The End of Life is an Auspicious Opportunity for Healing

Abstract

The majority of Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island (North America) now live in urban settlements, and likely may die in urban spaces. Based upon academic and grey literature searches in 2018 of Indigenous death, dying, grieving, and palliative care in Canada, there is a near absence of information exploring this pivotal life event in the urban context. The diversity of urban Indigenous identities, lived experiences, and degree of connection to Indigenous culture highlights the complexity of the interconnection of death, Indigeneity, and urbanity. Fortunately, signs exist of Indigenous cultural and ceremonial revitalization in urban spaces, and the end of life offers an auspicious opportunity for healing from the intergenerational trauma arising from colonization. Despite the plurality of cultures in urban settlements on Turtle Island, colonization informs and dominates most systems, including the framing of death and dying as a medical event. However, in my experience, death is more about culture and community. Reconciliation for urban Indigenous communities involves negotiating this challenging paradox between colonial and Indigenous worldviews. Rather than developing new strategies, I posit that existing knowledge – the Medicine Wheel and the Two Row Wampum – offer a vision for restoring respect, balance, and spirit to the end-of-life journey. The Medicine Wheel and the Two Row Wampum teachings offer an Indigenous theoretical framework to consider the complex space created by the interconnection of death, Indigeneity, and urbanity and offers a strength-based approach to guide future end-of-life research, policy, and practice to improve the end-of-life experience for urban Indigenous communities.