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One of the most important aspects regarding aboriginal health is the respect shown to Elders. They are the only link future generations have to their past culture and history. Elders were once banned by the government and churches from performing or celebrating any traditional ceremonies. It is not until the changing times that now these people stories are being sought after. They have been characterized as “oral historians, guardians of the Secrets, interpreters of the Life and as unusual teachers and way showers to the people” (Long & Dickason, 2000, p.32). It is only now that their secrets are being told of the assimilation and colonization.
“In order to survive in the 20th century, we must really come to grips with the white man’s culture and with white ways. We must stop lamenting the past. The white man has many good things. Borrow. Master and use his technology. Discover and define the harmonies between the two general cultures, between the basic values of the Indian Way and those of Western civilization – and thereby forge a new and stronger sense of identity. For, one to be fully Indian today, we must become bilingual and bicultural. We have never had to do this before. In so doing we will survive as Indians, true to our past. We have always survived. Our history tells us so” (Long & Dickason, 2000, p.35). It is this statement that reflects their wide capacity of knowledge and strength. It is then implied that we celebrate their lives and listen to the stories of their history to learn the ways of the past. The Elders and “their qualities of mind (intuition, intellect, memory, imagination) and emotion, their profound and refined moral sense manifest in an exquisite sense of humor, in a sense of caring and communication finesse in teaching and counselling, together with a high level of spiritual and psychic attainment, are perceived as clear behavioural indicators deserving careful attention, if not compelling emulation…to relate to Elders, to observe and listen carefully, and to come to understand the what , why and how such behaviors, grounds or enroots one, so to speak, in the living earth of Native Tradition” (Long & Dickason, 2000, p.38). References Long, D., & Dickason, P.O. (2000). Visions of the Heart: Canadian Aboriginal Issues. Toronto, ONT: Harcourt Canada. Image of Elder: © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Health (2005). |
