In this video, Shirley Tagalik discusses Inuit concepts for living a good life. According to Inuit Elders, relationship and interconnectedness with one’s environment and to other people are the most important elements for achieving success, balance and holistic health and well-being. These foundations also inform the four big laws of living a good life which include: 1) continually planning and preparing for the future; 2) working for the common good; 3) living in harmony and balance; and 4) being respectful of all living things. This video relates to chapter 3 of the textbook Determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ Health in Canada: Beyond the Social.

The NCCIH has developed Beyond the Social: Author Interviews, a series of eleven videos featuring interviews with some of the authors and editors of Determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ Health in Canada: Beyond the Social. The videos offer real-world insight and perspective that illuminate key concepts in the book, but they can also be used as stand-alone learning tools for anyone teaching or promoting Indigenous health and well-being. Follow the links below to view the other videos.

Related Links

• Read a transcript of the video (PDF)
• Watch the video on Vimeo
• Listen to the video on SoundCloud
• Read the related web story
• Obtain a copy of the textbook Determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ Health in Canada: Beyond the Social

Video Series

• Introduction - Rethinking Determinants of Indigenous Peoples' Health in Canada, with Sarah de Leeuw and Margo Greenwood
• Chapter 1 - Structural Determinants of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health, with Charlotte Loppie
• Chapter 2 - Two-Eyed Seeing in Medicine, with Albert Marshall
• Chapter 3 - Inuit Knowledge Systems, Elders, and Determinants of Health: Harmony, Balance, and the role of Holistic Thinking, with Shirley Tagalik
• Chapter 7 - Being at the Interface: Early Childhood as a Determinant of Health with Margo Greenwood
• Chapter 9 - Activating Place: Geography as a Determinant of Indigenous Peoples' Health and Well-being, with Sarah de Leeuw
• Chapter 13 - Ascribed Health and Wellness, Achieved Health and Wellness: Shifting the Paradigm, with Madeleine Dion Stout
• Chapter 15 - Reshaping the Politics of Health: A Personal Perspective, with Warner Adam
• Chapter 18 - Knowing Who You Are: Family History and Aboriginal Determinants of Health, with Brenda Macdougall
• Chapter 19 - Practising "the Good Way of Life" from the Hospital Bed to Mother Earth, with Patricia and James Makokis
• Beyond the Social Panel from the NCCAH National Forum "Transforming our Realities" held Dec. 2-3, 2015 in Ottawa, Ontario