Health beliefs and the politics of Cree well-being

Abstract

Concepts of health are powerful statements of cultural ideals, interpreted within and shaped by circumstance and history. For the Whapmagoostui Cree of northern Quebec, ideals of health are found within the narratives of past hunting livelihoods, thus integrating diverse symbols of Cree subsistence and social practices. By addressing the conditions through which this concept of health is constituted, I illustrate how narratives of 'health' are synonymous with Cree social and political well-being. For the Cree, health is not simply physical well-being, but one form of articulating Cree national identity in response to a continued challenge to that identity and is thus located within a text of historical accountings, land, and the production and interpretation of traditional activities.