Wisdom Engaged

"[Wisdom Engaged] gives compelling evidence that Indigenous health is fundamentally tied to land, language, and culture. Wisdom Engaged shows that decolonisation means a return to Indigenous peoples of the power they once had over their own health and well-being. This is a crucial first step on the long road to reconciliation."—Jeff Kochan

"This text will be of value to novice readers seeking an entry point to learn more about indigenous traditional healing practices. Summing Up: Recommended."—S. Perreault

"Wisdom Engaged examines the different aspects of traditional knowledge and its usage in daily routines that support a healthy lifestyle Readers will encounter rich evidence of the interconnectivity that Indigenous peoples' well-being has with traditions, communities, and culture. [Editor Leslie Main Johnson] accomplishes her goal: to center traditional knowledge in exploring methods to advance individual and community health as well as healing in northwestern North American Indigenous communities. All those interested in traditional knowledge, Western biomedicine, or Indigenous and environmental health should read this compelling book."—Kathie Beebe, Native American and Indigenous Studies Journal, Spring 2022

"This superb volume focuses on "the role of traditional knowledge" in "healing and health" and "the interrelated web of traditions, culture, communities and wellbeing" among Indigenous communities in Northern Alberta, BC, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Alaska. Editor Leslie Johnson, a professor emerita of anthropology at Athabasca University, brings academics, elders and traditional healers together in a book highlighted by first-hand accounts such as that by Celina Harpe-Cooper, an elder in For McKay whose discussion of cranberry picking sharply reveals the local impacts of oil sands development." AlbertaViews, July/Aug 2020

"These crucial studies provide a base of evidence for how people want to live rather than being dictated to by industrial interests in their homelands. They provide a rich vision of a lived environment."—Robert Wishart, Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, University of Aberdeen