“We all know each other”: A strengths-based approach to understanding social capital in Pictou Landing First Nation

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dc.contributor.authorYeung, Sharon
dc.contributor.authorCastleden, Heather
dc.contributor.authorPictou Landing First Nation
dc.date.accessioned2025-02-20T19:40:14Z
dc.date.available2025-02-20T19:40:14Z
dc.date.issued2020
dc.description.abstractWith over three decades of attention drawn to the health of Indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world, an outpouring of health research has been undertaken, much of which has emphasized the experience of disparity at the expense of recognizing strengths. In this case study, we challenge the damage-centred rhetoric of mainstream health research by reporting the findings of 20 qualitative interviews on community strength and health with members of Pictou Landing First Nation, a Mi’kmaw nation located in Nova Scotia, Canada. We then relate and compare these findings with the emerging conceptualization of Indigenous social capital, which is a concept that has been associated with positive health outcomes in a variety of contexts. Our findings indicate that Pictou Landing First Nation is strengthened by qualities of familiarity, reciprocity, safety, and solidarity, which are rooted in the value of family and embedded within a broader Mi’kmaw worldview. The nature of these strengths aligns in part with the concept of Indigenous social capital, which we suggest may be better harnessed to be a means for conducting strengths-based health research. To this end, our findings support the need for reworking social capital conceptualizations to more strongly centralize cultural identities and worldviews in order to authentically and comprehensively affirm Indigenous and decolonizing health research practices.
dc.description.reviewstatusReviewed
dc.description.scholarlevelFaculty
dc.description.sponsorshipWe would like to thank the Canadian Water Network for their financial support of this project.
dc.identifier.citationYeung, S., Castleden, H., & Pictou Landing First Nation. (2020). “We all know each other”: A strengths-based approach to understanding social capital in Pictou Landing First Nation. International Journal of Indigenous Health, 15(1), 119–132. 10.32799/ijih.v15i1.34057
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.32799/ijih.v15i1.34057
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/21233
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInternational Journal of Indigenous Health
dc.rightsCC BY-NC-ND 4.0
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.subject.departmentSchool of Public Administration
dc.title“We all know each other”: A strengths-based approach to understanding social capital in Pictou Landing First Nation
dc.typeArticle

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