Dene women are leading and directing efforts toward "healing" themselves, their families, and their communities. Employing a modality of montage and storytelling, this thesis explores this enigmatic concept of "healing" among Dene, and its gendered dimensions, in the community of Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories. This account challenges the limitations of a resistance-hegemony paradigm often used to describe Aboriginal actions as embedded within colonial relations, and endeavours toward a more nuanced analysis which explores Dene "healing" beyond the colonial space. "Healing" is emerging as a vehicle for the assertion and celebration of Dene identity, Dene tradition and "Dene ways". This thesis further explores how many Dene women in Fort Good Hope are mobilizing the power of tradition, such as -aet'sechi/ (practices associated with "becoming woman"), as a means of "healing" social/health concerns, and influencing gender and power relations in the community.

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Chronic non-communicable diseases related to excessive or unbalanced dietary intakes are on the rise among some Indigenous populations in Canada. Nutritional problems of Indigenous peoples arise in the transition from a traditional diet to a market diet characterised by highly processed foods with reduced nutrient density. This study used food frequency and 24-hour recall questionnaires to quantify traditional food intake in 18 communities in Denendeh (Western Northwest Territories) and the Yukon. These data allowed comparisons between the two regions (Yukon and Denendeh) and the two seasons of data collection (summer and winter, perceived to be the seasons of highest and lowest traditional food intake, respectively). Food choice in general is affected by a multitude of factors determined by individual, societal and environmental influences. In this study, individual, household, and community correlates of traditional food intake were assessed in order to construct a multivariate statistical model to describe the correlates of the quantity and diversity of traditional food intake in the Western Canadian Arctic. The variables used in this study reflected household demography, market food affordability, access to traditional food, individual characteristics such as age and gender, and perceptions about traditional food. The analysis of the associations between the traditional food correlates and traditional food intake in terms of quantity and diversity allowed for the description of the profile of men and women who are high consumers of traditional food in both regions. This study described and used a tool to measure traditional food diversity, which may be an appropriate indicator of the process of dietary change experienced by Indigenous Peoples in Denendeh and the Yukon.

The Dene are a subarctic people indigenous to northern Canada. The indirect and direct contact the Dene had with the European traders and Christian missionaries who came to their land around the turn of the 20th century triggered profound changes in their society and economy. This study focuses on some of these changes, and, particularly, on how they have affected the lives of Dene women who inhabit the small community of Fort Liard, which is located in the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories. / Using as context the formal and informal economy and the concept of the model of production, the author proposes two main ideas: first, "nurturing" or "social reproduction" and "providing" or "production" are vital and integral to the Dene's subsistence economy and concept of work; second, it is through the custom of "seclusion" or female puberty rites that the teaching and learning of these responsibilities occurred. Dene women played a pivotal role in this process. The impositions of external government, Christianity, capitalism, and free market economics have altered Dene women's concept of work. / The Dene women of Fort Liard are presently working to regain the social and economic status they once had. However, reclaiming their status in current times involves recognizing conflicting and contradictory ideologies in the workplace. The goal of these Dene women is, ultimately, to overcome economic and ideological obstacles, to reinforce common cultural values, and to reaffirm the primacy of their own conceptions of family and community. The goal of this study is to identify and examine the broad spectrum of factors and conditions that play a role in their struggles.

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Anthropometcic measurements and 24h-recall interviews were conducted on Dene/Metis and Yukon children, and food choice questionnaire interviews were conducted on the mothers of the children. On average, 32% of the children were above the 85th percentile of BMI-for-age in the 2000 CDC Growth Charts. The dietary nutrient intakes were compared to the DRI values. Vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D, vitamin E, dietary fiber, omega-6 fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acids, and magnesium intakes were low. Excessive nutrient intake was not observed. Imbalance of energy intake from carbohydrate and fat and excessive energy intake from total sugar and saturated fat were observed. Market foods were a major part of the diet. Traditional food contributed 4.6% of total energy intake. Frequently mentioned factors as having an influence on food selection were cost, health, children's preference and acceptability, traditional food and market food availability, and women's preference.

This secondary data analysis used a cross-sectional survey of 1771 Yukon First Nations, Dene/Metis, and Inuit women. The aims were to evaluate access to traditional food (TF) and market food (MF), identify perceived advantages of TF and MF, and explore under-studied characteristics of FS in Arctic Canada. Results indicate considerable regional variation in ability to afford adequate food, varying between 26 and 58%. Similarly, regional variation was reflected in the percentage of women who had access to hunting or fishing equipment. Participants described culturally relevant FS indicators: food needed to be natural, fresh, tasty, varied, healthy, safe, accessible, and convenient. Between 10 and 38% of participants noticed recent changes in the quality or health of TFs. Caribou, moose, and seal were popular TFs and considered particularly healthy. This study emphasizes the importance of TF for Arctic indigenous women's FS and the dynamic nature of FS in this population.

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