menée en partenariat avec la Nation crie d'Eeyou Istchee (Nord du Québec, Canada). Cette étude fait partie d’une évaluation développementale et participative plus large, entreprise par le Conseil régional cri de la santé et des services sociaux de la Baie James et qui visait à générer une compréhension approfondie des perspectives des membres des communautés cries sur leur participation et leur engagement dans les comités miyupimaatisiiun (CM) locaux. Sur une période de 4 ans (2016-2020), 13 visites dans quatre communautés, 22 entretiens individuels basés sur le mode de la conversation, et 50 heures d'observation d'activités communautaires ont eu lieu. Les données ont été analysées selon une perspective transactionnelle de l’occupation, de façon à co-construire le sens et le processus de participation à la planification de miyupimaatisiiun, et la façon dont les participant·es perçoivent et coordonnent leurs actions avec les contextes locaux, régionaux et mondiaux. Ce papier, le premier de deux articles, présente les résultats sur trois thèmes portant sur le sens, les processus et les défis de la participation : 1) la guérison du traumatisme lié aux pensionnats et de ses impacts intergénérationnels ; 2) la revitalisation de la culture crie pour les miyupimaatisiiun ; et 3) la décolonisation des systèmes et des politiques de santé et de bien-être. À travers le concept de « conscience occupationnelle », les résultats de cette étude suggèrent que les membres des communautés culturelles s'appuient sur leur conscience des influences coloniales dans leur propre cheminement vers la guérison et le rétablissement culturel, lorsqu'iels planifient et conçoivent des occupations qui favorisent le bien-être de la communauté. Les résultats de l’étude permettent d’insister sur la nécessité d'un partage intercommunautaire autour des moyens pour renforcer la cohésion communautaire, ainsi que de l’importance d'une meilleure reconnaissance par les entités régionales des capacités communautaires.

Este documento da cuenta de los resultados de un estudio comunitario sobre la participación en la planificación del miyupimaatisiiun (bienestar), realizado en colaboración con la nación cree Eeyou Istchee (norte de Quebec, Canadá). Anidado en una evaluación participativa y de desarrollo más amplia llevada a cabo por la Junta Regional Cree de Salud y Servicios Sociales de la bahía James, el estudio se propuso generar una comprensión profunda de las perspectivas externadas por la comunidad sobre su participación en los comités locales de miyupimaatisiiun (MC). A lo largo de cuatro años (2016-2020), se realizaron 13 visitas a cuatro comunidades, 22 entrevistas individuales basadas en conversaciones y 50 horas de observación de actividades comunitarias. La información recabada se analizó utilizando una lente de transacción ocupacional con la finalidad de coconstruir los significados y los procesos de participación en la planificación del miyupimaatisiiun, así como de comprender la forma en que los participantes perciben y coordinan sus acciones con los contextos locales, regionales y globales. Este manuscrito, el primero de dos, presenta los resultados correspondientes a tres temas que abordan el significado, los procesos y los retos de la participación, a saber: 1) la sanación del trauma provocado por la escuela residencial y sus impactos intergeneracionales; 2) la revitalización de la cultura cree para el miyupimaatisiiun, y 3) la descolonización de los sistemas y las políticas de salud y bienestar. Empleando el concepto de "conciencia ocupacional", esta investigación propone que, al planificar y diseñar ocupaciones que apoyan el bienestar de la comunidad, los miembros del MC recurren a su conciencia sobre las influencias coloniales en sus propias trayectorias hacia la sanación y la recuperación cultural. Entre las implicaciones que ello supone está la necesidad de realizar un intercambio intercomunitario en torno a los caminos a seguir para fortalecer la cohesión comunitaria y mejorar el reconocimiento de las entidades regionales de la capacidad comunitaria.

KEYWORDS:

• Occupational science
• Community participation
• Indigenous health
• Participatory research
• Health planning
• Transactionalism
• Northern Québec

MOTS CLÉS:

• Science de l’occupation
• participation communautaire
• santé autochtone
• recherche participative
• planification de la santé
• perspective transactionnelle
• Nord du Québec

Dedication

This paper is dedicated to the memory of Larry House, deep thinker and community activist.

Acknowledgements

Our research team is affiliated with McGill University and Université de Montréal, both of which are located on unceded land which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst Indigenous peoples, including the Haudenosaunee and Anishinabeg nations. We acknowledge and thank the diverse Indigenous peoples whose presence marks this territory on which peoples of the world now gather. Cree authors and CBHSSJB authors of this paper live and work in Eeyou Istchee territory as defined through the James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement which established categories of land ownership, guardianship, and development rights.

This research would not have been possible without the trust and engagement of the many Cree community members who welcomed the first author onto their unique and wonderful territory, into their planning activities, and as witness to their stories and concerns for their communities, families, friends, and for the generations to come. The authors are incredibly grateful for their openness and indebted to them for their trust and forgiveness for any mistakes and ignorance. Thanks are also extended to the following members of the IAMP evaluation team who played a significant role in the first author’s learning, through their generosity and deep knowledge and understanding of the context and history of the Eeyou Istchee Cree Nation: Darlene Shecapio-Blacksmith, Laura Bearskin, Jeremiah Mianscum, Solomon Awashish, Dr. Robert Carlin, and Donald Ellis. The CBHSSJB Research Advisory Panel provided extensive and thorough feedback on this manuscript, ensuring that the proper historical texts were cited and contextualized. The authors acknowledge the importance of their contribution and extend their gratitude to them for improving this text and ensuring its cultural respect and safety.

This research was funded through significant in-kind contribution on the part of the CBHSSJB, as well as through the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé (postdoctoral award).

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Eeyou refers to Cree living in coastal communities whereas Eenou refers to Cree living in inland communities; their geographical location corresponds to that of the Northern Québec James Bay region.

2 The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, held from 2008-2015, provided an opportunity for residential school survivors and their families to share their experiences and stories in relation to their residential school experience and how they were impacted.

3 Traditional celebration of a child’s first steps and first direct contact of feet with the earth, around the first birthday.

4 The single quotation marks are meant to indicate that, for many First Nation communities, the existence of potential burial sites on the grounds of residential schools was already known to them.