Dëneze Nakehk'o captured the feeling at the Weaving our Wisdom: A Territorial Wellness Gathering in his comment “wellness is the jackpot”. That was his response to one participant who joked that one conference activity resembled BINGO. A strong, healthy, collaborative north is the best prize any of us can hope for.
Participants traveled to the gathering from all 33 NWT communities. They included community leaders, elders, staff from the regional health and social services authorities, volunteers and representatives of non-government organizations, Aboriginal governments, the department of Health and Social Services and Health Canada. The gathering last week was an opportunity to talk and learn about these three main themes.
- Closing the Gap: What gaps exist in our current healthcare system and what changes need to be made? Issues include our social environment, racism and a clash between Indigenous culture and modern medical practices and institutions.
- Healthy People and Communities: Before we can help our territory as a whole to be healthy, we have to make our own community healthy. And before our community can be healthy, we as individuals need to be healthy.
- Building Stronger Families: Our family is where we all start from, and where we gain our strength. Stronger families are the foundation for a strong NWT.
More than 30 youth from across the NWT, who want to see real change in their communities, spent one day of the gathering separate from the rest of the participants, discussing their communities, the struggles they see there and their vision for a healthy community. They were able to create concrete goals for themselves, and the rest of their community. On the last day of the gathering some of the youth presented the main goals they had for each of us:
- We need to take care of ourselves. We can’t be role models or work towards positive change in our community if we are not well ourselves.
- We need to focus on kids. We have to plant the seed of positive activity early.
- We need to keep traditions alive. Pass on your stories and knowledge to the younger generation so they can continue to know where they come from.
The youth spoke confidently and passionately, reminding us that they aren’t “just kids” as we often think of youth. These young people proved they are the leaders of tomorrow and today. If these youth get the skills and support they need, they will create real change in our communities.
I was happy to attend this gathering because of the links we are making at the NWT Literacy Council between health and literacy. In fact health was the theme of NWT Literacy Week 2014. We heard from many people about how literacy and health are interconnected.
If we do not live healthy lives it is hard to learn and develop our skills. Our literacy and language skills can affect the way we access and understand the health information that we need. We need to help people to feel confident asking questions, and help health care providers understand the literacy and language challenges that people may.
Thank you to the NWT Department of Health and Social Services, Aboriginal Health and Community Wellness Division for hosting such a great gathering, and for inviting so many of us from non-government groups to join in the discussion.
-- Katie Randall
