"The Mountains are Healing": Engaging with Splatsin Knowledges of Wellbeing, Dispossession and Land-based Healing

Abstract

Guided by decolonizing methodologies, Indigenous Knowledge systems and environmental dispossession and (re)possession theories, this thesis explores Splatsin perspectives on the connection between land and wellbeing in the context of historical and on-going alienation from traditional lands and cultural practices. A community-based participatory research approach framed this project conducted in collaboration with ten members of the Splatsin community who are part of the Secwépemc (Shuswap) Nation of southern interior British Columbia, Canada. Informed by participant observation, field trips, and semi-structured interviews, this project centers the voices and experiences of Splatsin Elders and community Knowledge Keepers as a way to decolonize what can be known about wellbeing. The greater goal of this project was to explore the possible benefits of restoring Indigenous land-based and cultural practices for community wellbeing.