INDIVIDUAL OR SOCIETAL RESPONSIBILITY - EXPLANATIONS OF DIABETES IN AN ANISHINAABE (OJIBWAY) COMMUNITY

In recent years, many aboriginal communities in North America have exp erienced increasing rates of maturity onset diabetes. This paper is ba sed on interviews held with individuals diagnosed with diabetes in an Anishinaabe community in Manitoba, Canada, The varying ways people acc ount for their own case of diabetes and the increase in diabetes gener ally are described. Although people talk about diabetes as a result of individual dietary choices, much of the discourse links diabetes to e nvironmental and societal changes.