Among the many cultures and countries on this planet, there is something universally important to all; health.

Across the world there have been many approaches to human health, but all lead to the idea of recovery of the body, mind, and spirit. For centuries, Europeans focused on solely the body, believing humans were incapable of affecting the soul and mind. Eastern cultures believed in the balance of all three, and often found communion through nature. The Aboriginal People of North America always believed in the healing and development of all three through various methods, and to great success until European settlers invaded. For centuries Aboriginal populations have suffered mistreatment, which has led to the overall downfall of their health. Diseases and injuries are much more prevalent amongst Aboriginal people, but also mental conflicts like addiction, abuse, and suicide also inflict continuous havoc to their health. Healthcare varies across reserves in Canada, but the majority are substandard to offreserve health facilities. This is largely due to lack of funding from the government, but also lack of Aboriginal medicinal training/education. For example, in Manitoba, there are only 12 clinics and hospitals that are competent in Aboriginal medicine approaches, despite that 150 000 Aboriginals (nearly 15% of the provinces population) live there (Crawford, 2011). Despite an increase of Aboriginal population of 45% in the last decade, funding of their overall budget has only increased by two percent annually, despite the population growing by four percent every year (Crawford, 2011). This is grossly unjust since cutbacks are already being applied to our strained system with an increasing amount of seniors, thus in turn unfair to the Aboriginal population since they are also expanding exponentially, but since they can return the effort by

being a part of the workforce and start families and increase the population and growth of Canada (whereas the majority of the elderly do not work or expand families). In terms of actual statistics, there are so many that a separate essay could be written on its own solely about them. In Aboriginal populations, there are twice as many cases of suicides (Inuit communities have suicide rates 6-11 times higher than the national average, and one of the highest on the planet), premature deaths, and people seeking help with mental health (Swerve, 2003). High blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis are also more prevalent among people belonging to First Nations (Walker, 2001). One third of First Nations people say alcohol affects their immediate family or household, while 25% says theyve had a personal problem with it (Swerve, 2003). This is alarming since Aboriginals drink less on average than the rest of Canada (66% vs. 75%) (Swerve, 2003). One third of adults, and one quarter of youth claim to use cannabis regularly (Swerve, 2003). Aboriginal people are also more likely to wait until advanced stages of illness to seek treatment, this is due to the challenge of be able to access such preventative measures and early treatment (Hardy, 2007). Their fatalities come as no surprise due to their pre-set disadvantage of living arrangements. Reserves are twenty times more likely to contain contaminated water sources, as well as be more likely to have overcrowded housing (Hardy, 2007). Smoking is also more common in Aboriginal people; on reserve communities have averages as high as 80% of males and 70% of females smoking, whereas the general population only contains 30% smokers (Hardy, 2007). But in contrast, Aboriginal people also have the fewest amounts of cancer victims, but this could be caused by the fact that the majority of the Aboriginal population is young (Hardy, 2007).

Every healthcare professional would agree that extra funding could solve a lot of difficulties in the medical field, and it could very well help the Aboriginal health issue as well. However, where the money comes from is a second obstacle. The healthcare of the Aboriginal population is controversial, as there are three categories it could fall under: an Indian matter, a health matter, or an Indian health; matter. If it were to be an Indian matter, than it would be the responsibility of the federal government to fund and administrate the system of Aboriginal health. Unfortunately our current government claims that it has no constitutional or treaty responsibility to provide healthcare, but may do so voluntarily, effectively taking a passive stance on the situation. If considered a health matter, than like the rest of the population, the provincial government would be responsible for everyones health care. The final option is that the federal government would intrude upon provincial ground, and each Aboriginals health would be looked at as a case-by-case matter. This option would be extremely complicated and time consuming, too difficult of a process to really be considered unless there was a committee or department devoted to doing so. The involvement of different governing bodies (provincial, federal, and Aboriginal) creates a complicated and inefficient system with too many overlays and gaps of care. A better solution would be to allow each reserve to control and development its own healthcare, with the government funding these endeavours. There should be a health clinic on every sizeable reserve (it would be too demanding to fund expensive clinics on every reserve since not every non-Aboriginal community has a clinic). The closest hospital to every reserve, as well as locations with large Aboriginal populations, should be well equipped to aid and treat Aboriginal people in their respective methods. The provincial governments should fund these efforts as equally as well as

they do with the rest of their citizens health, giving a basic starting point to build upon. The federal government should give these efforts extra funding, as the healthcare of our Aboriginal population should not be just an Indian or health affair, but both. This proposal would allow the Aboriginal people to not receive any special treatment at a provincial level; they are equals amongst the provinces citizens. The federal government would be forced to claim active responsibility in aiding the Aboriginal citizens of Canada, not by giving them extra benefits, but finally allowing them to develop to equal care with the rest of Canadians. It would also allow a further step to be taken in developing self-governance of the reserves. The running of their own health care would hopefully show the many positive aspects of the Aboriginal people governing themselves, especially with health care being such a large and important administrative task. In advancing First Nation health, we could also possibly see an advance is the medical field, with their own contributions and resolutions to modern health issues. By working together, in giving the reserve populations a chance to further govern themselves, and hopefully fixing a long broken relationship between Canadians, these new clinics, health education, and Aboriginal medicinal development, could prevent many injuries and illnesses in the future, as well as treat current suffering. Conflicts among varying reserves as to what self-governance is, and its value, could create enmity between the government and reserve officials, just as it might impact the relationship between healthcare professionals and their clients. The involvement of the federal government could also create new issues addressing the Indian Act, and whether it needs to be modified, adhered to, or abolished. An important question that must be asked while solving

their health issues is How do Aboriginal medicinal approaches vary from different cultures, what are their key goals of health? Mental, physical, and spiritual health is important to everyone, and unfortunately we are not equipped well enough to give the Aboriginal people of Canada a chance to heal. The unionization of healthcare globally could also affect the push for Aboriginal well-being, because some might ask What is the value of teaching or learning Aboriginal medicine? One should consider that the majority of modern medicine is founded upon pharmaceuticals, which were themselves based upon folk remedies of non-European cultures, like the herbal medicine of the Aboriginal people. Contemporary medicine has also almost been solely focused on the treatment of the body, while the Aboriginal people have always valued holistic healing of the spirit, mind, and body, as shown by the medicine wheel. All things considered, the negative situation should be amended, with the government taking responsibility for aiding Aboriginal health recovery, but also the Aboriginal people working together to promote healing amongst themselves.