Indigenous Resources

Aboriginal culture intuitively embodies and interconnects the threads of life that are known to be intrinsic to human wellbeing: connection. Therefore, Aboriginal wisdom and practices are inherently strengths-based and healing-informed. Underpinned by an Indigenist research methodology, this article presents findings from a collaboration of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples to develop an Australian Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Indigenous Framework during 2021 to 2023. The FASD Indigenous Framework unfolds the changes that non-Aboriginal clinicians and Aboriginal peoples each need to make in their respective ways of knowing, being and doing in order to facilitate access to healing-informed, strengths-based and culturally responsive FASD knowledge, assessment, diagnosis and support services among Aboriginal peoples. Drawing on the Aboriginal practices of yarning and Dadirri, written and oral knowledges were gathered. These knowledges were mapped against Aboriginal cultural responsiveness and wellbeing frameworks and collaboratively and iteratively reflected upon throughout. This article brings together Aboriginal wisdom (strengths-based, healing-informed approaches grounded in holistic and integrated support) and Western wisdom (biomedicine and therapeutic models) in relation to FASD. From a place of still awareness (Dadirri), both forms of wisdom were drawn upon to create Australia’s first FASD Indigenous Framework, a new practice in the assessment and diagnosis of FASD, which offers immense benefit to equity, justice, support and healing for Aboriginal families with a lived experience of FASD.

American Indian and Alaska Native communities have diverse cultures, histories, and contemporary experiences. Grouping them together masks the differences in health and lifestyle behaviors, chronic disease rates, and health outcomes among them. This is particularly true for data on drinking during pregnancy among American Indian and Alaska Native women. The goal of this article is to describe how generalizing findings from data gathered from often small, geographically specific samples, combined with inferior research methodologies, has led to misunderstandings about drinking among preconceptual and pregnant American Indian and Alaska Native women. We conducted a scoping review using PubMed and the “PCC mnemonic” (population, concept, and context) as our guide. Our search terms included the population (American Indian and Alaska Native women), concept (alcohol), and context (immediately before or during pregnancy) and focused on PubMed articles in the United States. Using these search terms, we uncovered a total of 38 publications and eliminated 19, leaving 19 for review. Methodologically (i.e. how data were collected), we found most previous research on prenatal or preconceptual alcohol use with American Indian and Alaska Native women used retrospective data collection. We also assessed who data were collected from and noted two groups: studies that sampled higher-risk women and those that focused on American Indian and Alaska Native women in specific geographic areas. Restricting data collection to higher-risk American Indian and Alaska Native women or conducting small studies in specific geographic areas has generated an incomplete and inaccurate picture of American Indian and Alaska Native women as a whole as well as those who consume alcohol. Data from select groups of American Indian and Alaska Native women may overestimate the true prevalence of drinking during pregnancy among this population. Updated and accurate data on drinking during pregnancy are urgently needed to inform the development of interventions and prevention efforts.