{"id":215710,"date":"2025-05-12T16:10:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T02:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=215710"},"modified":"2025-05-13T15:45:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T01:45:27","slug":"indigenous-elderhood-aging-views","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/05\/12\/indigenous-elderhood-aging-views\/","title":{"rendered":"Indigenous views of elderhood offer lessons on aging"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"elders
Elders of the Sapulju Indigenous community in Taitung (Taiwan) with their small-scale farmland.
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A new study by researchers from the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa examines how Indigenous communities define elderhood, and how this role supports healthy aging. Led by Yu-Chi Kalesekes Huang and Kathryn Braun of the Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health<\/a>, the research reviews 20 scholarly publications to shed light on how elders contribute to the well-being of their communities.<\/p>\n

Elderhood as a cultural role<\/h2>\n

The study looks at a range of Indigenous populations, including Inuit, M\u00e9tis, and First Nations in Canada; Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Samoans, Tongans and Native Americans in the U.S.<\/abbr>; M\u0101ori in New Zealand; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia; and the Aymara tribe in Chile.<\/p>\n

\"Yu-Chi
Â鶹´«Ã½researcher, Yu-Chi Kalesekes Huang, wearing traditional attire of the Paiwan people.
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Published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health<\/a><\/em>, the study identifies six common themes across cultures, finding that an elder is someone who:<\/p>\n