Braiding Neuroscience, Decolonization, and Mental Wellness
Etuaptmumk The Journal of Two-Eyed Seeing January 6, 2026 Kimber Olson
Emerging neuroscience and Indigenous knowledge systems converge on the idea that relationships, story, and ceremony are medicine. Mind-body interventions such as meditation, ritual, and kindness practices alter neural networks, immune signaling, and gene expression, echoing longstanding Indigenous teachings. A decolonization equation provides a structural framework for collective healing. Together, these strands indicate that increasing kindness and prioritizing decolonization are not only ethically essential but also biologically feasible and culturally rooted components of comprehensive mental health strategies.