02 INDIGENOUS HEALTH PATHWAY

Indigenous Peoples & Health

Indigenous Peoples are diverse communities with their own histories, cultures, languages, knowledge systems, identities and relationships with land and place.

Explore what it means to understand Indigenous health respectfully—recognizing diversity, strengths, rights, self-determination and the conditions that influence health and wellbeing.

Begin Exploring See the Learning Path

Indigenous Peoples & Health Source: Indigenous Primary Health Care Council (IPHCC)

WHY Why is this important?

You cannot understand Indigenous health without understanding Indigenous Peoples.

Indigenous Peoples are not one population with one culture, one history or one experience. Across the world, Indigenous Peoples include many distinct Nations, communities and Peoples with their own languages, traditions, knowledge, governance systems and relationships with land.

Health is therefore understood in different ways and is connected to individual, family, community, cultural, environmental and spiritual dimensions of life.

Learning about Indigenous health begins with a simple principle: learn about Peoples and communities as sources of knowledge, strength and leadership—not only through statistics about health inequities.

PERSONAL HINT

Start with respect, not assumptions.

Avoid treating Indigenous Peoples as a single group. Ask whose experience you are learning about, where that community is located, what history has shaped its present circumstances and whose knowledge and voice should be heard.

YOUR LEARNING JOURNEY

Explore. Learn. Think. Connect. Reflect. Act.

Move from understanding who Indigenous Peoples are to thinking about health, rights, relationships, equity and respectful action.

Explore

What does Indigenous identity mean? What can we learn from the diversity of Indigenous Peoples and communities?

Start here →

Learn

Discover Indigenous concepts of health, wellbeing, community, culture, land and relationships.

Learn more →

Think

Examine how history, colonialism, power, rights and systems can influence health and health equity.

Think deeper →

Connect

Connect your own experience with family, community, country and the wider world.

Make connections →

Reflect

Consider how your understanding of Indigenous Peoples, health and equity has changed.

Reflect →

ACT

Turn learning into respectful action that supports inclusion, equity, rights and Indigenous leadership.

Take action →

01 · EXPLORE

Who are Indigenous Peoples?

Indigenous Peoples are diverse Peoples and communities with distinct identities, histories, cultures, languages, knowledge systems and relationships with place.

There is no single Indigenous identity or universal Indigenous experience. Indigenous Peoples live in many regions of the world and may use different names for themselves and their communities.

In Canada, for example, the Constitution recognizes three distinct groups of Indigenous Peoples: First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Each includes many distinct communities, Nations, languages, traditions and histories.

Around the world, communities may use terms such as Indigenous Peoples, First Peoples, Aboriginal Peoples, Tribal Peoples or names specific to their own Nation or community. The most respectful approach is to learn how people identify themselves.

EXPLORE QUESTION What might we miss when we talk about a diverse group of Peoples as though they were all the same?

02 · LEARN

Health can be understood as a whole.

Many Indigenous approaches to health understand wellbeing through relationships among people, community, culture, land and the wider world.

Indigenous knowledge systems are diverse, and there is no single Indigenous model of health. In many communities, however, health is understood through relationships and balance rather than as something limited to the physical body or the absence of disease.

Family, community, culture, language, land, identity, ceremony, knowledge and connection can all have meaning for wellbeing. These relationships may also change across generations and between communities.

People

Physical, emotional, mental and spiritual dimensions of wellbeing can be interconnected.

Community

Relationships, belonging, reciprocity and collective wellbeing can support health.

Culture

Language, knowledge, traditions and cultural continuity can strengthen identity and wellbeing.

Land & Place

Relationships with land, water and place can be central to identity, knowledge and health.

03 · THINK

Health is shaped by history and power.

Understanding health inequities requires us to look at the systems and historical conditions surrounding people and communities.

Indigenous health differences cannot be understood simply by comparing individuals or communities. Historical and continuing processes—including colonization, dispossession, discrimination, disruption of culture and unequal access to services and resources—can influence opportunities for health.

At the same time, focusing only on disadvantage can create a deficit-based picture of Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous communities are also sources of knowledge, resilience, leadership, cultural strength and innovation.

KEY PRINCIPLE

A health inequity is not a characteristic of a people. It can be a signal that opportunities, resources, rights or conditions are distributed unfairly.

Asking why a difference exists—and whose voices should guide the response—is an important part of health equity.

04 · CONNECT

From Self to World

Indigenous health can be understood across interconnected levels—from individual experience and relationships to communities, countries and global systems.

SELF

Identity, knowledge, experiences, choices and personal wellbeing.

FAMILY & PEERS

Relationships, belonging, support, learning and shared experiences.

COMMUNITY

Culture, language, services, leadership, governance and collective wellbeing.

COUNTRY

Policies, rights, systems, history, resources and opportunities for equity.

WORLD

Indigenous Peoples globally, shared learning, international rights and global responsibility.

HEALTH EQUITY & SELF-DETERMINATION

Who makes the decisions that shape health?

Health equity is not only about access to services. It is also about voice, participation, rights and the ability of people and communities to influence decisions affecting their lives.

Self-determination recognizes the importance of Indigenous Peoples having meaningful authority and participation in decisions concerning their communities, cultures, lands, services and futures.

Voice Being heard • Participation • Representation

Rights Recognition • Dignity • Equality • Justice

Self-Determination Choice • Governance • Leadership • Control

Culture Language • Knowledge • Identity • Continuity

SDGs

Indigenous health connects to global goals.

Health equity, education, reduced inequalities, strong communities, environmental sustainability and inclusive institutions are interconnected.

03 Good Health & Wellbeing

Health systems should support equitable opportunities for health and wellbeing.

04 Quality Education

Education can support cultural knowledge, understanding, participation and opportunity.

10 Reduced Inequalities

Equity requires attention to structural barriers and unequal opportunities.

16 Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions

Inclusive institutions and meaningful participation matter for rights and equity.

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP & EVIDENCE

Listen before you lead.

Good global health leadership begins with evidence, humility and respect for the knowledge of people and communities most affected by decisions.

Ask whose evidence?

Evidence includes research, lived experience, community knowledge and many other ways of knowing.

Ask whose voice?

People affected by health policies and programs should have meaningful opportunities to shape them.

Ask who decides?

Leadership should strengthen participation, accountability and self-determination.

Ask what works locally?

Effective approaches respect context rather than assuming that one solution fits every community.

05 · REFLECT

What changed in your thinking?

Take a moment to reflect on how you understand Indigenous Peoples, health, diversity, equity and leadership.

What assumptions might people make when they hear the words “Indigenous health”?

Why is it important to recognize diversity between Indigenous Peoples and communities?

How might self-determination influence health and wellbeing?

06 ACT

Turn understanding into respect.

Learn from Indigenous voices. Avoid stereotypes and deficit-based thinking. Respect different ways of knowing. Ask whose voice is missing and support meaningful participation and leadership by Indigenous Peoples.

Continue the Journey

LEARN Learn how Indigenous Peoples and communities identify themselves.

LISTEN Seek Indigenous voices and community knowledge rather than speaking for others.

QUESTION Challenge stereotypes and ask how systems and history influence health opportunities.

RESPECT Recognize Indigenous leadership, knowledge, rights and self-determination.

NEXT IN THE PATHWAY

Culture, Identity & Determinants

Explore how culture, identity, history, social determinants, place and self-determination shape Indigenous health and health equity.

Continue →