abstract: Indigenous Pueblo conceptualization of living well today has shifted mainly due to Federal policies that forced Pueblo people to conform to western way of living moving away from a lifestyle that embraced holistic practices. Native people cannot escape how Western society has shaped the concept of health however, the voices of the Pueblo people and others working in health, acknowledged that Indigenous philosophies, beliefs and practices need to be part of Native health conversations today. My discussion problematizes Native health characterized today as typically represented through the biomedical perspective with the primary focus being the body. Such a limiting perspective dismisses the importance of Indigenous philosophies that embraces broader concepts of well-being to include holistic elements of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. This study examines the shift in perceptions seeking input from patient and medical providers regarding their interactions, particularly communications in a healthcare setting. Pueblo patients defined what was important in their communications with their health provider. Likewise, health providers referred to their experiences providing healthcare to Native patients to describe what is important to know when treating a Pueblo patient. Patients identified family (without specific medical family histories disclosed), knowledge/beliefs that were or were not associated to the patient’s culture, as well as community and family dynamics (that did not delve into traditional medicine or sacred ceremonial activities) as important for their provider to know. The results from the research study highlights the need to examine Native American cultural diversity education in healthcare including advancing improvements in the training of medical providers. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Social Justice and Human Rights 2020

There has been growing recognition in recent environmental discourse that environmental justice, which is normally understood to mean the disproportionate effect of climate change on minority groups, also takes the form of epistemic injustice. In the Canadian context, this means the exclusion of Indigenous philosophies, values, and perspectives from discourse about environmental ethics, as well as the spheres of policy and governance as they pertain to the environment. At the same time, there has been increasing concern with creating just outcomes for future people. Given that future generations have made no contribution to the pollution that causes climate change, but will feel its worst effects, many environmental and political philosophers have recently pointed to the need for a strong theory of intergenerational justice, especially as it pertains to the environment. In this thesis, I argue that an essential part of achieving intergenerational environmental justice in Canada is working toward the rectification of both material and epistemic harms toward Indigenous peoples which are perpetuated by the “rationalistic” conception of nature which sees nature as an instrumentally valuable resource to be exploited for human gain. I explore the historical construction of this conception of nature and its pervasiveness in recent work on environmental ethics in order to show how Indigenous perspectives have historically been suppressed through colonialism, and more recently been subjected to epistemic oppression within Western environmental ethics. I then focus specifically on intergenerational environmental justice as a field in which Indigenous philosophies have faced the greatest exclusion, and may also have the most to teach us. I conclude by providing a brief overview of recent Indigenous environmental activism as an expression of Indigenous values, and look to treaties as understood by Indigenous philosophies as a potential framework for moving together toward a just future for all.