Library and Academic Services: Indigenous Health & Well-Being: Housing Insecurity

Housing Insecurity - Introduction

Housing Insecurity

Indigenous homelessness is a human condition that describes First Nations, Métis and Inuit individuals, families or communities lacking stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means or ability to acquire such housing. Unlike the common colonialist definition of homelessness, Indigenous homelessness is not defined as lacking a structure of habitation; rather, it is more fully described and understood through a composite lens of Indigenous worldviews. These include: individuals, families and communities isolated from their relationships to land, water, place, family, kin, each other, animals, cultures, languages and identities. Importantly, Indigenous people experiencing these kinds of homelessness cannot culturally, spiritually, emotionally or physically reconnect with their Indigeneity or lost relationships.

(Aboriginal Standing Committee on Housing and Homelessness, 2012)

Websites and Documents

Definition of Indigenous Homelessness in Canada by Jesse Thistle
The complex interactions between factors in Indigenous homelessness produce situations that intersect with the typology of four kinds of homelessness, as presented in the Canadian Defnition of Homelessness. These include: Unsheltered, Emergency Sheltered, Provisionally Accommodated and At Risk of Homelessness. While aspects of these four categories are tied to current housing markets and the limited availability of affordable housing, Indigenous homelessness is not simply a response to such circumstances, but is best understood as the outcome of historically constructed and ongoing settler colonization and racism that have displaced and dispossessed First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples from their traditional governance systems and laws, territories, histories, worldviews, ancestors and stories.
Displacement, Housing and Homelessness in Northern Manitoba Communities
Indigenous people are overrepresented among the homeless population in the northern region of Manitoba and the factors that are contributing to their homelessness and restraining their movement out of homelessness in urban and remote communities in the north are not well un- derstood. The main focus of the research was to explore the understanding of people with lived experience of housing instability and homeless- ness in order to deepen awareness and improve conditions for people in the region.
The Housing Conditions of Aboriginal People in Canada
Housing is an issue of particular significance for the Aboriginal population in Canada. Many Aboriginal communities are located in northern and remote communities, where winter conditions are harsher and building supplies are more difficult to access and more expensive.
Indigenous Housing Policy and Engagement (Native Women's Association of Canada)
While there are some housing issues shared by Indigenous communities, each community has unique challenges in developing, constructing and maintaining an adequate housing supply. Indigenous women also face gender-specific challenges in securing a safe, stable housing situation for themselves and their families, both on and off-reserve. Racialized violence disproportionately affects Indigenous women and girls in Canada, with housing issues a contributing factor to the lack of safety and security they may feel. Insufficient accessible shelter and affordable housing options for Indigenous women leaving abusive situations, especially in remote, rural and Northern communities, means that they and their children cannot always live in safety. Colonization, patriarchy and the effects of intergenerational trauma shape Indigenous women’s experiences of homelessness and housing insecurity.
In Search of Mino Bimaadiziwin: A Study of Urban Aboriginal Housing Cooperatives in Canada
Report features the current success of Aboriginal housing cooperatives in Canada. Through the stories and knowledge shared by research participants, this report can pass on these stories. Our goal is that future Aboriginal housing cooperatives can be built upon these past successes as a means to increasing the availability of culturally relevant affordable housing for Aboriginal people in Canada.
Localized Approaches to Ending Homelessness: Indigenizing Housing First
This report serves as a general guide for implementing and delivering Housing First, particularly in Indigenous community contexts. The objective is to offer a framework that places community localizing efforts at
the forefront to help ensure the best fit is achieved for launching Housing First.
A National Study of Indigenous Youth Homelessness in Canada
This study was designed to address the need for more detailed information about Indigenous homeless youth, a group overrepresented in the homeless population, using a national-level data set. Overall, such findings reinforce calls for Indigenous-specific interventions for these populations—including policy-driven prevention initiatives to address the legacy of colonization.
Winnipeg Street Census Report 2018
The Winnipeg Street Census 2018 marks the second attempt to gain a comprehensive view of homelessness in Winnipeg in a single moment of time. In order to end homelessness, we need to understand it. The Street Census is not an attempt to count the total number of people experiencing homelessness, but provide a snapshot of who is experiencing homelessness, some of the reasons for it, and barriers to exiting it.

Library Resources

No Home in a Homeland : indigenous Peoples and Homelessness in the Canadian North by Christensen, Julia
Location: HV 4509 .C47 2017 (Located at NDC)
The Dene, a traditionally nomadic people, have no word for homelessness, a rare condition in the Canadian North prior to the 1990s. Julia Christensen documents the rise of Indigenous homelessness and proposes solutions by interweaving analysis of the region's unique history with personal narratives of homeless men and women in two cities--Yellowknife and Inuvik. What emerges is a larger story of displacement and intergenerational trauma, hope and renewal.
Beyond Shelters: Solutions to Homelessness in Canada from the Front Lines by James Hughes (Editor)
Location: HV 4509 .B49 2018 (Located at NDC)
Offers essays by experienced shelter workers who address the future of the homeless shelter in Canada. The contributors have years of experience understanding the causes of and solutions to homelessness and the role that shelters can play in reducing homelessness. They set out the steps that will achieve their ultimate goal - the elimination of all forms of homelessness in Canada.
The Shattered Mosaic: How Canadian Social Structures Cause Homelessness by Mary Ellen Donnan
Location: HV 4509 .D66 2016 (Located at NDC)
This book looks at the expenses, options and policies impacting people in Canadian cities to create homelessness. The inadequacy of social housing support in this wealthy country, coupled with indifference to the actual costs of meeting basic needs, means the remnants of our social safety net tend to let down the people who are most in need of help.

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