Overcoming Colonial Subjugation, Privileging Indigenous Health
Authors:
- Liz ContrerasLCLiz Contreras
Open Access
- 8 July 2026
- book chapter
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP)
- p. 197-224
Abstract
Overcoming Colonial Subjugation, Privileging Indigenous Health tracks the historical trauma of American Indians and Alaskan Natives following European contact. By exploring the harms of reservation structures, forced relocation, dispossession, assimilation, and boarding school abuses, this chapter exposes the devastation caused by colonial policies. But resilience, resistance, and well-being also emerge, shifting the narrative from pathology to promise. Honoring the culture, knowledge, worldview, and wellness practices embedded in Indigenous cultures, and empowering these original inhabitants with financial and political support, fosters revitalized communities. Their physical, mental, and emotional health depend on self-governance, a spiritual connection to the land, and thriving intergenerational relationships.Keywords
This publication has 79 references indexed in Scilit:
- Substance Use Research with Indigenous Communities: Exploring and Extending Foundational Principles of Community PsychologyAmerican Journal of Community Psychology, 2019
- Substance Use and Suicide in Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Multiracial YouthAmerican Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2018
- The relationship of five boarding school experiences and physical health status among Northern Plains TribesQuality of Life Research, 2017
- Trauma and suicide behaviour histories among a Canadian indigenous population: An empirical exploration of the potential role of Canada's residential school systemSocial Science & Medicine, 2012
- The Beginnings of Mental Health Disparities: Emergent Mental Disorders Among Indigenous Adolescents2010
- Maori healers' views on wellbeing: The importance of mind, body, spirit, family and landSocial Science & Medicine, 2010
- Indigenous health part 2: the underlying causes of the health gapThe Lancet, 2009
- Experiences of discrimination: Validity and reliability of a self-report measure for population health research on racism and healthSocial Science & Medicine, 2005
- Spirituality and attempted suicide among American IndiansSocial Science & Medicine, 2003
- Cultural and spiritual coping in sobriety: Informing substance abuse prevention for Alaska Native communitiesJournal of Community Psychology, 2001