Documentation:Discrimination Against Indigenous People
Introduction
Framing is concerned with how we construct the stories we tell about the world. Framing
relates to attitudes, and can be measured as the sum of positive and negative associations with a
given issue. These attitudes then influence how we choose to talk about the issue and also how
we attribute certain things to be true or false. Framing is especially important in the representation of
Indigenous peoples within media regarding health care. This introduction leads us to the objectives of this
given section: To analyze the framing of content in the First Nations communities and
how the government lacks to give proper infrastructure to this community. More specifically,
to examinine the way in which health care services are severely lacking and what issues in
the given articles are being raised in sight of this. To examine the potential implications this has
for agenda setting and the public sphere, framing is important on how the given
articles choose to deem the “experts” of the narrative on the lack of health care. Which
in turn leads to who is given voice within the articles. Framing analysis makes visible how
people define and construct a given issue, and as such is shown within the paper.
Medicalization
Medicalization is a social process through which a human experience is culturally defined as pathological and treatable as a medical condition. (Merriam-Webster) This given term will be applied to a process of framing health and wellness within Indigenous communities and factors that limit this. The term medicalization can be related to this matter in that it portrays the process in which this term is applied differently to differing communities.
Review
Many articles tend to first acknowledge the impact colonial history had on the current state
of First Nations health services, and the lack there of in communities in Canada. by outlining in a more general
sense, while recognizing how the conversation carried forth is that of which colonization has on First Nation health
services and how such may also impact specifically, for example, the Attawapiskat First Nations Community. This is
important because the history of colonization has deeply affected First Nations culture and
health. Further, part of the reason for such a lack of health services for specifically First Nations
peoples, lies in the impact of longstanding historical issues related to colonization which has
contributed to the negative effects of health among First Nation peoples (Health Council of
Canada, 2012). Kelm’s (1998) defined the concept of colonization as ” …a process that includes
geographic incursion, sociocultural dislocation, the establishment of external political control
and economic dispossession.”(p xviii) This definition points out several dimensions of colonization that include
geographical and socio-cultural displacement as well as the control over a people, which Loppie Reading and
Wien (2009) asserted to have resulted in poorer levels of services and a hierarchy that puts First Nation
peoples, in most cases, at the bottom of the barrel.
There have been several authors that have additionally also examined the link between the
affects of colonization, racism and acts of social exclusion relative to the impact on First Nations
health.
Lack of Understanding
According to the research of Palmater (2011) “First Nation poverty is not a new
phenomenon, nor is it so hidden as to be unknown to either the public or our policy
makers.”(116) further suggesting the idea that doctors, academics, and other experts have tried to
bring First Nation poverty and its devastating social effects to the forefront for many years and
have in turn still failed to accommodate to the needs of many First Nations communities in
Canada. The colonization and aggressive assimilation policies of the past have turned thriving
Indigenous Nations into small communities of peoples, some of whom are barely surviving today.
Understanding the historical context and root causes of the current crisis of health services in
First Nations communities, for example, Attawapiskat, is essential to developing policy solutions
that can turn this trend around. While past laws and policies impoverished First Nations, current
laws and policies maintain it. Canada controls the lives of First Nations, provides them with
inequitable funding that results in conditions of extreme poverty that research has shown leads to
their premature deaths. The startling statistics illustrate the true extent of the chronic
underfunding of essential social services, the cap on education funding, the lack of basic
infrastructure and maintenance support, and the discrimination experienced in health and justice
services(Palmater 2011) More specifically, a related a related issue that in turn also affects access to health
care services is the lack of understanding within primary health care teams about the lived realities of First
Nations peoples (Poudrier & Mac-Lean, 2009; Shihid, Finn, & Thompson, 2009). A good
example is the lack of access to adequate health care in many northern First Nations communties.
In 2014, it was reported that the community of Attawapiskat had been without a hospital for
several months due to a 1200 litre oil leak in the hospital building (Poudrier et al. 2009). Primary
health care providers may not feel the immediate impact of the distances one has to travel or of
the pre-approval process through NIHB for travel that patients such as the ones in Attawapiskat
have to go through to access essential health services. If services were offered closer to home,
then patients would have greater access to care they need. As such, many suffer from not
receiving adequate resources of health care and wellness facilities to accompany their needs.
Mass Media
The role that mass media, specifically in news articles, play in the framing individuals, communities
and events applies differently throughout the world and also through different perspectives.
Previous literature showed that there is a strong correlation between the colonial history of
Canada in hand with the history of Indigenous peoples of Canada. In addition to the fact, each
variable within the history of Canada and their relationship with Indigenous peoples and
communities will also have an effect on such matters specifically, as such throughout health care
services. Media framing will continue to influence the opinions of the public no matter what the
news story is about. Much research shows that mentions of the ways in which the
Attawapiskat First Nations is viewed in the media and news articles in terms of voice, expertise
and also highlighted issues. Though, there are still many ways that framing could be analyzed
and included into the conversation to allow for First Nations peoples of Canada to be able to
receive adequate, reliable and culturally inclusive health care services suited to their needs.
References
Gove, P. B. E. (1986). Webster's third new international dictionary of the English language unabridged (No. BOOK). Merriam-Webster.
Health Council of Canada. (2012). Empathy, dignity, and respect creating cultural safety
For Aboriginal people in urban health care. Mach. Retrieved
www.healthcouncilcanada.ca
Kelm, M. (1998). Colonizing Bodies: Aboriginal health and healing in British Columbia
1900-50. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Loppie Reading, C., & Wien, F. (2009). Health inequalities and social determinants of
Aboriginal people’s health. National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health, 1-41.
Retrieved http://www.nccah-ccnsa.ca/docs/social%20determinates/nccahloppiewien_
report.pdf
Palmater, P. D. (2011). Stretched beyond human limits: Death by poverty in first nations.
Canadian Review of Social Policy, (65), 112-127. Retrieved from http://
ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1240370652?
accountid=14656
Poudrier, J., & Mac-Lean, T. (2009). ‘We’ve fallen into the cracks’: Aboriginal women’s
experiences with breast cancer through photovoice. Nursing Inquiry, 16(4), 306-317.