Is Hunting Still Healthy? Understanding the Interrelationships between Indigenous Participation in Land-Based Practices and Human-Environmental Health

Abstract

Indigenous participation in land-based practices such as hunting, fishing, ceremony, and land care has a long history. In recent years, researchers and policy makers have advocated the benefits of these practices for both Indigenous people and the places they live. However, there have also been documented risks associated with participation in these activities. Environmental change brought about by shifts in land use, climate changes, and the accumulation of contaminants in the food chain sit alongside equally rapid shifts in social, economic and cultural circumstances, preferences and practices. To date, the literature has not offered a wide-ranging review of the available cross-disciplinary or cross-ecozone evidence for these intersecting benefits and risks, for both human and environmental health and wellbeing. By utilising hunting as a case study, this paper seeks to fill part of that gap through a transdisciplinary meta-analysis of the international literature exploring the ways in which Indigenous participation in land-based practices and human-environmental health have been studied, where the current gaps are, and how these findings could be used to inform research and policy. The result is an intriguing summary of disparate research that highlights the patchwork of contradictory understandings, and uneven regional emphasis, that have been documented. A new model was subsequently developed that facilitates a more in-depth consideration of these complex issues within local-global scale considerations. These findings challenge the bounded disciplinary and geographic spaces in which much of this work has occurred to date, and opens a dialogue to consider the importance of approaching these issues holistically.

Climate change influences on environment as a determinant of Indigenous health: Relationships to place, sea ice, and health in an Inuit community

“…For example, traditional foods are a source of nutritional, economic, and cultural benefits for Inuit in northern Canada at the same time as risks from exposure to environmental contaminants such as lead, PCBs, and mercury in some species and tissues (Donaldson et al, 2010). Also, land-based activities such as hunting can result in increased exposure to environmental hazards (e.g., UV exposure, extreme weather events) and unintentional injuries, but are also a source of multifaceted benefits (Cunsolo Willox et al, 2012;King and Furgal, 2014).…”

Viande de brousse, impacts anthropiques et santé humaine dans les forêts tropicales humides : le cas du virus Ebola

“…Par exemple, à Kisangani, en République démocratique du Congo, la viande de brousse a permis de maintenir un certain niveau de sécurité alimentaire pour les populations déplacées qui se sont réfugiées en ville pendant le conflit armé, alors que les autres denrées carnées importées étaient devenues rares [11]. À l'opposé, dans les communautés locales et les villes de forêt où se produit une transition nutritionnelle très rapide du fait de l'accès croissant aux marchés et aux produits d'origine industrielle [13], la consommation de viande de brousse peut aussi jouer un autre rôle important dans la sécurité alimentaire : celui de maintenir une diversité nutritionnelle face à la surconsommation de poulet industriel et de viandes issues de processus industriels, pour limiter l'incidence de l'obésité, du diabète, des maladies cardiovasculaires et leurs effets néfastes [15]. Ainsi, la viande de brousse participe encore de façon diverse à la sécurité alimentaire de nombreuses communautés, bien que cet apport ne soit toujours pas pris en compte dans les chiffres officiels et reste ainsi oublié des politiques publiques liés à la sécurité alimentaire.…”

Hunting, healing & human-land relationships: A reflective inquiry into health and well-being explored through indigenous-informed hunting practices, land-relationships & ways of knowing.

“…It is important to recognize, however, even if hunting may have been beneficial in the past, this does not mean it should still be considered a healthy activity in the present or potential future. Research that looks at the health impacts resulting from conflicting colonial and Indigenous land use ideologies today is hard to find (King & Furgal, 2014;Place & Hanlon, 2011). However, some scholars such as King & Furgal (2014) have specifically addressed this gap by engaging a transdisciplinary meta-analysis that looks at current health benefits and risks of Indigenous land-based hunting practices.…”

“…Research that looks at the health impacts resulting from conflicting colonial and Indigenous land use ideologies today is hard to find (King & Furgal, 2014;Place & Hanlon, 2011). However, some scholars such as King & Furgal (2014) have specifically addressed this gap by engaging a transdisciplinary meta-analysis that looks at current health benefits and risks of Indigenous land-based hunting practices. The findings of their analysis suggest that increasing cultural and environmental changes have caused notable health impacts on Indigenous peoples who engage in traditional land-based activities such as hunting and harvesting in their traditional territories; a growing number of which have been contaminated by industrial pollutants.…”

“…Therefore, as our need for material goods grow (to appease a healthy economy) so does the need for resource extraction and ultimately increasingly unsustainable environmental destruction (Robbins, 2013). While the pollution of the planet directly affects everyone's health, it is particularly devastating for land-based populations that depend on harvesting their food directly from the land itself (King & Furgal, 2014). Globalization further complicates things as the benefactors of resource extraction practices, that most effect local Indigenous communities, are often controlled by forces far removed from the communities and landscapes that they effect (Place & Hanlon, 2011).…”