Increased Indigenous Participation in Environmental Decision-Making: A Policy Analysis for the Improvement of Indigenous Health

Abstract

Improving the physical environment and Indigenous participation in environmental decision-making is inherently related to the improvement of health among Indigenous Peoples. Improving the state of the physical environment necessitates increased involvement by Indigenous communities in decision-making and policy development. This involvement must integrate local traditional knowledge (TK) as an important tool in the decolonization of environmental decision-making, and a necessary step towards the improvement of Indigenous health. With a focus on the physical environment as a social determinant of Indigenous health, this article highlights the need for increased Indigenous participation in the decision-making process on environmental issues and proposes a framework to accomplish this outcome. Indigenous-centred policy frameworks should include the following five key principles: (a) the recognition of Indigenous knowledge, (b) the recognition of the inherent right to self-determination, (c) the use of an inclusive and integrative knowledge system, (d) the use of community-based participatory approaches, and (e) the use of circular and holistic viewpoints.

Working With an Aboriginal Community to Understand Drinking Water Perceptions and Acceptance in Rural New South Wales

“…It is recognised that policy frameworks involving Aboriginal peoples should recognise Aboriginal knowledge, as well as the right to self-determination and participation in decision-making (Black & McBean, 2016). This recognition must also include drinking water.…”

Examining Indigenous food sovereignty as a conceptual framework for health in two urban communities in Northern Ontario, Canada

“…It calls attention to the inadequacy of popular, neo-liberal and individualized approaches to Indigenous health, while positioning land and settler colonialism as powerful, yet under theorized, social determinants of health. Importantly, we seek to address calls for increased Indigenous participation in those spaces where environmental issues and Indigenous Health Promotion intersect (9).…”

Systems, Self, and Sovereignty: Non-Indigenous Practitioners Negotiate Whiteness in Aboriginal Partnerships

“…First Nations traditional knowledge and land management techniques are now being incorporated into environmental management policy and practice internationally (Black & McBean, 2016) and in Australian (McCarthy, 1996). First Nations Peoples are expected to work in co-management partnerships under bureaucratic systems fortified by Western epistemologies, which underpin the authority of the colonised countries such as Australia.…”

“…First Nations Peoples are expected to work in co-management partnerships under bureaucratic systems fortified by Western epistemologies, which underpin the authority of the colonised countries such as Australia. This is a site where embedded Whiteness in both government institutions and its staff intersect and affect the well-being of First Nations Peoples (Black & McBean, 2016;Hemming, 2007). Policymakers, scientists, engineers, and researchers lack in their understandings about how to move forward with incorporating Indigenous environmental management techniques (Black & McBean, 2016).…”

“…This is a site where embedded Whiteness in both government institutions and its staff intersect and affect the well-being of First Nations Peoples (Black & McBean, 2016;Hemming, 2007). Policymakers, scientists, engineers, and researchers lack in their understandings about how to move forward with incorporating Indigenous environmental management techniques (Black & McBean, 2016). As such, this article examines how non-Indigenous DEWNR workers observe and experience these initiatives-How and in what ways do non-Indigenous employees understand and negotiate the partnership?…”