WAYS OF KNOWING ABOUT HEALTH - AN ABORIGINAL PERSPECTIVE

Because of the questionable applicability of extant health promotion m odels and middle-range theories to aboriginal peoples, foundational in quiries examining the nature of cultural beliefs and ways of knowing a bout health within the cultures of various ethnic groups are imperativ e. This article describes the ways of knowing about health reported by Ojibwe people during an ethnographic inquiry in the Great Lakes regio n. These ways included stories from the oral tradition, authoritative knowledge of elders, ''commonsense'' models of illness and health, spi ritual knowledge, and knowing oneself. The health-world view, a concep tual orientation for investigating health beliefs, is offered.