Voices from the Land: Reflections on Teenaged Pregnancy in Aboriginal Communities Today - The Voices of Traditional Healers

While the precarious state of Aboriginal health is often noted, and several studies have detailed the issues raised by teenage pregnancy, the voices from traditional healers, many of whom have to deal with the youth are scarcely recorded. These reflections are in response to the conversation of select traditional practitioners at The Gathering, held in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, the University of Alberta, in October, 2010. They spent about one-and-a-half hours discussing the issue with health care professionals and physicians. This article reprises high points of that discussion along with additional material offered to support their contentions.