University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Fayetteville, AR, USA.
Health Promot Pract. 2023 Nov;24(6):1101-1104. doi: 10.1177/15248399231190365.
The transmission of generational knowledge in Alaska Native communities has been disrupted by colonization and led to declining health among Alaska Natives, as evidenced by the loss of knowledge regarding traditional foods and foodways and increasing rates of cardiometabolic disorders impacting Alaska Natives. Elders play a central role in passing down this generational knowledge, but emerging Elders may have difficulty in stepping into their roles as Elders due to the rapid social and cultural changes impacting their communities. The Center for Alaska Native Health Research (CANHR) and the Denakkanaaga Elders Program are partnering with the Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity to uplift and support traditional food knowledge and practices to promote health in Alaska Native communities. Guided by a decolonizing and Indigenizing framework, researchers at CANHR are working with Athabascan Elders in the Interior of Alaska to strengthen and protect the intergenerational transmission of cultural knowledge and practices for emerging Elders. This community-academic partnership will implement and evaluate an Elders Mentoring Elders Camp to focus on repairing and nurturing relationships through the practice and preservation of cultural knowledge and practices, including traditional foodways. This initiative contributes to the intergenerational transmission of knowledge, which is necessary to keep culture alive and thriving.
在阿拉斯加原住民社区，代际知识的传承曾因殖民化而中断，导致阿拉斯加原住民健康状况下降，这体现在传统食物和饮食知识的流失以及影响阿拉斯加原住民的心血管代谢疾病发病率上升。老年人在传承这种代际知识方面发挥着核心作用，但由于影响他们社区的快速社会和文化变化，新兴的老年人可能难以胜任老年人的角色。阿拉斯加原住民健康研究中心 (CANHR) 和 Denakkanaaga 老年人计划正在与原住民创新和健康公平中心合作，弘扬和支持传统食物知识和实践，以促进阿拉斯加原住民社区的健康。在去殖民化和本土化框架的指导下，CANHR 的研究人员正在与阿拉斯加内陆地区的阿萨巴斯卡老年人合作，加强和保护文化知识和实践的代际传承，以支持新兴的老年人。该社区-学术伙伴关系将实施和评估一个老年人指导老年人营，通过实践和保护文化知识和实践，包括传统饮食方式，重点修复和培养关系。这一举措有助于代际知识的传承，这对于保持文化的活力和繁荣是必要的。
