Aboriginal Healing,
Sharing Culture |
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"Every person has responsibility to self, families, communities, and the land. Responsibility extends not just to those that we come into contact with or relate to - but also to the roles we play within our families, our work, and our experiences in the world."
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The third circle represents the overarching values that support and uphold wellness: Respect, Wisdom, Responsibility, and Relationships. These four values need to be acknowledged when honouring yourself and others.
Respect: Respect is honouring where you come from, your culture, your traditions, yourself. It is intergenerational, and is passed on through ones community and family. It is the driving force of the community because it impacts all of our life experiences, including our relationships, our health, and our work. It is defined as consideration of, and appreciation for, others, but there is recognition that respect is so much more in First Nations communities - it entails a much higher standard of care, consideration, appreciation and honour and is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of our people. There is an intuitive aspect to respect, because it involves knowing how to be with oneself and with others. Wisdom: Wisdom includes knowledge of language, traditions, teachings, culture, and medicine. Like respect, wisdom is passed on by our ancestors from generation to generation. It is sacred in nature and includes honouring your spirit and sharing your knowledge with others. Responsibility: Every person has responsibility to self, families, communities, and the land. Responsibility extends not just to those that we come into contact with or relate to - but also to the roles we play within our families, our work, and our experiences in the world. There is also a mutual accountability and reciprocity aspect to responsibility. Responsibility intersects with so many areas of our lives, and involves maintaining a healthy and balanced life and leadership through modelling healthy behaviour and wellness. Relationships: Relationships are what sustain us. Relationships and responsibility go hand in hand. Like responsibility, relationships involve mutual accountability and reciprocity. Relationships are about togetherness, team-building, partnerships, capacity building, nurturing, sharing, strength, and love. It is recognized that relationships need to be maintained strongly within oneself as well as with those around you. [Hope, Help, and Healing: A Planning Toolkit for First Nations and Aboriginal Communities to Prevent and Respond to Suicide, 2015] >> Fourth Circle: Relationships for Wellness |