Building A Nation: Healing in an Urban Context

This study examines the Building a Nation organization which provided health services (therapy and counselling) in downtown Saskatoon, with a large base of Indigenous clients. This study looks at BAN’s therapeutic Medicine Wheel approach that argues for the importance of historical and social context in assessing a person's health. This methodology suggests healing (mental, spiritual, emotional) as a lifelong process that requires a holistic approach that should be more broadly implemented at a community level. This study demonstrates avenues of healing by incorporating Indigenous worldviews and perspectives on health in its model; the methods and evidence contained within this study can provide context and direction when considered in the rehabilitative application of Gladue Rights.